Raddish Kids had a heart-warming lesson this month about different ways that cultures celebrate love, specifically on Valentine’s Day, but also throughout the year. As a kindergartner, Travis is working on learning and showing empathy, so it was a nice lesson to make things concrete. First, we spent a few nights devoting story time to books about love, including:

• Snuggle Puppy by Sandra Boynton
• Best Friends (Owen and Mzee) by Isabella and Craig Hatkoff
• Mama, Do You Love Me? by Barbara M. Joose

After each one, we discussed the type of love relationship it entailed. Sometimes it was two friends, sometimes a parent and child, and sometimes members of different species! This was a great jumping-off point for talking about what love means, and how we might express love differently towards different people (or animals).

Travis said he shows love to a parent by hugging, but love to a friend by playing.

Raddish provided lots of links to learn more about other cultures’ love traditions, including silly bits like how to say “love” in Klingon. Some made Travis giggle, like walking barefoot in Slovenia. Overall, though, this section of the lesson was geared towards older children and Travis was too antsy to sit and go through all of the customs.

Instead, we jumped ahead to the project: making up his own love celebration. The provided worksheet helped direct Travis’s thinking, but he gave a lot of silly answers before honing in on a real idea.

He wanted to celebrate sibling love (aww!) so we ended up combining this with a winter picnic for Veronika.

I loved watching them play and share the moment together!

Finally, we put together a Love Jar. Decorate any container you like, whether a shoe box or a mason jar or anything in between. Travis drew designs on a mason jar with permanent markers, including hearts and arrows.

I left out post-it notes by the jar with the idea that he can write down a moment he appreciated or loved each day.

Reading these out can become a special moment each week! We finished off all the heart-shaped fun with a quick compound word game from Raddish, filling in the blanks on “broken hearts” to complete each word.