The following is just a
collection of ideas! Pick and choose those you like.
Make a full day-off school learning experience or just
choose a few ideas to add alittle zest to the 14th of
February!! Have Fun!!
Please note:These
ideas came from many sources. Some of them came from
the Unit Study created by Charity Lovelace and was
available at her website til she closed it down.
I've changed some ideas - but I
give Charity full credit for any idea that came directly
from her!! Some of her ideas were just too good to
change any!! In Charity's original Unit Study she set
up the different areas (work-stations) and the
child/children would move from station to station
through the day. You could do this yourself, also.
Just choose
any of the activities below and
set up your day according to your own needs. There is
no possible way you can do
everything listed below - just pick and choose!!
HISTORY & ACTIVITIES
The history of Valentine's
Day is not completely known. Obviously, it has it's
pagan
origins. It's believed to have
come from the ancient Roman holiday, Lupercalia which
was
celebrated on February 15th.
During Lupercalia young men would draw the name of a
young lady from a jar and would pin it to his sleeve.
This is where the saying "wear your heart on your
sleeve" comes from. Sometimes the young man would give
his chosen lady
a gift. This was in honor of
the Roman goddess, Juno.
Somewhere in time, efforts
were made to Christianize Lupercalia. And the holiday
was
moved to February 14th in honor
of Saint Valentine. There are different legends about
who Saint Valentine was. But we know that he was
martyred.
King Henry the Eighth
declared February 14, Valentine's Day by a Royal Charter
in
the year 1537. Sometime during
the 18th century, hand-crafted "valentines" were
exchanged amoung "sweethearts". Around the 1860's it
became popular to send Valentines here in America.
While many cards were handmade around this time
Valentine Cards also started to be sold commercially -
some with lace, ribbons, dried flowers and other little
novelties. Esther Lowland is said to have been the
first to commercially manufacture and sell Valentine
Cards. It is reported that she grossed $5,000 her first
year in business sometime during the 1840s. After
seeing British made Valentine Cards she
made her own elaborate cards
and took them stores to show as samples. Later she
hired
an assembly line of workers to
make her cards. She continued to expand her business
into
an $100,000 a year enterprise!
Using the
internet, encyclopedias or other resources find
information about
Valentines Day:
Explain the meaning of
Valentine Day symbols:
http://arthur.k12.il.us/arthurgs/valsym.htm
Who was Saint Valentine:
http://arthur.k12.il.us/arthurgs/valstory.htm
History of the Valentine:
http://techdirect.com/valentine/history.html
http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/val/history.html
History with
Questions:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Troy/9087/valentine/vread.html
Books to use to
research Valentine's Day:
The Story of Valentine's Day by
Clyde Robert Bulla
Happy Valentine's day! by
Carol Barkin & Elizabeth James
LANGUAGE ARTS
Using the information you gained in researching the
History of Valentine's Day, Saint Valentine and
Valentine Cards do one or more of the following
activities:
1. Make a book
- Using Artpad paper 12 X 18 size - tear out several
sheets and fold in half
to arrive at a folded size
of 12 x 9. Choose how many sheets you will need to
complete
your book. This will vary
with age and how much your child wants to do. Stuff all
sheets
inside each other at the
fold - open and staple on the fold. Using 12 X 18 size
Construc-
tion paper (choose one
sheet of child's preferred color) make a cover. Attach
the cover
after the inside is
finished. The cover can be laminated with clear contact
paper or a
laminator.
To make your book -
have your child use the history information he has
learned
above to write out a
short synopsis of it. Divide your child's story into
parts for each
page. You can type it
out and paste on each page or write it out for each
page. Then
have your child draw and
color pictures for each page's information. Or you can
cut
and paste pictures unto
appropriate pages.
When the book insides
are finished - make your cover. Draw, paint, color your
cover
illustration/s - then
laminate if desired. Staple together.
NOTE:
This booklet can be made into the shape of a heart. Or
the cover can be nicely
decorated with paper lace
and homemade hearts. This booklet can also be saved to
be
put together at the end of
the day and include projects you have done from all the
different learning areas
(Language Arts, Math, History, Science, Art etc). It is
totally
up to you! Your own
unique project.
2. You've
been hired by the local newspaper to go an interview one
of the following
individuals - after the
interview write a news story!
Esther Lowland
Saint Valentine
J.C. Hall - founder of
Hallmark Cards
3. Learn to
Say "I Love you" in as many languages as you like.
Write out as many as you
want for your "Valentine
Book" above. Or tape yourself saying each.
