Three Real-Food Valentine Celebration Tips for Real Kids

 I woke up this morning thinking about Valentine's day.  How do I create a sense of occasion without turning the day into the marathon-o'-sugar that was Christmas this year?  

Here's what I've come up with so far:

1.  Serve heart-shaped pancakes for breakfast.  I'll use a favorite whole-grain pancake recipe and a cookie cutter or a heart-shaped pancake ring to make a fun start to the day.

Fox Run Egg/Pancake Ring Available at Amazon

This recipe for Cranberry Oatmeal Pancakes from Tammy's Recipes might be fun to make heart-shaped.

Photo from Tammy's Recipes

 

2.  Serve Heart-Shaped Mini-Muffins as a Snack.    My kids have been loving the basic muffin recipe from the GNOWFLGLINS  blog with zucchini as an add in.  Yum!  I'm thinking this heart pan (available at Amazon) will be perfect. 

3.  Make Heart-Shaped Crayons to Attach to Valentines.  Since I'm going to get a pan heart-shaped pan, I plan to put it to use to make these crayons I've seen all over Pinterst lately:

This picture from uklassinus.blogspot.com.

Last year I think I was the only one of 24 preschool parents who did not attach candy to the valentines my son exchanged.  My plan to resist the candy peer-pressure, but avoid looking like a grinch this year?  Attach these colorful heart-crayons to our valentine cards instead.

My kids love a project, so making them will create a sense of occasion for my own children; sharing these instead of candy will keep us from contributing to the collective sugar over-load.  Does any preschooler really need to come home from school on February 14th with 23 pieces of candy? 

How do you create a sense of occasion for your kids without getting overwhelmed by the sugar-craziness?

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