8 Fun Valentine’s Day Activities for School Your Third Graders Will Adore (2024)

“Is the party going to be all day?” “When do we pass out our Valentines?” “My mom has to bring in my Valentine mailbox because it’s three feet tall.” These kids get crazy. And getting them to focus on anything other than the thought of possibly having a secret admirer can be difficult. These Valentine’s Day activities for school have saved my sanity by harnessing all that excitement into engaging activities that bring it all back to reading and writing.

All of these Valentine’s Day activities are great for keeping your students engaged in the days leading up to Valentine’s. Let’s start with the ones that are great for making your Valentine’s Day class party both fun and manageable.

Valentine’s Day Activities for School Your Valentine’s Day Class Party

These Valentine’s Day activities and games are perfect for your class Valentine’s Day party but can also absolutely be used at any point leading up to the party as well.

1. FREE Valentine’s Day Categories Word Game

Your kids will love this creative-thinking word-based Valentine’s Day game. It’s designed to be played like Scattergories. With both digital (PowerPoint) and printable options, this Valentine’s Day activity works great as either a party game or in your literacy stations.

Here’s How to Play:

1. Explain to the students that they are to try to think of a word for each category on the list that starts with the chosen letter in a specified amount of time. (Your choice, I recommend about 1 to 2 minutes per letter.) Some are very difficult, and they might not get a word for each category. This is OK. The goal is to get the most that they can for the letter. If they can’t think of a word for a category, they should move on to the next.
2. After time is up, have students report how many words they got for the letter. Each word is a point. (You can check them if you’d like.)
3. Click on the slide to move to the next letter. (The next list will only appear after you click through all letters.)
4. You can choose to play all lists and all letters or break it up and complete parts as you like.
5. The player/group with the most “points,” or words at the end wins.

2. Valentine’s Day Synonym and Antonym BINGO

You can turn literally any BINGO game into a Valentine-themed game by using Hershey’s Kisses or other candies as your “markers”. So, dust off that old reading strategy BINGO game you have in the cabinet and start playing. This makes for a great game during the party and has your students reviewing strategies and concepts.

I always need to review context clues, so I find ways to spiral it throughout the year. This Valentine’s Day Synonym and Antonym BINGO game gets the kids excited to review synonyms & antonyms by using Valentine’s themed words. And I dressed it up a little with some cute Valentine’s robot erasers I found at Target.

3. Valentine’s Day This or That Game

This no-prep PowerPoint game can be played with your kids during your class party or as brain breaks throughout the day.

How to Play the Valentine’s Day This or That Game:

1. Project the game on the board.
2. Kids decide between the two options.
3. Click to reveal the movement for their choices and give kids time to perform it.

That’s it. Super simple.

Why You’ll Love It:

• Structured movements help channel their extra energy into a positive, community-building game.
• These movements are designed to be performed next to the students’ desks, helping you maintain control.
• Each movement in the Valentine’s Day This or That Game is editable in PowerPoint so that you can adapt the game to your students’ mobility, classroom space, or time constraints.
• It’s 100% ready to play. Absolutely zero prep is required.
• It’s only $2.00.

4. Procedural Text Valentine’s Day Craft!

Kids love origami and Pinterest is full of ideas for making Valentine’s Crafts, so you’ll have plenty of options for this. I found a procedural text for creating heart-shaped bookmarks online that I love by DIY Candy. I did need to do a bit of copying and pasting to create the format that I wanted to present to the students, though.

Use the procedural text to gather your materials and make your own bookmarks/crafts while discussing how each part of the text helps you understand the procedure. The students end up with a super cute new craft and have fun reading along the way!

Valentine’s Day Activities for School to Keep Your Third Graders Focused and Engaged Leading Up to the Party

I bet your kids are excited about the class Valentine’s Day party. But, all the fun doesn’t have to be limited to party day. Roll that excitement on into your ELA block with these Valentine’s Day activities.

5. Valentine’s Day Task Cards and Boom Cards

I love reviewing context clues with digital task cards year-round and adding a Valentine’s Day theme makes them even more fun. These Valentine’s Day Context Clues Task Cards with Digital Options include built-in oral admin.

6. Valentine’s Day Poetry

Roses are red,Violets are blue,Your students want to write poetryfor their Valentines, too!

Valentine’s Day and poems go hand in hand. If you’re looking to add a little structure, use a specific type of poetry, like sensory poems. You could have the kids write a sensory poem about Valentine’s Day in general or even about their favorite candy.

7. FREE Valentine’s Day Riddles and Jokes

These free Valentine’s Day Riddles and Jokes will get your kids thinking AND laughing. The riddles come as a printable list and as a Google Slides™ presentation. (This can be downloaded as a PowerPoint from the Slides if you’d prefer not to use Google with your students.)

Riddles and jokes provide more than fun. They also:

• Develop critical thinking skills
• Engage students
• Provide opportunities for students to think about and play with language
• Connect and deepen vocabulary knowledge
• Improve comprehension
• Introduce students to new kinds of humor

Here are some fun ways to use them:

• Morning meeting
• As a bell-ringer activity
• During transition times
• During lunch bunch
• During a your class party
• As a fun way to end the day
• To entertain/annoy the pants off the others in the teacher’s lounge

8. FREE Valentine’s Day Writing Prompts

These Valentine’s Day writing prompts are a great way to start the day. They help get the kids settled and thinking before the bell rings and announcements end. They’re also a great Valentine’s Day activity to throw in your writing station.

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I help third and fourth grade RLA teachers like you create engaging and effective reading lessons without all the stress.

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