5 Valentine's Day Treat Ideas

Valentine's Day is next week and schools all across the country will be hosting class parties filled with fun games, candy conversation hearts, and yummy food. As a former room parent, I always loved organizing the class Valentine's Day party. From planning activities to encouraging parents to sign up to volunteer or bring treats, what I loved most about these parties was the delivering of cards to each person's box. Watching students turn slightly blushed by pre-printed Valentine's Day greetings always amused me. My most second favorite aspect of these parties has always been the food. Ideally parties should have a balance of healthy snacks and sweet treats. A few healthy snack ideas:

• Strawberries make the the perfect Valentine's Day fruit because of their natural heart-shaped form and vibrant color.  
• Raspberry and granola yogurt parfaits in 2 oz. cups is another healthy snack kids love. 
• If you have a mini heart-shaped cookie cutter, try using it to cut heart-shaped pieces from thinly sliced cheese.

As for special treats, I always appreciated when parents would bring creative homemade treats. Looking for inspiration for my daughter's class party this year, I stumbled on these 5 creative ideas I found on new-to-me-blogs. I hope you are inspired by these ideas, too! * To find the recipe, click on the blog author's name underneath each photo.

Heart Shaped Frosted cookies with detailed tutorial by Glorious Treats.

Chocolate Covered (homemade) Marshmallow Pops by A Farmgirl's Dabbles.

Red Velvet Thumbprint Cookies by The Galley Gourmet.

Raspberry Lemonade Cupcakes by Baking Confessions.

Mini Sugar Cookie Bracelets by Food + Words.