Valentine Classroom Games About Friendship, With Rules and Minutes

25 games for a Valentine's Day class party, about friendship, not romance, with paper hearts in place of candy.

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Who Took the Valentine?Whole class in a circle, 5 to 10 minutes, nothing. Grades K to 2. Set a steady beat: pat knees, clap, pat, clap. The class chants "Who took the valentine from the mailbox?" and you name a pupil. That pupil answers "Who, me?", the class says "Yes, you", the pupil says "Not me", the class asks "Then who?", and the pupil names someone who has not had a turn, all without losing the beat. It is the old cookie jar chant with new words. With kindergarten, slow the beat right down.

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All 25 games

Relays and moving games 7

Fly Through the Heart Teams of 4 or 5, 10 to 15 minutes, a sheet of paper each and a sheet of poster board with a heart cut out of the middle. Grades 2 to 8. Cut a heart-shaped hole about 18 inches wide in a sheet of poster board, and hang it in a doorway or between two chairs. Every pupil folds one paper airplane. Teams line up 5 steps back and throw in turn, scoring 1 point for each plane that passes through the heart. After every round the line moves one step back. Planes fly only toward the heart, and never while someone is collecting. Short, wide planes fly steadier than long darts.
Grab the Heart Two teams on facing lines, 10 to 15 minutes, a red beanbag. Grades 2 to 6. Two teams stand on facing lines, and each team numbers off, so every pupil has an opposite number. Put the beanbag heart in the middle. Call a number, or a sum such as 12 minus 8. The two pupils with that number come out. Whoever gets the heart home without being tagged scores 2, and a tag on the carrier scores 1 for the tagger. Walking feet only indoors. Call every number once before you repeat one.
Heart Hunt Whole class, 10 minutes, paper hearts hidden around the room, 3 for every pupil. Grades K to 3. Before the class comes in, hide 3 paper hearts for every pupil, some easy and some hard. Each pupil may collect exactly 3 and then sits down, so nobody ends with a pile while someone else has none. A pupil who has finished may point out a heart to a classmate but may not pick it up. Write a letter on each heart and the hunt gains a second round: which table can spell the longest word with its hearts?
Heart Toss Tic-Tac-Toe Two teams to a grid, 10 minutes, a 3 by 3 grid of tape on the floor and 5 beanbags per team in two colors. Grades 1 to 6. Tape a grid of 9 squares on the floor and put a paper heart in the middle of each. Teams take turns to throw a beanbag from a line 3 steps back. A beanbag claims the square it lands in unless the square is taken, and one that lands on a line comes back. Three in a row wins. With 25 pupils, tape 3 grids for 6 small teams, then let the winners meet. A miss hands the other team the next throw.
Musical Hearts Whole class, 10 minutes, a numbered paper heart per pupil taped to the floor, number slips in a cup and music you can pause. Grades K to 5. Tape the numbered hearts to the floor in a loop, one per pupil. While the music plays, everyone walks the loop. When it stops, each pupil stands on the nearest heart, one to a heart. Draw a number from the cup. The pupil on that heart chooses how the whole class moves next: on tiptoe, in giant steps, backward. No hearts are taken away and nobody is out, which is the difference from musical chairs.
Special Delivery Relay Teams of 5 or 6, 10 to 15 minutes, 10 envelopes per team, a different color for each team. Grades 1 to 6. Give every desk an address made of a row letter and a seat number, so C4 is the third row, fourth seat. Each team has a stack of 10 envelopes, each addressed to a desk. Runners take the top envelope, deliver it to that desk and come back to tag the next runner. Then check the desks. Every envelope on the right desk scores 1, and finishing first adds 2. For older classes, write B(2 x 3) in place of B6.
Spoon-to-Spoon Heart Pass Lines of 5 or 6, 5 to 10 minutes, a plastic spoon each, and 2 bowls and 10 red pom-poms or foam hearts per line. Grades K to 5. Each team stands in a line, every pupil holding a spoon, with a full bowl at one end and an empty bowl at the other. The first pupil scoops up a heart and tips it into the next spoon, and so on down the line, spoon to spoon, with the free hand behind the back. A dropped heart goes back to the first bowl. The first line to move all 10 wins. Then play a round in silence, which is harder.