I Love
You in other languages:
http://www.columbia.edu/~sss31/rainbow/i-love-you.html
4. Have Fun
with Valentine Similies:
http://abcteach.com/valentine/valsimile.htm
5. Make
Valentine Envelopes:
http://www.kidsdomain.com/craft/envelopes.html
6. Make
Valetines to give to people - make your own and fill
them with encouraging words
of love to elderly church
members or neighbors, your pastor, church pianist,
mailman,
grandparents etc.
SCIENCE ACTIVITIES
What better time to learn
about the heart then at this time of year. Obtain and
have a basket of books to use for these activities. Any
books on the heart will do. Also gather
any encyclopedias. Feel free
to use the following Websites too. If possible find an
outline
of the heart. These can be
found in "The Body Book". A child can color this
outline.
1. Take an
Online Tour of the Heart - see how it works!
Fascinating!!
http://sln.fi.edu/biosci/heart.html
2. After
taking the Online tour - do any of the enrichment
activities at these website:
http://sln.fi.edu/biosci/activity/activity.html
http://sln.fi.edu/biosci/activity.html#healthyheart
3. Depending
on the age of the child - they can draw the heart,
cells, platelets, arteries,
etc. A booklet could be
made showing the heart and how it works.
4. Look at a
drop of blood under a microscope if you have one.
Discuss what it looks like.
Draw what you see.
5. Do some
research into why exercise is important to a healthy
heart. Have your child do
some vigorous exercise for
several minutes and then check their heart rates - or
have
them check it. Why does
the heart rate increase? After several minutes of rest
check
the heart rate again.
Explain the difference. What does exercise do for your
heart?
Take some time to do
alittle research into how to keep a heart healthy by
proper diet
i.e. less fat.
6. In
Charity's Valentine Unit Study she suggested finding a
beef heart at your local
butcher. Locate and
discuss the chambers (upper & lower), the muscle and
blood
vessel on the heart
exterior. Compare this beef heart to the human heart.
What
are the likenesses and
differences. For older children this may be a neat
biology
project - giving further
insight into the heart and how it works.
MATH ACTIVITIES
1. This idea
came from Charity's unit study and it's one our children
loved to do. Give
each child a piece of
graph paper. Empty the contents of one large bag of
M&Ms into
a large, clear bowl. On a
scrap piece of paper have your child estimate how many
of
each colored M&M there
are. When you have finished estimating, sort out all
the
different colors into
separate bowls. Then count each color - using tally
marks. Once
each color has been
counted use your graph paper to graph your results - use
five
M&Ms per graph square.
2. Play
"Valentine Battleship":
http://www.lessonplanspage.com/MathValentineBattleshipPlotLatLongCoordsIdea34.htm
3. Make print
copy of these Valentine Day Math theme pages for grades
1 - 5:
http://www.kidzone.ws/math/valentine/index.htm
BIBLE
Read 1 Corinthians 13 -
and for the word Charity - use the word "Love". Try to
memorize this whole chapter - it's easy by using the
Thy Word Creation's Tape Set
for 1 Corinthians 13.
At family worship read the chapter chorally together.
Talk about how
Love is and acts! Talk about
how you can achieve that in your life with your God's
help and Love!
ART & CRAFT ACTIVITIES
WINDOW CLINGIES
(This idea came from Charity Lovelace). Gather together
the following materials: paper, drawing pencils,
crayons or felt pens, ziplock baggie, colored glue or
dimensional fabric paint/s, glitter glue and glitter.
Have the student draw a heart on the paper and then
insert it into the plastic baggie. Close baggie. On
the outside of the baggie trace hte heart design (the
paper heart inside the baggie) with colored glue or
dimensional paint. Sprinkle with glitter if you want to
change the color or to get a layered
affect. Allow the paint to dry
before adding more colors or details. Completely fill
in the heart with paint - use different colors, glittery
paint etc. When the painted heart clingie
is completely dry, very
carefully peel away the ziplock baggie and now you have
a Heart
clingie that should stick to
windows or mirrors!
