5 Free Invitations to Play: Valentine's Day

Now that Christmas and New Year’s Day have passed, the cold winter days can be hard for our kids. We are constantly looking for new indoor play ideas to help the days pass more quickly. We turn to our sensory bins, our favorite indoor toys, and our invitations to play to make the best of winter. Ever since we packed away our Christmas boxes, our girls have been looking forward to our Valentine’s Day activities.

Years ago, I realized my younger daughter could get a few hours of play out of just a few materials. I started setting up a new “invitation to play” for her each afternoon when she would wake up from her nap. If she really liked the activity, she would ask for it again the next morning while I was homeschooling her big sister.

I started creating seasonal invitations to play from new materials I found at the craft store, Dollar Tree, and dollar spot section from Target. The best part is that these materials could be reused each year as the girls got older and learned new skills.

Scroll down for our Valentine’s Day freebie!

You can click here for our entire invitation to play series. Here’s how we structure these fun, simple activities at our house.

Maybe you are a homeschooling family looking for some play-based learning ideas for your toddler or preschooler.
Or you are spending the lots of time inside with your children due to weather.
It could be you are a WAHM searching for a quick activity that will engage your little one while you send an e-mail or film a FB live video.

An invitation to play is an easy, open-ended activity that uses just a few materials found around the house. Keeping these learning activities set aside for special times keeps them interesting and intentionally engaging. Grab one when you need 10-15 minutes to get something else done! And, these simple materials can be mixed and matched for countless other activities throughout the year.