Friendship and circle games 9

Friendship Bingo Whole class, 10 to 15 minutes, a bingo card of 24 prompts and a pencil each. Grades 1 to 8. Each square holds a prompt. Pupils walk around asking classmates, and a classmate who fits signs the square. The rule that makes it work: no name may appear twice on a card. With 24 squares around a free middle, a full card in a class of 25 needs every classmate once. Play for a line first, then for a full card. Twenty-four prompts: has a younger sister; can whistle; was born in winter; has been to another state; has a pet that is not a cat or a dog; walks to school; can say hello in another language; plays a musical instrument; is left-handed; has a birthday in the same month as you; can swim; likes math best; has as many letters in their first name as you; has an older brother; can ride a bike; woke up before 7 today; likes rainy days; can name 5 planets; shares your favorite color; has planted a seed; has been camping; can cook one thing; has read a book this week; likes the same sport as you.
Heart, Heart, Who Has the Heart? Whole class in a circle, 10 minutes, a small felt or paper heart. Grades K to 3. Pupils sit in a circle with palms pressed together. One pupil holds a small heart between flat hands and goes around, sliding their hands through each pair in turn and secretly leaving the heart with someone. The class chants the title, and 3 pupils each get one guess at who has it. A right guesser goes around next, and if nobody is right the holder does. It is the old game of button, button with a heart.
Just Like Me Whole class, 5 minutes, nothing. Grades K to 5. Read statements one at a time. Every pupil it fits stands up, looks around to see who else is standing, says "just like me" and sits down again. Ten to read: I have a pet, I like rainy days, I have moved house, I am the oldest child, I like to draw, I have been on a boat, I know words in two languages, I have read the same book twice, I like spicy food, I would rather be too hot than too cold. After your 10, pupils offer their own. Nobody wins. The point is that pupils find something in common with classmates they rarely talk to.
Kind Acts Charades Pairs act, the class guesses, 10 to 15 minutes, slips of paper with a kind act on each. Grades 1 to 6. Each slip names a kind act that takes two people. Ten to write out: holding a door for someone with full hands, sharing an umbrella, helping a friend up after a fall, teaching someone to tie a shoe, inviting someone into a game, picking up someone's dropped books, carrying a heavy box together, lending a pencil, pushing someone on a swing and freeing a stuck coat zipper. A pair draws a slip, takes 30 seconds to plan and mimes it without a word while the class guesses. The next pair along goes next. Finish by asking which of these acts anyone has seen in school this week.
Kind Words Pass-Around Whole class at desks, 15 to 20 minutes, a large paper heart and a pencil each. Grades 2 to 8. Every pupil writes their name in the middle of a large paper heart. On your signal the hearts move one desk along, and each pupil writes a few kind, true words about the person named. Signal again every 30 seconds. With 25 pupils the full loop takes about 15 minutes. Collect the hearts and read them yourself before they go home, so that every heart is one its owner will want to keep.
Kindness Web Whole class in a circle, 10 to 15 minutes, a ball of yarn and a class list in a random order. Grades 1 to 8. Draw the order at random, so nobody waits to be chosen. The first pupil holds the end of the yarn, says something kind and true about the next pupil on the list and rolls the ball to them. That pupil pinches the yarn and does the same for the next name. Compliments are about what a person does, not what they wear. When everyone is holding on, one pupil lets go and the web sags: it takes every pupil to hold it up.
Match the Heart Halves Whole class, 5 to 10 minutes, paper hearts cut in two with a zigzag, one half per pupil. Grades K to 6. Cut each paper heart in two with a different zigzag, and write a question on one half and its answer on the other: 6 x 7 and 42, a word and its opposite, a state and its capital. Hand one half to every pupil. Pupils walk around in silence to find the half that fits both the cut and the answer, then sit down together. With an odd number, you hold a half too. The pairs stay partners for the next game.
Pass the Heart Whole class in a circle, 10 minutes, a beanbag heart, a cup of kindness slips and music you can pause. Grades K to 5. Pass the heart around the circle while the music plays. When it stops, the pupil holding it draws a slip from the cup and does what it says: tell the person on your left one thing they are good at, thank someone in the room, name a way to help at recess. Then the music starts again. Nobody is out. Stop the music without looking, and keep the slips easy, so no pupil is put on the spot.
Who Took the Valentine? Whole class in a circle, 5 to 10 minutes, nothing. Grades K to 2. Set a steady beat: pat knees, clap, pat, clap. The class chants "Who took the valentine from the mailbox?" and you name a pupil. That pupil answers "Who, me?", the class says "Yes, you", the pupil says "Not me", the class asks "Then who?", and the pupil names someone who has not had a turn, all without losing the beat. It is the old cookie jar chant with new words. With kindergarten, slow the beat right down.

