Valentine Songs, Games, and Music Activities

Find fun and engaging Valentine songs, games, dances, and activities to fill your K-5 elementary classroom with LOVE! For Valentine’s Day or any time of the year!

(K-2) Valentine Songs & Games

At the Bottom of the Sea

“At the bottom of the sea, all the fish are swimming. Here and there and ev’ry where, oh, “Tommy, Tommy,” we love you.”

I can’t remember where I heard about this song, but it warmed my heart when I heard that the last line is, “Tommy, Tommy. We love you.” I hate to think that there are kids who have never been told that they are loved. EVERYONE is loved in this song.

Here’s how to play.

Also found in “Down In the Valley” by the Amidons.

Valentine Song (to This Old Man)

To the tune of This Old Man
Valentine, valentine.
Won’t you be my valentine?
Number 1, number 2, number 3 it must be you.
Take my heart along with you.

Sitting in a scattered formation or columns and rows is the most fun, although a circle will work, too. The first child is the leader and has a valentine in their hand and walks around the room as the song is sung.

Then, on each of the three numbers, the leader taps the head (or back) of the nearest 3 children. The third child is given the heart, stands up, and holds hands with the leader. The leader continues to slowly walk around the room, meandering in any direction, and when the song gets to the numbers, the child on the end who has the valentine, taps 3 heads and gives the valentine to the third child.

That child stands up, holds hands with the person who gave them the valentine, and now the group of three walks around the room. The game continues until there is only one child left.

When that child gets the valentine, there is only one person left, YOU the teacher. So the end child gets to give the valentine to you.

Five Little Lovebirds

Learn the song using the hand motions in the video.

GAME!
It can become a fun game by putting students in groups of 5 sitting on the floor and at the end of each verse, 1 lovebird flies away (around the room) until none are left sitting on the floor. Add a little coda to have all the lovebirds fly back home.

Check out more early childhood songs from Jenny on Little Kiddos Music Academy!

(Grades 3-6) Valentine Songs & Games

Musical Chairs

I created a safer, finger-saving version of Musical Chairs. Valentine’s Day is the perfect time to use my ready-to-play Spotify playlist to get those love songs out and have some Musical Chair fun!

Valentine Music ACTIVITIES

Love & Friendship K-5 Orff Bundle (K-5)

Valentine Rhythm Building Brick Activity (Gr. 3-5)

This activity is so versatile and could be one lesson or FIVE!

• Brainstorm valentine words that are 1, 2, 3, or 4 sounds.
• Create a 4-beat ostinato as a class and then in small groups. Choose words that you think sound good and create a superior BEAT!
• Share your ostinato using speech and body percussion.
• Transfer the ostinati to instruments.
• Check out Rhythm Building Bricks to expand into a multiple lesson opportunity!

Roses Are Red (Grades 3-6)

This is a wonderful 6/8 Valentine composition and/or improvisation activity for grades 3-5.

Using the classic poem “Roses are Red”, echo speak with body percussion until everyone knows it.

1.  Individuals improvise the poem on pitched percussion/recorders.  When we do this, we start with someone and just proceed all around the room.  I keep a little bass beat on the BX and play a little interlude between each child.  It is so much fun and the 6/8 of course is lilting and beautiful!

2.  Finish the melody activity-On xylophones have students learn DRMS, DRMS for the first two lines of the poem and then they create the melody for the last two lines.  We vote on our favorite and that becomes their class melody.  I usually do it in C pentatonic.  It would work well on recorders in G major.  OR, you could do LDRM in E minor on recorders for a fun and accessible way to finish a melody using the notes EGAB.

3.  Building bricks with 6/8-students brainstorm.  Three eighth note examples are valentine and chocolate.  Dotted quarter examples are love, heart, red, candy.  Put combos together in groups to create B, C, D, E, F, etc. sections in rondo form with the song above as your A section.  Or pick favorite group creation as the B section for a more simple binary form.  These can be transferred to non-pitched percussion.

4.  If you’d like to explore writing poems in the style of “Roses are Red”, try changing the colors and then the rhyming words.

Roses are blue.
Violets are red.
If you agree,
You’ve got rocks in your head.

There’s a Google Slide presentation of the above lesson plan for newsletter members! Join here! ⤵️

I Love the Mountains (3-6)

VIDEOS: Valentine Songs & Activities

Skinnamarink (Prek-Grade 2)

Not just for Valentine’s Day! This classic is your feel-good song all year long! Add fun non-locomotor and locomotor movement and some singing for some active music making!

Love (Grades K-5)

I’d do this one not only because it’s well done with great timing of the animations but because the song makes me so HAPPY! Love performed by Nat King Cole.

Teaching Ideas:

• Grades K-2: Perform the body percussion as is.
• Grades 3-5
  • I’d assign instruments to the stomp-pat-clap-snap.
    • Option 1: Rhythm Sticks can stomp=tap shoes, pat=tap floor, clap=tap sticks together, snap=one stick taps the top flat end of the other stick for a snappy sound.
    • 💡 OR, let the class decide the 4 sounds with their rhythm sticks. Wouldn’t a partner tap be fun somewhere?
    • Option 2: Choose 4 different percussion instruments for the stomp, pat, clap, snap.

⭐️ After trying some of the above ideas, bump up the tempo to 1.25. IT WORKS!

Valentine Rap (Grades 1-2)

Movement and then body percussion reading using quarter notes/rests, eighth note pairs, and half notes. If you hate “shh” for rests, skip this one. It never bothered me so… 😊

Valentine’s Day Percussion Play Along (Prek-2)

Lots of ways to use this video.

• The rhythms can be clapped, assigned a body percussion movement, or played with instruments.
• The quarter notes and eighth notes can be assigned a movement (quarters, pat and eighths, a shoulder shrug) or sound/word (quarters “kiss) sound and eighths “yummy.”