Last Updated on December 19, 2022
A box of chocolates. A bouquet of roses. Maybe a dinner at a fancy restaurant. As wonderful as these things are, the traditional Valentine’s Day can get a bit old. You know, year after year.
Games add a fresh twist of romance and fun, no matter how long you have been a couple. This year, you can even involve the entire family. But if you have never tried a playful approach to Valentine’s Day before, then our master list of games is a great place to start!
1. Find the Heart
Suitable for: Kids and adults.
Things you need: Cupcakes, cupcake filling or icing, conversation hearts, paper plates.
This tasty game is for the whole family. Before you can play the game, you first need to prepare a cupcake (or as many as you need to give one to each player). Working from the top of the cupcake, carefully core out the top half. Place the conversation heart at the centre of the cupcake and replace the top. Use frosting to hide the “surgery”.
To win, a player must eat the cupcake without their hands until they find the heart. You can make it more challenging by adding jelly or cream, which will make the heart so much harder to find!
2. Heart Tower
Suitable for: Kids and adults.
Things you need: A lot of conversation hearts! A dash of patience.
This game sounds simple. Players must build a tower by stacking the sweets but you will soon discover that this takes a lot of patience and skill! How on Earth can this be difficult? Here is the catch. You cannot stack them on their flat sides. Instead, put them on top of each other end-to-end.
You can try two variations of this game. A player who manages to keep a certain number of hearts standing (say 4 or 5) is the winner. Alternatively, see who can stack the most before their tower collapses.
3. Hearts and Straws
Suitable for: Kids and adults.
Things you need: Conversation hearts, paper plates, jars, straws.
Each player gets a paper plate full of conversation hearts, a straw and a jar. The goal is to make a piece of candy stick to your straw by sucking on the latter. Once you get the candy to stick, transfer it to the jar. Decide how much time you want to give the players and when their 60 seconds or 2 minutes are over, the player with the most hearts in their jar is the winner!
You can try another fun variation of this game. Place your paper plate at one end of a table and the jar a good distance away. Use chopsticks to transfer the hearts. Do you want to go hardcore? Use knitting needles!
4. Two Truths and a Lie
Suitable for: Adults.
Things you need: A couple of creative lies!
This game should never get too serious – so avoid serious lies or confessions. After all, this is supposed to be a romantic day filled with lightheartedness and laughter. You can make this game unforgettable by leaving everyone in stitches. So, aim for truths or lies that bring an element of humor!
The game itself is very simple but you will definitely learn more about your partner. Each one gets a turn to mention three “facts” about themselves. The other person has to guess which of the three statements is a friendly fib.
5. Valentine’s Word Search
Suitable for: Kids and adults.
Things you need: Printable Valentine-themed word search games.
You can find plenty of free Valentine-themed word search pages online. Find something that is age-appropriate for kids or adults. Print enough so that each player has their own sheet and let the hunt begin!
This game also has two variations. Let the players finish their puzzles but the one who finds all the words first is the winner. Alternatively, the players must put their pens down after 2 minutes or 90 seconds and the one who has the most words encircled takes the prize!
6. Cupid Arrows
Suitable for: Kids and adults.
Things you need: A large board, gifts, toy bow, toy arrows with suction cups.
Place a large board or sheet of paper against the wall. Pin several hearts on the board. Each heart has a number that matches the number on a gift bag. Nobody knows what the gift contains, so they just have to shoot and hope for the best!
When a player hits a heart (the arrow doesn’t have to stick), they can then receive their gift. Allow only one gift per player so that other people and kids can also win something!
7. Hearts Tic-Tac-Toe
Suitable for: Kids.
Things you need: Straws, string or wool, paper hearts (two sets, pink and red).
This is the classic game of Tic-Tac-Toe but this time, you play it with hearts instead of crosses and circles. Before you can play the game, prepare the playing field by using wool to tie the straws together. The straws will form the classic 9-square Tic-Tac-Toe board.
Once you have made the board, give the players their hearts (one person plays with pink hearts and the other with red hearts). The first child to create an unbroken line of three hearts wins!
8. Guess the Number
Suitable for: Kids and adults.
Things you need: A glass jar, sweets, smaller packets of sweets (consolation prizes).