Table races, puzzles and word games 9

Cover the Hearts Pairs, 10 minutes, 2 dice per pair, and a strip of 11 hearts numbered 2 to 12 and 11 counters each. Grades 1 to 6. Each player has a strip of hearts numbered 2 to 12. Take turns to roll both dice, add them and cover that number if it is still open. The first to cover all 11 hearts wins. Play twice, then ask which hearts were covered last. It is nearly always 2 or 12, because only 1 roll in 36 makes each of them, while 6 rolls in 36 make a 7. Older classes can list all 36 rolls to prove it.
Heart Puzzle Swap Teams of 4, 10 to 15 minutes, a large paper heart, scissors and an envelope per team. Grades 1 to 6. Each team writes a kind message across a large paper heart, cuts it into exactly 10 pieces with straight cuts and puts the pieces in an envelope. On the signal, teams pass their envelope to the next table and race to rebuild the heart they receive and read its message aloud. Play again, passing two tables along. Cuts that run through the words make the hardest puzzles, because the writing is the best clue.
Heart Stacking Race Heats of 4 to 6, 5 minutes, 10 heart erasers or red checkers each and a flat desk. Grades K to 6. Each player has 10 heart erasers or red checkers and one minute on the clock. Stack them into a single tower with one hand, the other hand behind your back. If the tower falls, start again from the bottom. The tallest tower standing when time is up wins. The game is usually played with candy hearts. Erasers and checkers stack better, last for years and keep food allergies out of it. Play 3 rounds so everyone gets another try.
Heart Word Sentences Teams of 3 or 4, 10 minutes, an envelope of 30 paper hearts per team with one word on each. Grades 1 to 5. Give each team the same 30 words, one to a paper heart: friend, kind, my, is, a, you, are, the, best, helps, shares, always, we, I, like, your, smile, good, listener, make, me, laugh, thank, for, being, so, funny, brave, and and class. Teams have 5 minutes to build sentences on the desk, such as "you always make me laugh". A sentence has to be kind and in the right order. Score 1 point for each word used in a sentence of 4 words or more. Read the longest sentence from each team aloud.
Heartbeat Challenge Whole class, then pairs, 10 minutes, a clock with a second hand. Grades 2 to 8. Pupils find their pulse with two fingers on the inside of the wrist, below the thumb. Count beats for 15 seconds while you watch the clock, then multiply by 4. Everyone does 30 seconds of jumping jacks and counts again. Pairs work out the difference, and nobody has to share a number. A resting rate of 60 to 100 is normal from about age 10. Younger children run faster: 70 to 110 is normal at ages 7 to 9. The heart is a muscle about the size of your fist.
Matching Hearts Memory Groups of 3 or 4, 10 to 15 minutes, 24 paper heart cards per group that make 12 matching pairs. Grades K to 5. Lay the 24 hearts face down in a grid. On your turn, flip any two. If they match, keep them and go again. If not, turn them back in the same place, and the next player goes. The most pairs wins. Make the pairs teach something: a word and its picture in kindergarten, a fraction and its decimal in 4th grade. It is the old game of matching pairs, and groups can make their own set first.
Roses Are Red Rhyme Race Teams of 3 or 4, 10 minutes, paper and a pencil per team. Grades 2 to 8. "Roses are red, violets are blue" is an old rhyme. A version was in print by 1784, and its roots go back to a poem of 1590. Teams get 5 minutes to write new endings, keeping those two lines and adding two of their own about school, friends or the weather. The last word has to rhyme with blue. Score 1 point for every ending that rhymes and keeps the beat. Each team reads its best one aloud.
Secret Valentine Code Pairs, 10 to 15 minutes, paper and a pencil per pair. Grades 3 to 8. Write the alphabet on the board with a second alphabet under it, shifted 3 places, so A becomes D, B becomes E and Z wraps around to C. The method takes its name from Julius Caesar, who is said to have used it. Each pair encodes a friendly message of 5 words or fewer and swaps with another pair to decode. Then pairs choose their own shift and keep it secret. The shortest word is usually the way in.
Straw Heart Transfer Heats of 4 to 6, 5 to 10 minutes, a paper straw, 10 stiff card hearts and 2 paper plates each. Grades 3 to 8. Each player has 10 hearts on one plate and an empty plate a hand's width away. Suck through the straw to hold a heart against its end, carry it across and let go over the second plate. No hands on the hearts. The first to move all 10 wins the heat. Cut the hearts from stiff card or craft foam, at least 1.5 inches (4 cm) across: stiff hearts much wider than the straw. Do not use tissue paper, which can fold into a straw. Everyone keeps their own straw.

