For many children, Valentines Day first becomes important in kindergarten. Some teachers encourage kids to make and decorate individual boxes to hold anticipated valentines. Others have a single box in which children can deposit valentines for other people. Sometimes, the holiday is used as a way of teaching children about sending and receiving mail. Time is also spent making valentines for family members. Frequently, there is a class party and great excitement as valentines are distributed.

Its an event fraught with possibilities for hurt feelings because it becomes a competitive measure of popularity. What if one child gets more valentines than anyone else? What about the kids who get only a few? What if a child doesnt get any? In the younger grades, many teachers cope with this dilemma by insisting that kids who give valentines must give them to everyone in the class.The spirit of equal opportunity valentines is the best solution for a classroom, but giving valentines to people for whom you dont have special feelings or whom you may not even like does send a confusing message to children about meaningful gift giving. You can use this broad gift giving as a way to help teach children tolerance and an appreciation of differences among their classmates.