11 active Valentine's Day games for children of all ages

Valentine's Day games that are fun for kids too? We're in. Get your kids moving with these active Valentine's Day games for preschoolers and older children.

Facts checked by Karen CilliFacts checked by Karen Cilli

Valentine's Day is generally considered an adult holiday, although kids at school also hand out candy to their friends. But this holiday that's all about love doesn't have to be all about flowers, candy, cards, and cute crafts—there are plenty of ways to get outside and get moving today. Get your kids' hearts racing with active Valentine's Day party games for a party or family fun. Here are 11 active Valentine's Day games for everyone from preschoolers to older kids.

Related: 9 Benefits of Video Games for Kids

Hearts and rain showers

Make hearts out of paper and mark some of them with a special drawing, stamp or sticker. Stack them all on a blanket or bed sheet. Players stand on the edges of the sheet and hold it up in the air. Show them how the hearts move when they move the sheet (gently at first). Then tell them to get ready for the Valentine's Day party.

On the count of five, everyone lifts up the paper and pulls hard so the hearts fly up. Drop the paper and let the hearts rain down. Players collect as many as they can. If you like, award a prize to the player with the most hearts marked, or to anyone who has at least one.

Catch my heart

A red ball or beanbag represents the heart in this fast-paced game for five to twelve players. The children stand opposite each other in a circle.

Give the heart to one player. That player must call out another player's name and toss the heart to that person. Then that player does the same, and so on. Use only one “heart” for young children. Gradually add more to challenge older children.

Wrapped in love

Borrow the game “Wrap the Mummy” from Halloween: Simply replace toilet paper with pink or red crepe paper streamers and you've got a Valentine's Day theme. The goal is for players to wrap a teammate as completely as possible without tearing the crepe paper.

Hearty relay races

Add a Valentine's Day twist to any relay race. For example, swap the egg for a wobbly gelatin heart in an egg and spoon race. Try hearts instead of coins in a penny race. For a balloon relay race, use red or pink balloons or even a heart-shaped pillow.

Heartbeat

Here's another relay race option. Cut out a stack of paper hearts and write instructions on each heart: jump rope, do a crab walk, link arms back to back with a teammate, etc. Place these in a bowl or bucket at one end of the room. Divide players into teams.

One at a time, a player from each team runs to the bowl and draws a heart. They then return to their team and follow the instructions on the heart. Continue until everyone from one team has had a turn or until all players have had a chance to run.

Skipping rope for heart

The Kids Heart Challenge is a February fundraiser that encourages kids to jump rope and hop to support the American Heart Association. Even if your child's school isn't participating, you can still join a fundraising team. Then get out jump ropes and teach the kids classic jump rope rhymes. Not only will you be doing something good for their hearts, you'll be helping others, too.

Hugs and Kisses

This Valentine's Day game for preschoolers is a Valentine's Day version of Simon Says. A leader stands facing the players and calls out commands. “Hug” means raising the arms above the head to form a circle (like the “O” in “XOXO” for kisses and hugs). “Kiss” means getting into a jumping jack position with feet and arms extended wide, forming an “X.”

All other commands mean “stay quiet” or you're out. Play several short rounds so that several children get a chance to be the leader and no one is left out for long.

Heart-healthy beanbag throwing

This Valentine's Day game was adapted from Marie LeBaron at Make and Takes. Start by making a list of kid-friendly fitness activities like jumping jacks, frog jumps, side kicks, arm circles, and so on. If you have access to equipment like basketballs, jump ropes, or a mini trampoline, include those too.

Next, create a poster that shows your activities. They can be in list form, tic-tac-toe style, or even in concentric rings like a target. Place the poster on the floor. Then have the children throw a bean bag (make a heart-shaped one if you like) onto the poster and do the matching activity.

You can set a set number of repetitions for each exercise, either total or marked with the actions on the poster. Or you can have players roll dice or draw a game card to give them a target number of jumps, kicks, etc.

Heart Scotch Hop

Outdoors, use sidewalk chalk to draw a hopscotch game board with hearts instead of squares. Indoors, you can create the same effect using masking tape or sturdy foam cutouts.

Make the game more exciting by adding additional instructions such as “blow three kisses” or “pretend to shoot an arrow like Cupid” when a player lands on a certain space or when the marker lands outside the course boundaries.

Who is your Valentine?

This version of musical chairs for Valentine's Day gets party guests moving without leaving anyone out or eliminated. Start with enough chairs for all players minus one. Whoever is “out” asks one of the seated players, “Who is your Valentine?” The player responds, for example, “My Valentine is everyone who wears stripes.”

Then everyone wearing stripes must stand up and take a new seat (at least two seats away from their old seat). The person playing “It” also takes a seat, and whoever is left is the next “It.”

Try a fun variation

You can also play “Musical Valentines.” Use large hearts taped to the floor instead of chairs. To make the game inclusive, take away one heart each round, but don't let players sit out. Instead, everyone crowds into fewer and fewer hearts until they're all crammed into the last one.

Heart and Search

Scatter paper hearts or other Valentine's Day trinkets (like erasers or pencils) in a designated area and challenge the kids to find them. This also works well as an outdoor game. In this case, you can even make Valentine's Day-themed ice cubes colored with a little food coloring and hide those as treasure instead.

For another variation, use larger paper hearts in different colors, old Valentine's cards or pictures. Cut them into pieces and hide the pieces. When the children have collected them all, they have to work together to put them back together.

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Read the original article on Parents.