ANIMALS MADE
FROM HEART SHAPES:
http://www.kidsdomain.com/craft/animals.html
HOLIDAY
PILLOWCASES (simple sewing project):
http://www.kidsdomain.com/craft/pillowcases1.html
MAKE A LACE
SCRUNCHIE:
http://www.kidsdomain.com/craft/hairstuff4.html
http://www.kidsdomain.com/craft/hairstuff5.html
VALENTINE PIN:
http://www.kidsdomain.com/craft/heartpin.html
VALENTINE
CANDLES (easy decorations):
http://www.kidsdomain.com/craft/candle.html
VALENTINE
CLIPART:
http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/val/clip.html
GAMES
Play Heart
Bingo:
http://www.kidsdomain.com/craft/bingo-heart.html
Valentine Concentration Game:
http://abcteach.com/valentine/valconcent.htm
Valentine Crossword Puzzle:
http://www.agameaday.com/102kfowlentine.htm
RECIPES
Following are a few
healthier recipes to try for Valentine's Day!! I prefer
to make healthy treats for our family. Sometimes we
indulge - but I try to find good recipes that
are somewhat healthy and still
satisfy that sweet tooth.
CAROB or
CHOCOLATE CAKE
This Cake is dairy and egg
free. You can use either Carob Powder or Cocoa Powder.
We use the Carob (and prefer Chatfield's Carob powder
over all others). This recipe does call for Vegetable
Oil (I prefer not to oil if I can get away with it) but
you can experiment with using 2/3 or 1/2 the amount if
you are trying to keep away from Free Fats.
1 1/2 C. Sifted
Unbleached flour (can use half whole wheat pastry and
half Unb. Flour)
3 heaping Tbsp Carob or Cocoa
Powder
1 tsp salt
2/3 C. brown sugar or sucanat
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
6 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
1 C. Cold Water
1 tsp Vanilla
Sift dry ingredients.
Make three holes in the flour mixture. In one hole pour
oil. In one hole put lemon juice and in the last hole
put vanilla. Pour cold water over all. Stir real
good. Pour into a sprayed cake pan. Bake for 30 to 40
minutes (check often after 25 minutes) at 350 degrees.
I double this recipe. Make it in a heart shaped pan and
top with
whipped cream (you can find
many non-dairy types).
CAROB CANDY
1 3/4 cups
Carob Chips
1/2 cup peanut butter (all
natural)
1 1/2 cups peanuts
Melt Carob bits & peanut
butter in top of double boiler over hot water. When
melted stir in peanuts. Drop by teaspoonfulls onto
waxed paper. Let harden. Options: You can
melt the Carob chips with
peanut butter and pour into a container lined with wax
paper. Smooth out and add a whole raw almond every inch
or so. Before fully hardened score to make little
"candies" (almond joys).
ICE CREAM
Giving up Ice Cream was
hard. But this recipe is so good - that we don't miss
it much. This is non-dairy or eggs, no white sugar, no
chemicals etc. Really good. We served these to those
who came to the Health Seminar in October. This ice
cream turns out best when run through a Champion Juicer
- if you don't have one - you can use an ice cream
maker. Or you can blend in blender (the consistency
won't be as true with a blender but it's still good).
2 1/8 C.
Boiling Water 1/4 tsp
salt
1 Cup raw cashews
(washed) 1 1/2 Tbsp Vanilla
(Pure)
2 Tbsp Emes Kosher-jel
1 Can Coconut Milk *
2 tsp lemon
juice 1 - 12
oune Mori-nu Firm Tofu
1 C. Maple Syrup or Fructose
*find Coconut Milk in the
Oriental section of the grocery store. This is plain
Coconut Milk - no sugar etc.
Blend in
blender the Emes Gelatin with boiling water until very
very smooth. Then add the rest of the ingredients and
blend well. At this point you can pour into an Ice
Cream Maker. If you are going to use a
Champion Juicer or a blender - pour into a shallow
plastic
container or ice cube trays.
When frozen (takes about 24 hours) run through a
Champion Juicer. It will come out like Soft Serve and
you can immediately fill ice cream cones or
put it into a bowl and put back
into the freezer for 1/2 to 1 1/2 hours. Sometimes this
little
time in the freezer makes it
alittle more "icy" like real ice cream is.
Options:
Maple Nut Ice Cream - just add
2 to 3 Tbsp of Maple Extract to the recipe above - then
freeze as usual. Once you've run through the juicer
stir in chopped nuts.
Carob or
Chocolate: Use same recipe as above but decrease
Vanilla to 1 Tbsp, add in 1 tsp Maple Extract, 1/3 C.
Roma (imitation coffee substitute), 1/3 Cup Carob or
Cocoa Powder, 1/4 C. natural peanut butter. Blend well
and freeze as usual.
FOR MORE GREAT RECIPES Check
out our
Healthy Line of Cookbooks!!
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1996-2007 LaCelle Family Ministries 
