Friendship is the focus of Valentine’s Day for most preschoolers, so that should be the emphasis of the books and activities you choose for the theme. Making homemade Valentine cards is always a great activity, and allows for more creativity than a structured craft project. Another fun activity is simple friendship bracelets, made from toilet paper tubes decorated with tissue paper collage from Fine Craft Guild.
Bond, Felicia. THE DAY IT RAINED HEARTS. Originally published as Four Valentines in a Rainstorm, Cordelia is walking home when it begins to rain hearts.
Capucilli, Alyssa. BISCUIT’S VALENTINE’S DAY. A puppy and little girl deliver valentine’s greetings.
Carr, Jan. SWEET HEARTS. A panda family cuts out valentine hearts and decorates the house. The paper collage illustrations will inspire preschoolers to make homemade valentine cards.
Demas, Corinne. VALENTINE SURPRISE. A little girl makes a valentine heart for her mother.
Hayes, Geoffrey. A VERY SPECIAL VALENTINE. In this simple board book with a pop-up valentine, Tyler makes his mother a card.
Henkes, Kevin. LILLY’S CHOCOLATE HEART. Lilly saves her candy heart but tries to find a perfect place to hide it.
Petersen, David. SNOWY VALENTINE. Jasper Bunny searches for the perfect gift for Lilly.
Poydar, Nancy. RHYME TIME VALENTINE. The wind blows away the valentines Ruby made for her class, so she figures out another way to spread her friendship greetings.
Rylant, Cynthia. IF YOU’LL BE MY VALENTINE. A brief rhyming tale of a boy making valentines for his family.
Schaefer, Lola. GUESS WHO? A FOLDOUT VALENTINE’S ADVENTURE. Simple rhyming clues will help the audience guess which animal is hidden in each picture.
Scotton, Rob. LOVE, SPLAT. Splat the Cat has a special valentine for someone in his class.
Also see the previous Valentine’s Day storytime ideas page from December 2002.