How this list was compiled

Rules written for this site in our own words. Checked on 2026-09-18 with WebFetch against English Wikipedia: how the traditional games behind these versions are played and that no company owns them (Button, button, who's got the button?; Steal the bacon, including its math variant; Concentration, also called matching pairs; the chant Who Stole the Cookie from the Cookie Jar?; Charades; Musical chairs), that Roses Are Red was in print in Gammer Gurton's Garland in 1784 and is traced to Spenser's The Faerie Queene of 1590, that a Caesar cipher with a shift of 3 turns A into D and is named after Julius Caesar, that a normal resting heart rate is 60 to 100 beats a minute for adults and for children over 10 and 70 to 110 for children of 7 to 9 (the table in the Heart rate article, read again on 2026-09-20), and that the human heart is about the size of a closed fist: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Button,_button,_who%27s_got_the_button%3F, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steal_the_bacon, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concentration_(card_game), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Stole_the_Cookie_from_the_Cookie_Jar%3F, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charades, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_chairs, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roses_Are_Red, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caesar_cipher, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_rate, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart. Worked out: two dice make 36 rolls, of which 1 adds to 2, 1 adds to 12 and 6 add to 7; 24 squares and a free middle make a 5 by 5 card, and a pupil in a class of 25 has 24 classmates; 25 hearts at 30 seconds each take 12 and a half minutes; counting a pulse for 15 seconds and multiplying by 4 gives beats per minute. Games with no article of their own (Heart Hunt, Musical Hearts, Special Delivery Relay, Heart Toss Tic-Tac-Toe, Fly Through the Heart, Spoon-to-Spoon Heart Pass, Friendship Bingo, Pass the Heart, Kindness Web, Just Like Me, Kind Acts Charades, Match the Heart Halves, Kind Words Pass-Around, Heart Stacking Race, Straw Heart Transfer, Heart Puzzle Swap, Cover the Hearts, Heartbeat Challenge, Heart Word Sentences) are described from common classroom and party practice. The lists printed in the rules (10 Just Like Me statements, 30 heart words, 10 kind acts, 24 bingo prompts) are our own. Straw Heart Transfer uses stiff card or foam hearts at least 1.5 inches across and starts at grade 3; that is our caution, not a tested safety standard. The 18 inch heart in Fly Through the Heart is sized to fit a 22 by 28 inch sheet of poster board, a size we did not confirm from a reference page, so measure your own sheet. Every game is about friendship and kindness, none is about romance, and none uses candy or any other food. Minutes, group sizes and grade ranges are our advice, not measurements. Licence: own work

How it works

These valentine classroom games treat the day as one about friendship and kindness. All 25 are printed below with rules, minutes and supplies. None is about romance, none asks pupils to choose a favorite classmate, and none uses candy.

Read the full guide

Friendship games where nobody is left out

Valentine's Day classroom games go wrong when they sort pupils into favorites, so the rules here take the choosing away. Kindness Web follows a list drawn at random. Friendship Bingo bans using a name twice, which sends pupils to classmates they rarely talk to. In Kind Words Pass-Around every heart visits every desk, and you read the hearts before they go home.

Nine games with a lesson inside

Choose Games with a lesson inside in the All games menu for 9 that earn their time on a school day. Cover the Hearts shows why two dice make 7 far more often than 12. Heartbeat Challenge has pupils count a pulse before and after 30 seconds of jumping jacks. Secret Valentine Code shifts the alphabet 3 places.

Swap candy hearts for heart erasers or red checkers. They stack better, and no pupil with an allergy has to sit out.
For Friendship Bingo, the find someone who worksheet maker prints prompt grids. Choose its 5 by 5 grid, or copy our 24 prompts.
Heart Hunt needs 3 hearts for every pupil, 75 for a class of 25. Fold a stack of paper and cut several at once.

Questions and answers

Which games work for kindergarten and 1st grade?

Kindergarten and 1st grade in the All games menu keeps 18 of the 25. Heart Hunt, Spoon-to-Spoon Heart Pass and Who Took the Valentine? need no reading. In Heart Hunt each pupil collects exactly 3 hearts and sits down, so nobody finishes with none.

Are there Valentine's Day games for older pupils?

Yes, 16 of the 25. Older pupils prefer a contest to a circle game. Try Fly Through the Heart, where paper airplanes must pass through a heart-shaped hole, or Secret Valentine Code, where pairs pick a shift for another pair to break.

What can I run in 5 minutes with no supplies?

Two games fit. In Just Like Me you read a statement, such as I have a pet, and every pupil it fits stands up; 10 statements are in the rules. Who Took the Valentine? is a chant for kindergarten to 2nd grade.