This game is popular at fundraisers, Christmas parties, and other types of holiday festivities. You can give the game a Valentine’s Day flavor by adding “romantic” sweets like conversation hearts, small chocolates, and heart-shaped lollipops.
Allow your guests or family to guess the correct number of candies inside the jar. The person who gets the closest – or actually guesses the number – is the winner. Hand out smaller packets of sweets to the other players as consolation prizes.
9. A Valentine’s Tree
Suitable for: Adults.
Things you need: Pieces of heart-shaped paper, pens, good memories.
This game doubles as a crafts project. It is special in the sense that the project gives a couple quality time together and reflect on great memories. When they are done, they can keep the Valentine Tree as a wonderful memento.
You and your partner each get a stack of paper hearts. On each heart, write a single good memory of your life together, past and present. You can also write what you appreciate about your loved one. Use these hearts as leaves on a paper tree or add them to a special photo album.
10. Capture Hearts
Suitable for: Kids and adults.
Things you need: Paper cups, permanent marker, conversation hearts.
Take your permanent marker and write the numbers 1 to 10 on ten paper cups. Place them a good distance away – because this is a tossing game. Give each player ten conversation hearts. Their goal is to throw and hopefully land as many candy pieces as they can inside of the cups.
When one player is done, add up their points. They score points for every heart inside a cup. For example, for each heart inside the number 8 cup, they get 8 points. Repeat the game until all the players are done. The person with the most points wins!
You can also try another fun variation by tossing bean bags into numbered buckets. Kids, in particular, love this activity.
11. Pin the Heart on the Donkey
Suitable for: Kids.
Things you need: A large picture of a donkey or other animal, a large heart-shaped sticker, smaller heart-shaped stickers, a blindfold.
Pin the donkey poster on a wall or a corkboard. Place the big heart sticker on its chest where its ticker should be!
Blindfold the first player and gently spin them so that they lose a little direction but not too much! Guide the child in the right direction and give them a heart sticker. The goal is to see who can pin a small heart nearest the centre of the large heart.
12. Heart Race
Suitable for: Kids and adults.
Things you need: Foam hearts, carton sheets that are big and stiff.
This game can accommodate several players (numbering two or more). Each person is given a carton sheet and a foam heart. You can create a race track on the floor or use a long table. Contestants must move their hearts along but they cannot touch them with their hands or the carton. Instead, the foamy tickers must be moved along using the “wind” created by flapping the paper sheets behind them.
13. What is Your Cupid Name?
Suitable for: Kids and adults.
Things you need: A bowl, pieces of paper, pens, great imagination.
Give your guests a piece of paper and a pen. They must come up with a fun name that is related to Valentine’s Day and Cupid. More to the point, it must be another name for Cupid. They can come up with anything they like but the only rule is to keep things clean and not offensive.
They are not allowed to reveal what they had written. Once everyone is done, they must fold their paper and place it inside the bowl. Give the bowl a good shake to mix the papers. Each person then gets the opportunity to draw a paper from the bowl and learn their special Cupid Name!
14. Romantic Countdown
Suitable for: Adults.
Things you need: Various thoughtful gifts, cards, and activities.
This requires some planning but if both partners are fully into the idea, this could be your most romantic Valentine’s Day yet. Well, let’s rather call it for what it really is – your best Valentine’s Week!
The core idea is to surprise each other every day leading up to Valentine’s but these surprises should be sweet, small and thoughtful. You don’t need to break the bank.
It’s also a great idea to include activities that are planned beforehand. For example, each day you surprise each other with a gift or a card, then enjoy whatever activity you have planned for the day. It can be a picnic, a walk, a visit to a beautiful location – you get the idea!
15. Valentine’s Day Treasure Hunt
Suitable for: Kids and adults.
Things you need: Various activities.
You can use this as an activity for your Valentine’s Day countdown or make it a standalone game for the whole family. This is another game that requires a fair amount of planning beforehand just to get all the clues in order. Don’t hesitate to look for ideas online – there are plenty of free treasure hunt ideas, printables, and mini-games available.
Make it fun, age-appropriate, full of surprises and also include rewards! Kids can win sweets, cards and plush toys.