Do you celebrate Valentine’s Day in Spanish class? Remember in elementary school when the Valentine’s Day party was the highlight of February?! When students get to middle and high school, Valentine’s Day is rarely celebrated. But it doesn’t have to be that way. You can celebrate love and language with these 8 enchanting activities for Valentine’s Day in Spanish class. These 8 activities are unique and combine elements of culture, language, charity, and of course fun!
I saved my FAVORITE and most unique activity for last on the list, so make sure you read all the way to the end.
Legend of Valentine’s Day in Spanish
It may not be a Hispanic legend, but this fun legend about the origin of Valentine’s Day is a great reading comprehension activity. My version comes with two differentiated versions (novice & intermediate), plus vocabulary activities and retell extension writing activities.
During the Roman Empire, Claudius II prohibited marriage for young soldiers, but St. Valentine performed ceremonies in secret. He was sent to prison for his actions, but performed a miracle and left the legacy of Valentine’s Day messages that we send today.
This is perfect to read before you write any Valentine’s Day cards with your students. I would bet that they have no idea where the tradition of writing valentines came from!
The History of Valentine’s Day
While you’re learning about the origin of Valentine’s Day in Spanish, you can add some more fun facts about the history of Valentine’s Day with this reading. Students will learn about how St. Valentine defied a marriage ban, how Valentine’s cards were first sent, where chocolates and candy hearts come from, plus the annual spending on Valentine’s Day. And with this you also get novice and intermediate versions.
St. Jude’s Hospital Cards
St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital has a great opportunity for your Spanish classes. Your students can write digital Spanish Valentine’s Day cards that will be sent to Spanish-speaking patients. Here is the link to participate and bring a smile to a child’s face. Students can craft their own messages or use pre-written ones. Plus, the cards are designed by patients at the hospital!
Make valentine’s cards
Provide your students with colored paper, markers, scissors, etc. and let them get creative! You may also need to provide some fun phrases for Valentine’s Day in Spanish since these are not common phrases they would already know.
But what will your students do with these cards when done? Here are 5 fun options:
- Send the letters to an elementary Spanish class! Even if the kids only take Spanish once a week, they will love getting mail!
- Exchange Valentine’s Day cards with another world language class to see the different phrases. Maybe your students will still understand the messages!
- Display the cards in the hallway or on a bulletin board to decorate your classroom.
- Similar to what you probably remember from elementary school Valentine’s Day parties. Give each student a brown paper lunch bag to decorate. Then, have each student write a mini Valentine’s Day card to their classmates. They should include a generic Valentine’s message in the target language, and if your class is small enough and knows each other well enough, they can add one thing they admire or like about the student.
- If your school district has a large ESL population of native Spanish-speakers, give these cards to the ESL teacher who can distribute them to the Spanish-speaking students. Getting a fun message in their native language will make them smile.
Odes by Pablo Neruda
Pablo Neruda’s odes are about everyday objects: tomatoes, cats, socks, yet they really evoke strong emotion and feelings… almost like a love poem. Read one of Neruda’s odes and have students find the elements of personification that bring this everyday object to life. Work together to describe how Neruda’s language conveys passion. Grab a complete lesson for Oda al tomate, complete with this ode project!
Take it one step further by having your Spanish students write their own odes or love poems to everyday objects. Below are some examples from my Spanish 4 class when we did this project. Read more here to learn how to use Pablo Neruda’s poems to make poetry fun and comprehensible!
Which Candy Am I? Personality Quiz
Americans spent an estimated $2.2 billion on Valentine’s Day candy in 2022. Between chocolates, conversation hearts, and other sweet treats, that is a LOT of candy! Have your students find out which candy they are based on their personality. This activity for novice high students is great for a lesson on personality traits and qualities. Students take a 10-question Buzzfeed style quiz to find out which candy reflects their personality.
You can learn more about personality quizzes in Spanish class here where I share how to use and make personality quizzes.
Choice Boards for Valentine’s Day in Spanish
There is not much students love more than being able to choose their assignment. Give students options like creating a vocabulary book, writing a letter to St. Valentine, recording a Valentine’s message for a family member, etc. As always, with choice boards, provide options for every type of learner, and with every type of communicative skill in mind: interpersonal, presentational, and interpretive.
Grab this set of novice and intermediate St. Valentine’s Spanish choice boards. Each comes with 16 fun activities, vocabulary, and a rubric. Learn more about designing your own choice boards here.
Create a Match Profile for an Endangered Animal
This activity came to me after listening to the Duolingo Spanish podcast. Episode 66 about Romeo, an endangered species frog from Bolivia. He is searching for Juliet, his future partner to help repopulate his species. Intermediate level students will love learning about this unique twist on Romeo and Juliet. What a romantic story!
The team of researchers created a Match.com profile for Romeo to draw attention to their research and to raise funds for their project. It was meant as a promotional way to bring awareness to this endangered species. As my Spanish 4 students were studying endangered species, I thought what better way to connect to this podcast than to have them create a Match.com profile for another endangered species.
So, just like the team of researchers, my students created online dating profiles for an endangered species, highlighting the natural habitat, description, and personality of the animal in danger of extinction.
You can purchase the entire lesson here and listen to the podcast episode on Duolingo.
Happy Valentine’s Day! Share with me which Valentine’s Day activities you will be doing with your Spanish students. I would love to see pictures of your celebrations of Valentine’s Day in Spanish class. You can tag me on Instagram! And if you liked the activities above, be sure to check out the Valentine’s Day section of my TpT store to see them all!
