Valentine's Day Games for kids to Improve Social Skills

Diana Cortese Author

Here are three interactive Social Skills activities for Valentine's Day that focus on friendship and improving social communication skills.

Valentine's Day Games for Kids to Improve Social Skills

Looking for fun Valentine’s Day activities for kids that also support social skills development? These three interactive "Pal"-entine's Day games help children practice turn-taking, teamwork, communication, and flexible thinking while celebrating the holiday in an exciting way. Perfect for classroom Valentine’s Day parties, small group activities, speech therapy sessions, and social-emotional learning (SEL) lessons.

1. Find the Heart! Hot or Cold Game 

This classic hot and cold game with a Valentine’s twist helps kids develop social awareness, kindness, and listening skills.

Prep:
✓Cut out hearts from construction paper.
✓Write each student’s name on a heart.
✓Tape a small Valentine’s Day treat to the back.

How to Play:
One child closes their eyes or briefly steps out of the room. Another student hides a heart somewhere in the room while the rest of the group watches.

The searching child returns and looks for the heart while classmates give clues by saying “hot” or “cold” (let them be dramatic if they like e.g. “burning hot lava!”).

Once they find the heart, they check the name written on it and give it to that classmate while saying, “Happy Valentine’s Day!”

It's important that they give the heart and candy to a peer and not just find their own. Doing so in the context of a fun game builds the association that giving something doesn't mean a loss as they too, will get a heart and candy from a peer. It also keeps everyone engaged as they are eager to find out whose name will be on the back of the heart.

2.Valentine’s Day Guessing Game! 

This Valentine’s Day Taboo word game is perfect for building expressive language, problem-solving, and social communication skills. It works great for speech therapy sessions, social skills groups, and parties.

How to Play:
Write Valentine’s Day-related words on index cards (e.g., friendship, hug, chocolate, kindness, heart, flowers).
One student picks a card and describes the word without saying any of the "forbidden" words listed (e.g., if the word is "chocolate," they can't say "candy" or "sweet"). The rest of the group guesses the word!

This game encourages kids to pause, think about their words, and adjust their communication so others understand. Doing so really works on the self-regulation and the executive functioning skills of working memory and inhibitory control too. 

Students take turns trying to have the rest of their class or team guess the word on the card without saying any forbidden words. I love this game as they have to stop and think to figure out how best to communicate in a way their peers will understand. I specifically only put words that students understand and are positive associations with friendship and Valentine's Day.

Find My Heart Match! 

Prep:
✓Cut foam hearts into puzzle-piece shapes, ensuring each heart has only one perfect match.
✓Hide all the heart pieces around the room.

How to Play:
Each child finds starts by finding one half of a heart. They then search the room to find the person who has the matching half. Once they find their match, they give each other a high five to celebrate! You can repeat for as many halves of hearts you have.

This activity helps kids practice social engagement, collaboration, and recognizing others as valuable team members. This is what builds positive peer relationships and social-emotional growth.

These Valentine's Day social skills activities offer a fun and engaging way to support children's social-emotional growth. Incorporating these games into your Valentine's Day celebrations provides a natural and playful context for practicing important skills like communication, teamwork, and positive interactions. Remember to adapt the activities to suit the individual needs and abilities of the children you're working with. By combining holiday fun with focused skill-building, you can create meaningful learning experiences that help children develop stronger friendships and greater social confidence. Happy Valentine's Day!

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Categories: : friendship, social skills, valentine's day