It’s that time of year again! Shop windows are filled with roses, chocolates and images of curly-haired cupids with their bows. While Valentine’s Day is a wonderful day for romance, it’s also a great time to celebrate all the people you love in your life.
For older adults, a day like Valentine’s can sometimes feel isolating, as they may have recently lost a spouse or might just be feeling a little bit withdrawn from others. For those who still have their partners, or are exploring a new romance, the day of love might feel a bit intimidating! What do you get for your new girlfriend or boyfriend when you’re in your late 80s?
Thankfully, we have five suggestions for how older adults can get creative this Valentine’s Day. These are wonderful activities to do with your loved ones, or for you to suggest to them as ways for them to make the most out of this special holiday.
Get Crafty
One of the most beloved childhood traditions is still just as fun as an adult! Crafting is the perfect way to celebrate Valentine’s Day, and there are so many options that there is sure to be an idea that works for your loved one.
- Design Valentine’s Cards. This is a great opportunity to be as cheesy as you want to be! Visit your local craft store to find thin construction paper in a variety of colors. Grab some markers, bonus if they are the scented kind! Pick up some doilies, and then don’t forget the glue sticks and glitter! You can even find tiny stick-on gems and plenty of festive stickers. Making cards isn’t about making something look elegant and artistic, it’s just about having fun. So, cut out a giant heart and cover it with glitter! Maybe just put a few old pieces of newspaper underneath your work station for an easier cleanup at the end…
- Fabric or Paper Hearts. A chain of hearts is a beautiful decoration to hang in a window or outside on a tree. You can make them by folding paper over and cutting out a heart shape, or cutting hearts out of felt and attaching them together with string. If you are feeling extra artsy you can even embroider the hearts with sweet designs.
- Bracelets. Bracelets are a great activity for all ages. Craft stores in a variety of colors and sizes, so you can get ones that fit with someone’s personality, and that are easier to handle if someone’s vision or dexterity isn’t as strong as it used to be.
- Candy Jars. Pick up a flat of mason jars, and then hit up your local bulk store to get a selection of your favorite sweet treats! Then all you need to do is divide the candy into jars and top them off with a note and a ribbon if you want to. If you want to make this activity last longer you could even decorate the outside of the jars with painted designs! Just make sure you’ve selected a paint that is safe around food and is meant to be used on glass to make sure it’s safe for everyone. At the end of this activity you have several tasty gifts to hand out to friends and family.
- Coloring. Not only is coloring an enjoyable Valentine’s Day activity, but, according to the Mayo Clinic, it’s also a great way to relieve stress! You can purchase a coloring book from your local bookstore, or you can even find free coloring pages online that you can simply print out at home. Coloring can be done with pencils, markers or crayons. If you want to take things up a notch you can even get a small set of paints and turn this activity into a paint night instead!
Baking
No one ever really needs an excuse to make some delicious baked goods, but it’s still nice to have one, and Valentine’s Day is the perfect occasion to break out the sugar and butter. And, because chocolate is such a star on Valentine’s, most people don’t associate the day with any specific baked good, so you can really get creative and experiment with whatever flavors tickle your fancy!
The Good Care Group highlights the numerous benefits that baking provides to older adults, including a feeling of increased independence, a good opportunity to socialize and also being helpful for tempting the appetite of someone who maybe hasn’t been as interested in eating – something that can sadly be a symptom of a mental health condition like depression.
Baking is also an excellent way to lower stress and increase creativity. Who doesn’t want that? Here are a few tasty recipe ideas:
- White Chocolate Raspberry Cookies. Strawberries get all the glory on Valentine’s Day – why not switch it up with another delectable berry? These cookies offer up the perfect combination of sweet and tart flavors and are sure to brighten up any Valentine’s tea tray!
- Heart Sugar Cookies. Nothing quite captures the spirit of this adorable holiday like a perfectly ornamented buttery and sweet sugar cookie. These simple treats provide a delicious blank slate upon which you can unleash your inner artist. Then, once completed, these cookies can be packaged off to friends (or eaten by oneself over the kitchen sink, your choice).
- Chewy Chocolate Cookies. You didn’t think we could let this list go by without featuring at least one chocolate cookie, did you? There’s a good reason chocolate is so popular on Valentine’s – it’s absolutely delicious, and these cookies are no exception! Soft, decadent and just slightly salty, these cookies are the perfect addition to any baking extravaganza.
- Lemon Shortbread. For the lemon lovers, this cookie is melt-in-you-mouth delicious. These cookies help to balance out the sweetness of the above cookies while still providing a deliciously sweet mouthful.
- Apple Turnovers. Turnovers are always a hit, while also being a smart choice during a time of year when fresh produce is in short supply. These fragrant and comforting treats are easy to make with store-bought puff pastry, and provide a nostalgic flavor that is sure to make your loved ones come running back for more.
You can turn your cookies and other baked goods into care packages to give to loved ones, or you can transform your living area into a tea room for a good old fashioned tea party! Find a cake stand at your local thrift store and display your baking skills alongside a warm cup of your favorite tea. You can even combine this with your crafting skills by making handmade invitations that encourage everyone to dress up in their best tea outfits!
