Fun and Healthy Valentine’s Day Activities for Students

Valentine’s Day in the classroom typically features an avalanche of chocolates, conversation hearts, and sugar highs — but you don’t have to join the chaos! With a bit of foresight, you can plan fun and healthy Valentine’s Day activities for students that they’ll love as much as the candy kind. In this post, we’ll go over a few creative ideas that focus on red and pink fruit instead of sweets. 

Why Red and Pink Fruit? 

By planning your Valentine’s Day fun around red and pink fruit this February, you can stick to the holiday color scheme without worrying about sugar-crashed kiddos. In fact, they’ll get a health boost from the nutrient-dense, naturally sweet, high-fiber fruits you share. 

You can also work nutrition education into your holiday curriculum, and may even be able to take advantage of grant funds to cover your costs. 

Fun February Fruits to Try 

Strawberries, raspberries, apples, and pink-centered Cara Cara navel oranges are great options to look for at the grocery store or your local farmers’ market. You can also broaden kids’ food horizons by introducing them to unique fruits like variegated pink lemons, dragon fruit, passion fruit, red pears, and blood oranges. All of those fruits are available for California schools in February 2024 through The FruitGuys’ Farm-to-School Program, and many of them are even grown locally.

“Blood oranges, Cara Cara oranges, strawberries, and pink lemons will all be in season in California this Valentine’s Day, and we may even see some local raspberries,” says Carol Stewart, The FruitGuys’ director of school program development. “Ordering these fruits for your classrooms, recesses, or food service meal plans is a great way to expose kids to local foods they may never have tried. It can also help you start a conversation about hard-working farmers and the benefits of eating seasonally.” 

Once you have your supply of red and pink fruit in hand, try one of these three fun Valentine’s Day activities for students. 

#1 Host a Fruit Tasting & Debate

Lay out a selection of delicious and eye-catching fruits and invite the kids to try them. They can load up a plate with samples of each type, then vote on their favorites. If you’re tasting blood oranges or Cara Cara navel oranges, try teaching the kids the “roll” technique to make peeling their fruits easier. 

Loosen the skin of the orange by rolling it firmly on your desk for 20–30 seconds. To start peeling, gently puncture the skin with your thumbnail near the top or bottom of the orange.

For a more complex activity, consider splitting the kids into groups and assigning a different fruit to each group. They can make a poster about it based on the nutrition education materials you share, debate why their assigned fruit is the best, or depict the fruit in a Valentine’s Day-themed art project. 

#2 Write Poems Or Love Letters To Your Favorite Fruits 

To inspire your kiddos after they taste their fruits, consider sharing the famous plum poem “This is Just to Say” by William Carlos Williams or the simple verses of “The Orange” by Wendy Cope. You can also check out this roundup of some of the best entries to The FruitGuys’ 2023 fruit poem contest! Here’s one of our favorites. 

Clementines Be Mine
by Kathy DeFilippo

Clementine please be mine
I think of you and how I pine,

I love your fragrance and your sweet
Honestly you’re tough to beat!

With a bit of guidance, the kids in your classroom could easily copy this poem’s four-line format and coupled rhyme scheme (AA BB).

#3 Make Cards With Funny Fruit Puns 

When it comes to fruit puns, the options are practically endless. Here are our top picks for this classic Valentine’s Day activity with a fruit-loving twist. After tasting fresh fruit, the kids can make these cards for a parent, family member, teacher, mentor, or friend.

• “I love you berry much.”

• “You’re abso-fruitly amazing!”

• “You make everything peachy.”

• “You’re one in a melon!” 

• “We make a great pear.” 

• “You’re the apple of my eye.” 

• “I’m bananas for you!” 

• “I’d always pick you.” 

• “I think you’re berry special.”

• “Orange you glad we’re friends? I sure am.”

Hopefully, these Valentine’s Day activities for students inspire you to try something new in your classroom and provide a chaos-free and fruitful Valentine’s Day! 

Note: This material is for informational purposes only, and should not be considered expert educational guidance or advice.