Suggested Activities for Using Valentine's Day Flashcards:

1. Design a Valentine's Greeting Print out a few sets of our Valentine's Day flashcards. Allow students to choose a picture and create a Valentine's Day card for another student in the school. You could also have students choose blindly so that they don't know which image they are going to get. They could write appropriate words to go under the image to create a Valentine (not for someone specific). Have a class vote to decide which Valentine is the best! Work together to correct the writing.

2. The Perfect Date Invite your students to invent an imaginary couple. (They could cut out a couple from a magazine.) Work together (as a class or in small groups) to gather flashcards as you plan the perfect date for the couple on Valentine's Day. You could also plan a "Nightmare date."

• What will they wear?
• What will they do?
• Where will they go?
• What gifts will they give each other?
• How will they feel?

3. Put the Love Story in Order Spread out the flashcards on a floor or table (in small groups or as a class). Work together to tell a love story line by line. Students take turns picking a flashcard and telling a related line of the story until all of the cards are gone. You could also place the cards face down so that students don't know which card they are going to get. After the story is told orally, you can invite students to write the story out. How many vocabulary words can they remember?

4. Spell Your Heart Out Have a spelling bee with the Valentine's Flashcards. Students choose a card and try to spell the word. If they get it right, give them a heart (write a heart on the board or hand out candy or paper hearts). Who will collect the most hearts?

5. Cupid Says This is a Simon Says variation. Have students take turns being "Cupid." Cupid will have the stack of Valentine's flashcards. They will pick one and tell the other students to do an action related to the card. For example: "Cupid says put on an earring" or "Cupid says blow a kiss" or "Cupid says act like you are heartbroken". If  "Cupid" says  "go to a restaurant" without saying "Cupid says" all of the students who start to act out the flashcard have to sit down. (Cupid can sling an invisible arrow at these students.)

6. Be My Valentine Choose one student to be the "Prince" or "Princess." All of the other students want them to be their Valentine. Have the other students take turns picking a card from the set. Students look at their cards and make a special offer to the royal student related to the card. The "Prince" or "Princess" has to decide whose offer is the best. For example: Student A chooses the "rose" card: I will buy you roses for Valentine's Day. Will you be my Valentine? Student B chooses "movie theatre": I will take you to a movie theatre. Will you be mine? Student C chooses "chocolate cake'" I will bake you a chocolate cake. Will you be my Valentine? Princess: I love flowers. Red roses are my favourite. You can be my Valentine, Student A.

7. Find your Valentine Print out two sets of the Valentine's flashcards (use only enough for the amount of people in your class). If you have an uneven amount of students, the teacher should play too. Give each person a card. Students should not show each other the card they received. Students will go around the room trying to find a match. They can't say the word they are, but they can describe their word using other words. They can't ask the same question twice! For example: Student A has the 'ring' flashcard. A: Hi, are you a piece of jewelry? B: No, sorry. A: Hi, can I put you on my finger? C: Ha! No, I don't think so. A: Are you made of gold? D: Yes! Can I buy you at a jewelry shop? A: Yes! Are you a ring? D: Yes! You are my Valentine. (The first partners to find each other come in 1st place. Put the 1st, 2nd, 3rd place partnerships on the board. Continue until all of the match ups are made.)

Create your own Valentine's Day Materials and Notices

Will you be creating your own Valentine's Day worksheets and quizzes? Will you be sending home notices or newsletters? As a subscriber, you are licensed to use ESL Library Flashcards in your worksheets and quizzes (not for publishing online, sorry).

Related Valentine's Day Lessons in the ESL Library

• Valentine's Day (Beginner) – Holidays & Events
• Valentine's Day (Low-Intermediate) – Holidays & Events
• Valentine's Day (High-Intermediate) – Holidays & Events
• Soulmates – Discussion Starters
• Online Dating – Discussion Starters
• The Love Canal – Famous Places
• Going to a Movie – Everyday Dialogues
• Ordering at a Restaurant – Everyday Dialogues