I have never met a person whose greatest need was anything other than real, unconditional love. You can find it in a simple act of kindness toward someone who needs help. There is no mistaking love. You feel it in your heart. It is the common fiber of life, the flame of that heats our soul, energizes our spirit and supplies passion to our lives. It is our connection to God and to each other.
Elizabeth Kubler-Ross


You know the routine, parents shill out millions of dollars each year on Valentine's Card for kids to pass out in their classrooms with the usual mass marketed cartoon figures printed on them. This article will explore some other fun activities that kids and families can do at home and school to celebrate the day of love.
"We never know the love of a parent till we become parents ourselves."
Henry Ward Beecher

One activity that I enjoy in my classroom is making lady lovebug rocks. This is a great activity using supplies that many families and classrooms already have. Many people have small river rocks sitting around their yards. Some yards, like my own are landscaped with small, round river rocks, sometimes referred to as drain field rock. These rocks average from 2 to 5 inches and are generally an oval shape. The school that I teach at has an abundance of these rocks. We go out as a classroom and the kids are able to pick out their favorite rock that they want to turn into a ladybug love rock. The rocks are washed off and allowed to thoroughly dry. The supplies that you will need for this project includes: red, white and black paint (I just use red tempura), brushes, hot glue gun, wiggly eyes (if you don't have wiggly eyes you can just paint the eyes on), pipe cleaners, appliqués of all types (this includes lace, raffia, ribbon, buttons etc.) Put a base coat of red or orange paint on the entire rock and allow to thoroughly dry. You then use black paint to brush on stripes and spots on your ladybugs. Pick out a black pipe cleaner and glue it to the top of the head for the antenna (a hot glue gun works the best here). You can also glue on legs, but I have found this unnecessary. Glue on any other appliqués to make your lady lovebug an expression of your own artistic expression. Allow the project to thoroughly dry. These lady lovebugs make great gifts for Valentines Day and great paperweights!
The great thing about this project is using the project as a catalyst to teach thematically in other subject areas. For music the kids could learn song called the Ladybug Song. It is easy to sing since it is a piggyback song. Piggyback songs are songs that have been keyed to familiar melodies. This makes the song easy to teach and learn.

Ladybug Song
(Sung to "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star")
Ladybug, Ladybug
She landed on my nose
I went "kerchoo!" and
Off she flew!
Her body is round with
Big black dots,
My mommy told me
They're called spots.
Ladybug, Ladybug
She looks really neat
With her bright red wings,
And tiny black feet!
For science, I recommend your kids could learn some of these fascinating facts about ladybugs. Read over these fascinating facts with you children and discuss them.
• When the temperature is about 59 degrees Fahrenheit, ladybugs become active.
• Ladybugs hibernate in cold weather.
• Ladybugs are cold blooded.
• The ladybug uses its front legs to clean its head and its antennae.
• Ladybugs lay there eggs where aphids are present.
• There are 350 species of ladybugs in our country.
• Ladybugs go through complete metamorphosis.
• Ladybugs are a beetle.
• All species of ladybugs have short legs. This separates them from other beetles.
• Not all ladybugs are female.
• A ladybug lets out a yellowish liquid when it is mad. The liquid has a bad smell to its predators.
• A ladybug's top flying speed is about fifteen miles per hour.
• The eggs of a ladybug are not visible to the naked eye.

For reading, a couple of books I recommend are The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle and Are You a Ladybug by Judy Allen.

The spiritual meaning of love is measured by what it can do. Love is meant to heal. Love is meant to renew. Love is meant to bring us closer to God.

Deepak Chopra, The Path to Love

For writing you could ask your child to write an expository paper about the steps that they went through to create their ladybugs and to include some facts they learned about ladybugs that they found fascinating. You could even cover math by counting out equations on the six legs of the ladybugs. Use the legs as a math manipulative. You can even create story problems such as this one.
Mary, Heather, Marqueta and Joelle all made one ladybug in class for Valentines Day. How many legs are there if each ladybug has six legs?
The possibilities with story problem math problems are unlimited. Problems can be created to cover all math operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division!
So, there you have it. There is an alternative to the everyday mass-produced cartoon cards that pervade Valentines Day. You certainly can still pass out cards, but adding a creative craft project such as the lady lovebugs to you Valentine's Day festivities will create rewarding, educational and fun activities that you and your children will never forget.
We can only learn to love by loving.
Iris Murdoch


Richard Flowers, AA, BS, MS, AS, CT, is an award winning first grade teacher, author, consultant, artist and musician at Fort Vannoy School in Grants Pass. Richard's avocation is helping others. He is happy to answer all questions and correspondence.
His contact is:
Questions@MultipleIntelligences.citymax.com
His website is at:
www.MultipleIntelligences.citymax.com.