Taken from my post February 12, 2006.

For those of you looking for some "school" ideas for Valentine's Day, here's some fun stuff to drive home the true meaning of "love"...

For those of you who have children that are old enough to see "The Passion", this would be a wonderful reminder of what Christ did for them.  It could be done as a tradition every year as a reminder of love.  If you're children are too young for this, an idea might be to watch parts of the show (and fast forward others) or possibly watch one of the other movies about Christ's suffering for us because of His love.

Ask your little kids if they have sinned this week (this is a great opportunity to explain what sin is)  Depending on the spiritual maturity of your children, you may also want to discuss Matthew 5:21-22  "You're familiar with the command to the ancients, 'Do not murder.' I'm telling you that anyone who is so much as angry with a brother or sister is guilty of murder. Carelessly call a brother 'idiot!' and you just might find yourself hauled into court. Thoughtlessly yell 'stupid!' at a sister and you are on the brink of hellfire. The simple moral fact is that words kill. (The Message)  and James 1:13-15 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. (NIV)  Have some rocks for the children to take for every sin they would like to ask forgiveness for.  Take some sculpting clay (or even homemade play-doh) and have them make it in the shape of a heart (older ones could even make it three demensional).  Then, take the rocks (symbolizing their sins) and put them in the heart (symbolizing John 3:16) and reminding them that their sins are forgiven.  If you use sculpting clay, you can also paint it when it dries and they would have it to keep as a constant reminder, and it makes a great paper weight as well!

Another thing to do to stress this verse, is to take a red permanent marker and place a red dot in the palm of their hands to remind them of Christ's love for us.  (You could also take a heart sticker or red marker and draw a heart on the outside of their hand to remind them how much you love them.)


The Princess and the Kiss: A Story of God's Gift of Purity is a great book for girls and boys, as it teaches about purity and a love given to one another in marriage.  It's such a touching story that I cry everytime I read it... EVERYtime!  I wish that it had been read to me as a little girl.  I might have made different choices, and certainly would have had a different idea of what "love" was.  Because of the wonderful message in this book, I say it's for all ages (high school included) because when it comes to purity, I don't think you're ever to old to hear such wonderful and biblically sound advice!  (If you wanted to expand on this, there is a color book available, along with "Life Lessons from Princess and the Kiss" a devotional/curriculum that expands on the teachings from the book.)

The Squire and the Scroll: A Tale of the Rewards of A Pure Heart is a great book especially for boys (and by the same author as The Princess and the Kiss), but could be used for girls as well.  Another wonderful story about guarding your heart against the enemy.  There is also a color book available, along with the recently released "Life Lessons from Squire and the Scroll" (which I don't have yet, but it's on my "wish list" since I really love the one from Princess and the Kiss).


And here's some more wonderful reading material... please leave a comment and share any that you've read that would be particularly good for Valentine's Day...

• Max Lucado's version of the bible story found in John 6 is wonderful in his story "Small Gifts in God's Hands".  This is another story I cry while reading (so I'm a bawl-baby okay?).  Certainly gets to the heart about how no gift is small in God's hands.
• I Love You As Much... is a great book for elementary kids with beautiful pictures and wonderful one sentence lines about a mother's love.  It's probably geared for the smaller child, however, I love to set all of mine down to hear me read it to them.
• The Legend of the Valentine: An Inspriational Story of Love and Reconciliation has a great message for all of us and also some history about Valentine's Day.  It's a good book about forgiveness (who couldn't read that?).
• I Love You the Purplest is a book I got when I just had my two boys.  I love it!  It talks about how a mother loves each boy in a different color (I love you the redest...) as a way to show them how much she loves them because they're special.  Since I first got the book, we've added colors to each child (we have almost the whole eight pack of crayons now!).  Wonderful book to explain how a mother can love ALL of her children.
• Guess How Much I Love You is a great book for the little ones and I took the phrase from the book, "I love you all the way to the moon and back again", and changed it with, "I love you all the way to heaven and back".
• Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me is a great book... especially for fathers to read to their daughters.  It's a "fun" book as well, because the pages unfold into bigger pages, so kids love to read this one!  This is a favorite of mine to hear Mike read to our daughters (and they love it as well!).
• Butterfly Kisses is A Little Golden Book and it's another one that I cry when I hear Mike read (although I think he does too).  It's, of course, another one for a father to read to his little girl and is written after the popular song "Butterfly Kisses".  Another great one to strengthen that father/daughter bond.
• No Matter What is a cute book and can be read by fathers or mothers (as it's about "Small" (the child) and "Large" the parent.  It reassures the child of a parent's unconditional love, and could certainly be used to explain the love that our Heavenly Father has for us as well.  My boys still love hearing this one (ages seven and nine... another timeless one).
• Parables for Kids Series: Adam Raccoon and At Forever Falls is a wonderful book about the story of what Christ did for us, and a wonderful way to explain salvation.  (I've read a couple of other books in the series and have loved those as well.)  It gives the younger ages of 4-7 for these books, however, because they are directly related to biblical truths through stories, it was fun to see how the "light bub" clicked on and my nine year old realized where the story was going.  A great way to introduce what "allegory" is as well!

Regardless of how you celebrate, or don't celebrate, Valentine's Day... the 14th is a good way to stress the true meaning of love in a world that definitely has used up the word and its meaning (I love you... I love ice-cream... I love that idea...)  What does love mean anymore?  Take the time to share with your children the true meaning of love and safely tuck it away in their hearts so they will not forget it.  As homeschoolers, math and reading are important... but remember... it's their hearts the Lord sees first.  (The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7)  How are you tending the hearts you've been given charge of?

Serving HIS Purpose,
Amy