Spreading Kindness on Valentine's Day

Take the focus off the Valentines the students are receiving and put it on the kindness and empathy they can share.

Valentine's Day is almost here. I thought I'd share an easy way to take the focus off the Valentines the kids are receiving and putting it on the kindness and empathy they can share.

This is one of my favorite books. (Clicking on the link will take you to Amazon, where you can purchase the book. Note - I get a very small commission when you use my link to purchase, but it doesn't cost you anything.)


I loved reading the book to my students. They could easily identify with Mr. Hatch since there were times when all of them had felt lonely. We talked about how he felt after he received the anonymous gift.

Then I talked about how wonderful it felt for us to get Valentines from our classmates and our friends, how that made us feel loved. I said I loved the Valentines I got from my class, but that not all the adults in the school had a homeroom class to give them Valentines. We brainstormed a list of everyone that might be in that position - custodians, people who worked in the front office, cafeteria workers, teachers who provide pull-out services. Then each student selected one of the people from the list and made a special Valentine for them. We decided to sign them with this closing - From Someone Who Loves You. We thought that might make them think of all the people in the school who truly cared about them, like Mr. Hatch did.

At the end of the day, I slipped the Valentines into the mailboxes of the people who were to receive them. I lingered in the area so that I could hear any comments made and relay them to the students. My class was so excited to hear that they had a hand in making some of our special employees feel the Valentine's love.

Take the focus off the Valentines the students are receiving and put it on the kindness and empathy they can share.

If you try this with your students, please let me know. It will make me feel loved.

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