Make Bouquets
You don’t need to have any official training to become a florist! Well, OK, maybe for a professional one, yes, but not if you just love flowers and want to have fun making your own bouquets at home!
There have been many studies that demonstrate the remarkable positive impact that nature can have on our mental health, but it turns out that even the act of interacting with flowers can have similar benefits! Bloom and Wild, after reading up on studies about the impacts of flower arranging, decided to run their own small experiment. The results showed that the small sample of people experienced less stress, increased feelings of creativity and lowered heart rates when focused on flower arranging. While this area is still undergoing research, the findings are so far positive, and it is well known that creativity is beneficial for our well being. So, why not combine creativity with something that can also fill our homes with beauty and delicate fragrances? Here’s a step by step guide on how to arrange a perfect arrangement.
- Find a wholesale or bulk flower store. Since you’ll want to buy a variety of flowers and greenery it is a good idea to find a wholesaler, bulk store or grocer that will sell flowers for less than it would cost at a flower store. Plus, at these places you can buy flowers in bunches on their own, that way you can get creative and make your own arrangement instead of redesigning something that has already been put together by a professional. There are three kinds of stems you should look into buying. First, your focal flowers, the main stars of your arrangement. This might be something like roses, sunflowers or lillies. Second are your foliage or greenery. This might be something like cocculus, ferns or bear grass. Finally, you want filler flowers. Filler flowers are used to fill out your arrangement. They’re beautiful, but not the stars. Some common fillers are baby’s breath, snapdragons and sedum.
- Cut everything down before arranging – and be sure to buy flower food!
- Get to arranging! Experts suggest starting with the 3-5-8 rule, which is, according to Country Living, when you use 3 focal flowers, 5 foliage, and 8 fillers. Aside from that, make it your own and experiment with different heights, sizes and colors! Once done you have the perfect bouquet for your home or to give to someone you love.
Romantic Movies + Games
There’s no better time than Valentine’s to break out your favorite sappy movies! Thankfully, there are no shortage of options when it comes to romantic movies. Hallmark, Great American Family and Netflix offer countless choices for stories that can whisk you into worlds of fancy and romance, or you can look to prolific writers like Nora Ephron, Richard Curtis or Nancy Myers who have produced some of the most beloved romance films in history, such as When Harry Met Sally, Notting Hill and The Holiday.
Whatever you choose (or if you happen to choose several!), there are several ways to make your movie night extra fun and creative. Here are a few ideas:
- Turn your home into a movie theater. Offer up a film menu, set up a pretend concession stand and be sure to set up foot rests with extra cozy blankets and pillows. This gives you creativity through creating special concession treats and designing the film menu. Plus it’s a great date idea if your older loved one is exploring a new romance (or simply wanting to keep the flame running with a longstanding one).
- Play romcom bingo. You can design funny bingo cards for everything you might expect to see in a romantic comedy. Ideas include a meet cute, a kiss, and a misunderstanding that leads to a fight. Click here for some more great ideas.
- Predict the plot. Choose a movie based on the title alone and then write down your predictions for how the movie is going to turn out. This is particularly fun with Hallmark and similar movies. The closest guesser gets a small prize.
Poetry Party
Finally, Valentine’s Day is known for being a romantic day of love, so of course it should include some poetry!
Sometimes just the word alone can feel scary, but poetry doesn’t have to be intimidating! It can be a wonderful way to express oneself, either through writing it or by finding a piece that speaks to you in some way. Of course, writing or reading poetry is something that can be done with two people, or you can turn it into a full blown poetry party where everyone writes something or brings one of their favorite poems to read out loud (or to have someone else read out loud if the thought of doing it yourself is a little bit too uncomfortable).
Here are some poetry party ideas:
- Have everyone bring a poem to read. You can provide a theme, such as romance, or something more specific. Libraries or a site like this are a great place to start.
- Have everyone write haikus. Haikus all follow the same syllable and sentence structure, and are quite short, so can be written in a relatively brief amount of time. Remember, poetry parties aren’t about writing the best poetry, they are about having fun and being creative, so try not to get too caught up in the idea of being good. Grammarly offers advice on how to write haikus.
- Everyone write together! Have someone start by writing a line of a poem down on a page and then pass it to the next person. That person adds another line and then folds the paper so that only the last line of the poem is visible to the next person. Continue until everyone has gone and then read it aloud! Part poem, part mad-lib, and full fun!
February can sometimes feel like a dreary month. It can be cold and grey, and there often isn’t a lot going on in the social calendar. By incorporating some of these creative Valentine’s Day ideas into your loved one’s life, you can help chase off feelings of sadness and isolation. The more creative you are, the more you might want to lean into that feeling so who knows, this could be the start of an ongoing creative practice! And, if nothing else, having some tasty cookies or beautiful flowers around even for just a few days, is guaranteed to feel good. Happy Valentine’s Day!
