Valentine’s Day: Saying ‘I Love You’

Saying ‘I love you’ and showing it with actions

by Revd Trevor Donnelly (revised, originally published in 2006)

Suitable for Whole School (Pri)

Aims

To encourage us to say ‘I love you’ and ‘thank you’ when appropriate.

Preparation and materials

• Have available a list of suitable books, films or TV shows to use in a game of charades.

Assembly

1. Begin by saying that you want to play a game called charades, which is all about communication. Ask if any of the children know the rules, and then either explain the rules to everyone, or ask a willing volunteer to do so.
   
   Charades involves miming words that others must guess. (Decide how much detail to go into, such as using certain signs for small words, syllables, whole words and so on.)
   
   Choose age-appropriate titles for the children to guess, such as Bob the Builder, Peppa Pig, Blue Peter, Dr Who and Harry Potter.
   
   
2. Play the game a few times, choosing volunteers from the oldest year first so that they can demonstrate the game to the younger ones.
   
   
3. After the last game, ask the children to think about the titles that they found difficult to guess. Explain that it can be extremely hard to understand what someone is trying to tell you if they don’t use words. Explain that sometimes, in real life, we can make it hard for the people around us if we don’t tell them important things.
   
   
4. Remind the children that there is a special day in February called Valentine’s Day.
   
   You may want to mention a little bit about St Valentine. There are actually two saints called Valentine, and they are both remembered on 14 February. They both lived in the third century AD, and both were killed during the Roman Empire’s persecution of Christians. One was a priest and doctor, the other a bishop.
   
   
5. The linking of Valentine’s Day with romance came hundreds of years later, in the Middle Ages. It is said to have originated with the idea that birds began to choose their mates on 14 February.
   
   
6. Ask if anyone knows what people send and receive on Valentine’s Day. Explain that cards are another way of communicating a message without saying it aloud.
   
   
7. Explain that Valentine’s cards are usually just a bit of fun. However, it can be really important to tell people that we love them - especially our families and friends. It is good to let people know that we love them, or just that we are glad that they are part of our lives.
   
   Friends, family and the people who look after us may not be able to guess how we feel about them, so it is good to tell them.

Time for reflection

Let’s close our eyes and take a moment to think about the people who are important to us.

- Let’s think about our friends.
- Let’s think about our family.
- Let’s think about the people who care for us.
- Let’s think about how we can show or tell them that we love them.
- Let’s think about how we can thank them for their love and care.

Let’s decide to tell them today, or as soon as we can.

Prayer
Dear God,
We thank you for all the people who are important to us.
Help us to tell them what they mean to us.
Help us to say ‘I love you’.
Help us to say ‘thank you’.
Help our actions to show that we mean what we say.
Amen.

Song/music

‘It’s a new day’ (Come and Praise, 106)