Creative Valentines Day Games

Making Valentines with the kids out of construction paper, doilies, buttons, and ribbons is probably a cherished tradition in many households, but Valentine’s Day is also a great time to play some “heart-centric” games with the kids. Here are three games to get you started.

“Heart-to-Heart” Board Game

Who doesn’t love a board game? In this game, every player gets his or her own board (as in Bingo), and any number can play.

To prepare for this game, you’ll need:

• A token for each player – a candy heart would be appropriate or a token from another board game, such as Monopoly.
• One or two dice. (Older children can use two dice and the game will progress faster and be more interesting for them.)
• One game board for each player, as shown below. You could draw the game board on paper, but you’ll save yourself a lot of work if you download and print the PDF file we have provided. (Just click the image below to download the file.)

To Play:

1. The first player rolls the die/dice and moves his or her token forward the corresponding number of hearts rolled.
2. The remaining players each roll the die, in turn, moving their tokens on their own game boards.
3. Play progresses until one player wins by reaching the Finish first.
4. After the game, the children can color the hearts as an art project for the refrigerator.

“Pounding Heart” Card Game

This is a spin on the classic “Slap Jack” card game. Any number can play. To prepare for the game, you’ll need one or two decks of playing cards.

Directions:

1. Remove all the hearts except the Ace, King, Queen, and Jack of hearts.
2. If playing with very young children, it might be easier for them if you also remove all the aces and face cards in the other three suits. This will make a greater difference between the other cards and the hearts. In this case, you should use two decks of cards.

To Play:

1. Deal one card face down to each player in turn until all cards are dealt.
2. Each player should hold the cards in a stack, face down, without looking at the cards.
3. The first player plays the top card of his stack face up in the middle of the playing surface. (Teach children how to play the card without looking at it and how to lightly toss the card on the stack in the middle. The player’s hand should not be touching the card when it hits the stack because this would give the player an advantage.)
4. Each person in the game plays a card to the middle in turn, creating a stack of cards in the middle.
5. If a heart is played, everyone tries to “pound the heart” by slapping the stack first.
6. The player who slaps the stack first, gets the entire stack and must add it to the bottom of the stack in his or her hand.
7. If a player slaps the stack in error (when a heart has not been played), that player must give each of the other players one card from his or her own stack.
8. If a player loses all his or her cards, the player can still be in the game and try to “pound a heart,” thus getting more cards to play.
9. Play progresses until one player wins by acquiring all the cards.

The “Twisted Heart” Game

This is a game that is played like Twister™ and as many as four children can play at once.

To prepare for the game, you’ll need:

• 16 pieces of 8.5 x 11-inch construction paper in at least 4 different colors
• Tape that will stick the paper hearts to the floor
• A small brown paper bag or other container (large enough to hold 16 small pieces of paper and still have enough room for a child’s hand to reach into)

Directions:

1. Cut the largest heart possible from each piece of 8.5 x 11-inch construction paper.
2. Cut one small heart (approximately 1.5-inches square) from the scrap left from each large heart.
3. Tape the large hearts to the floor in a grid of four columns and four rows, mixing the colors up, and keeping the hearts fairly close together.
4. Place the small hearts in the bag or container.

To Play:

1. The first player draws a colored heart from the bag/container and places a foot on any heart on the floor that matches the color drawn from the bag. (Do not put the small heart back in the bag.)
2. Each of the remaining players repeat step 1, placing one foot on the heart that matches the heart drawn from the bag.
3. In the second round, players draw from the bag again and place their other foot on the heart that matches the heart they draw from the bag.
4. Rounds three and four are for placing hands on the hearts on the floor.
5. If a player cannot reach the color drawn or can’t hold the pose as play progresses, he or she is out.
6. All players who are able to hold their poses win the game.

5 Indoor Family Fitness Ideas

Every family experiences those days where it’s too cold or rainy to go outside. You and the kids have cabin fever. Time to get some exercise in the house. These five simple indoor fitness activities for preschoolers can help you get your little one’s moving on those dreary “indoor” days.

Jumping Jacks with a Twist

Jumping jacks are great “straight out of the box,” but for a little extra fun, blow bubbles over the other family members’ heads and let them pop the bubbles by doing an exaggerated hand-clap as they perform the jumping jacks. Alternatively, you can call out a silly cadence that the players repeat back to you – the sillier the better (e.g. “To the doctor I must go. . . got a toothache in my toe . . .”).

Running (for Your Life)

Line up the children facing you and tell them you are going to lead them on a lion hunt. They must repeat what you say and do. Begin with “Let’s go on a lion hunt”, and start marching in place. They should each repeat (in unison) “Let’s go on a lion hunt” and start marching in place. Continue the story while marching, and wait for the family to repeat. For example, “I see a jungle.” Children repeat. “Can’t go around it.” Children repeat. “Can’t go over it.” Children repeat. “Guess we’ll have to go through it.” Then begin stomping and weaving through the imaginary jungle with your arms. After a time, go back to marching in place. Continue the story making up the places and obstacles (lake, mountain, tunnel, bridge, etc.).

Finally, say, “I see two big eyes.” Children repeat. “I see a big long tail.” Children repeat. “It’s a lion!” Children repeat. “I hear a roar.” Children repeat. “Run!” Then start running in place (double-time) and reverse the route calling out each obstacle (“back through the tunnel, back over the mountain, back through the lake, back through the jungle”), doing each motion again (franticly) with each obstacle. Then collapse with a big “Whew! We made it!”

Calisthenics by Simon

You can lead your family in jumping jacks, toe touches, running in place, hopping on one foot, etc., by simply playing Simon Says. For example, Simon says, “Touch your toes 5 times.” Simon says, “Run in place.” Simon says, “Stop.” Simon says, “Do 5 jumping jacks,” and so on. Don’t forget to omit “Simon says” a few times until one family member is the last one left. If your children are old enough, let the winner be the leader next, or for younger children, let the winner run a victory lap around the room.

Rowing

Pair up family members as close in size as you can. Have them sit down across from each other with their legs spread and feet touching. Have them lean forward and clasp hands. Have one person pull gently while the other pushes. Then reverse who pushes and who pulls. Sing “Row Row Row Your Boat” while exercising. Change partners at the end of the song.

Saturday Night Fever

Move the furniture to make a large enough dance floor so all the kids (and Mom and Dad) can dance at once. Crank up the music and encourage everyone to sing along while they dance. For a disco theme, dim the lights and use flashlights for strobes. Another alternative is Freeze Dancing. After a few moments of riotous dancing, hit pause and yell “freeze!” Dancers must freeze in mid movement, not just stop dancing. Hold for a few moments then start the music again.

About the Fitness Fanatics Program by The Academy

At The Academy, we believe fitness is vital to good health. That’s why every January we have our fun fitness program, Fitness Fanatics. Fitness Fanatics involves the children and their whole family. With special fitness and health guests, fun physical activities, and education about nutrition, Fitness Fanatics helps families focus on learning about healthy lifestyles while spending valuable time together.