What is Valentine's Day?

What is Valentine’s Day?

Valentine’s Day is the day of love and affection celebrated annually on the 14th of February every year. It’s also known as Saint Valentine’s Day or Feast of Saint Valentine.

Every year, people show their love for one another by sending Valentine’s cards and giving gifts such as chocolates, flowers and teddy bears. These gifts are also themed with love hearts. The colours red and pink are popularly associated with Valentine's Day too.

The History of Valentine's Day for Students

Before it was known as Valentine’s Day, a pagan fertility ritual was held in Rome every February until the Pope abolished it and replaced the festival with Saint Valentine’s Day. From then, it was a feast day in the Catholic Calendar of Saints.

The first person to link Valentine’s Day to romantic love was a poet from the Middle Ages named Chaucer. In the late 14th century, he wrote a poem called ‘Parliament of Fowls’, which describes a group of birds which gathered together to find their mates on ‘seynt valentynes day’.

Now, Valentine’s Day sees all types of love being celebrated- including between friends and family.

The day itself is named after a Catholic priest named Saint Valentine.

Who was Saint Valentine?

Allow us to introduce you to the story behind Valentine's Day. Saint Valentine was a Roman priest from the 3rd century. He was born in 226 AD in Terni, Italy and died on February 14th 269 AD. He is one of a few legendary Christian martyrs who are believed to have been real historical figures. Not only is he the patron saint of lovers, but he is also the saint of beekeepers and epileptics.

During Valentine’s life, many people were converting to Christianity, but the Emperor at the time, Emperor Claudius II, was a pagan and created strict laws for Christians. He believed that Roman soldiers should be completely devoted to Rome and shouldn’t marry, so he passed a law to prevent this. According to legend, St Valentine married these soldiers in secret Christian ceremonies, and this is why he gained a reputation for believing in the importance of love.

After a while, the Emperor found out about Valentine’s actions and jailed him for his crimes. The legend is, that while he was imprisoned, Valentine wrote a letter to his jailer’s daughter and signed it as ‘from your Valentine’.

Teaching your students about the history of Valentine's Day? Take a look at this PowerPoint. You can use this to introduce the story behind Valentine's Day to your children.

Famous Valentine’s Day Poems

Poets have written love poems for Valentine’s Day for centuries. Here are a few you could share with children:

• 'I carry your heart with me' ( I carry it in my heart) by E.E Cummings
• 'I Like Hearts' by Nellie Edge
• 'My Mother’s Chocolate Valentine' by Jack Prelutsky
• 'Going Steady' by Ian Serraillier
• 'The Kangaroo’s Courtship' by Jane Yolen
• 'Valentine’s Chocolate' by Valerie Worth
• 'Smitten' by Patrick Winstanley

Your pupils could then use these poems as inspiration for their very own. You might like to challenge them to write a poem from Saint Valentine's perspective addressed to his beloved, the jailer's daughter. This could help consolidate their understanding of the story behind Valentine's Day.

Valentine’s Day Cards for Children to Make

Valentine’s Day is a fantastic time to be creative and get crafting. Explore Twinkl’s range of Valentine’s Day cards for children to make and help kids to make something special and meaningful.

All of these resources are easy to use and can be downloaded within seconds, so why not spread some love and kindness in your classroom? Here are just a few of our favourites:

• Valentine's Day Mindfulness Heart Cards
• Kindness Messages Valentine's Day Cards
• Valentine's Day I Love You Cards

Valentine's Day Teaching Resources

Our Valentine's Day teaching resources cover a diverse range of subject areas across the curriculum. So, whether you want to teach children about the historical story behind Valentine's Day or plan an exciting series of themed maths lessons, we've got you covered.

KS2 Valentine's Day Code Breaker Maths Differentiated Worksheets

This lovely set of differentiated worksheets will challenge pupils to use their understanding of multiplication, division, and fractions to crack the Valentine's Day code. You can choose the worksheets that you feel best suits your pupils' individual abilities. Alternatively, you can empower pupils to take greater responsibility for their own learning by self-differentiating.

UKS2 St. Valentine's Day 60-Second Reads Activity Pack

Improve your pupils' literacy and understanding of the story behind Valentine's Day with this 60-Second Reads Activity Pack. It features four different Valentine's Day-themed texts, each accompanied by a series of quick questions to help you assess your pupils' reading comprehension abilities. It's ideal for use as part of a series of guided reading sessions.