Valentines Day has its roots in ancient Rome and early Christian traditions. It is believed to have originated as a celebration of Saint Valentine, a priest who secretly performed marriages for couples when Emperor Claudius II outlawed them.

Over time, the day became associated with love and romance, especially during the Middle Ages, when poets like Geoffrey Chaucer wrote about courtly love. By the 18th century, people in England began exchanging handwritten notes and small tokens of affection, a tradition that spread around the world.

Today, Valentines Day is celebrated on February 14 as a day to express love, appreciation, and kindness to those we care about.

Valentines Day is a wonderful holiday to celebrate in the classroom because it promotes the ideas of love, kindness, and appreciation for one another.

These values tie in beautifully with the universal language of music, which often serves as a way for people to express their deepest emotions, including love and connection.

Whether it’s through heartfelt lyrics, melodies that stir emotions, or rhythms that bring people together, music is a powerful tool for showing care and building relationships.

In the music classroom, we can explore how songs communicate feelings of love and friendship, and we can even create our own musical messages to celebrate the special people in our lives. This makes Valentines Day a perfect opportunity to highlight the emotional power of music while building a sense of community and joy.

There are lots of ideas that one could use for teaching a music lesson on Valentines Day.

One idea might be to teach students a simple love-themed song, such as “You Are My Sunshine” or “Skidamarink,” and incorporate movement or rhythm instruments.

Another idea is to have students create “Musical Valentines” by composing short melodies or rhythms to represent a special message or feeling for someone they care about. There are many age-appropriate composition ideas in the Fun Music Company curriculum program that could be adapted for this idea on Valentines Day.

Today we want to share with you two variations of a Valentines Day listening game, which are both fun and educational for students. Then we have a fun ukulele play-along to share with you, suitable for Valentines Day.

The first one suits younger students, and the second one slightly older elementary students. Either could easily be included in a Valentines Day music lesson plan for primary or elementary school.

Please see this video for an explanation of this game:

This game is a simple Valentines matching game, with the prompt:

Match each person with a style of music you think they would love.

Some slides have music, and others have pictures. For example, this image of a violin player, is matched with the music of the violin playing.

To play the game, simply click the icon below, and the game should load into a new browser window. Save this link as a bookmark for use in the classroom.

When pairs are matched, they will stay on the screen, making the game easier as it goes through. 

Have students take turns to come to the board, and turn over two slides until you match them all.

Click to open classroom resource in a new window.
Bookmark this page for use in the classroom.

Please see this video for an explanation of this game:

This game uses a worksheet, and a screen that has five musical examples, marked A, B, C, D and E.

This game uses the same concept as the first lesson idea, with almost the same prompt:

Connect each person which the musical example which you think they will love.

The twist is this: there is not really a ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answer!

This lesson could be used as a follow up to the first lesson and students may be expecting that there is a right or wrong answer, but there is not.

For example, we might look at this worksheet and assume that the man with the tattoos is into heavy metal music. However, he may just as well like jazz or classical music!

This may help define a beautiful learning moment for students – that we should not make assumptions about people based on the way that they look. Either way, it will make for a fun discussion on different styles of music.

Click and the resource will open in a new window.
Bookmark the resource to it to use it anytime in the classroom.

Click to see a preview of the animation:

Using ukulele in the classroom?

Valentines day can be a wonderful, fun day in the music classroom.

Whether you’re wanting to play a quick valentines day matching game, give them a worksheet, or play the ukulele!

So enjoy these lessons, and leave a comment to let us know what lessons your students enjoy on valentines day. Also let us know what other special occasion days are you looking for ideas for? We would love to help create them for you.