ST. VALENTINE�S PARTY

for 6�9th grades

The party starts with the performance �The History of St. Valentine�s Day� based on the following legends:

A legend says that a long time ago, in Rome, there was a priest named Valentine. Claudius II, who was Emperor at the time, made a law that no one could become engaged or get married. He was afraid if men had sweethearts or wives, they would not want to fight in wars. But Valentine felt sorry for young people who were in love, so he married them secretly. When Emperor Claudius found out, he had Valentine put to death. Some say this happened on February 14.

Another story is about a man named Valentine. He also lived in Rome when Claudius II was Emperor. He was put in jail because he was helping Christians, people whom Claudius did not like. Valentine became very friendly with the jailer�s blind daughter. When he was beheaded on February 14, she got a message that said, �From your Valentine.�

After the performance one of the students appears on the stage. She wears a beautiful red dress and she has a crown with the word �Love� on it. She reads the following poem:

Some people just know
Right from the start,
How to bring joy
To another�s heart.
Some people just know
How to love and to give
And they do such nice things
Every day that they live.

A boy wearing a Cupid costume helps Love.

CUPID: Valentine�s day is a special time when people tell each other that they love them and care about them. To celebrate the day today, people send special cards with romantic messages. They give their sweethearts small gifts and tokens. One story says that the first valentine was written in the 1400s by Duke Charles of Orleans. He was French and he was captured by the English during a war. While he sat in prison, he wrote poems for his wife. In one of them, he mentioned Valentine and Cupid.

LOVE: When two people fall in love with each other they experience both joy and sadness.
Today we will have two teams. One is �JOY� and the other is �SADNESS�. And now they will be given tasks.
I am LOVE and LOVE will decide who will be the winner. By the way, I want you to know that we have a postman at our party and if you want to send your sweetheart a Valentine letter, you may give him your Valentine and tell him whom you want it to be delivered to.
The first task is to list what symbols of St. Valentine�s Day you know. (The key: special cards with romantic messages, cupids, hearts, flowers and pairs of birds.)

CUPID: The second task is for each group to write a Valentine�s Day message or poem.
Here are some examples:

�It�s a good day for thinking about you
And a good day for telling you, too,
That the best kinds of Valentine wishes
Are coming especially for you!
Happy Valentine�s Day!!!�

�A Valentine especially meant
To bring a warm �Hello�
And tell you
That you�re thought about more often than you know!
Hope your day is wonderful!�

�Wishing you a heart full of happiness today!
Happy Valentine�s day!�
�God made the world
With a heart full of love,
Then He looked down
From heaven above
And saw that we all need
A helping hand
Someone to share with,
Who�ll understand.
He made special people
To see us through
The glad times
And sad times, too;
A person on whom
We can always depend,
Someone we
Can call a friend.�

LOVE: You are doing very well! A spirit of love is being sensed among us at our party.
The third task is for the teams to list as many things they can think of, that people say to each other when they are in love. The team that lists more compliments is the winner.

The fourth task is for each team to sing a song about love!

Here are examples:
�You are my sunshine,
My only sunshine;
You make me happy when skies are gray.
You�ll never know, dear,
How much I love you;
Please don�t take my sunshine away�.

�Down in the Valley,
The valley so low,
Hang your head over,
Hear the wind blow.
Hear the wind blow, dear,
Hear the wind blow;
Hang your head over,
Hear the wind blow�.

�Roses love sunshine,
Violets love dew;
Angels in heaven
Know I love you�.

CUPID: Here are some interesting facts about Valentine�s Day.
�During the 1890s, many valentines were shaped like or showed drawings of tomatoes! At the time, tomatoes were grown as flowers and were not eaten. They were considered beautiful and were called love apples. They were the perfect symbols for a special valentine!�
LOVE: task number five is to complete a Valentine�s Day quiz. The team which finishes first will be the winner.

CUPID: Task number six is to draw a picture of two people who are in love on a heart-shaped piece of paper.
So, now using the shape of hearts you have to draw the faces of those who love each other.
LOVE: For task number seven a large picture depicting a person will be drawn on the blackboard with its heart labeled. You will be blindfolded and given an arrow. Your aim is the heart. Who will be the closest to the mark?
CUPID: Task number eight is to mend some broken hearts. Each heart is split into two pieces. You must find the couples and bring them back together. I will give you only one minute.
Here is an example:
(Romeo and Juliet, Scarlet and Rhett, Onegin and Tatiana and so on)
LOVE: Now we will count your points and see which team is the first.
At the end of the party LOVE and CUPID will find out who is the QUEEN and the KING of Valentine�s Day.
So the king and the queen will be a boy and a girl who received the most Valentines at our party.

Sweetheart Cookies

Make these yummy treats for your Valentine.

You�ll need:
1/3 cup butter
1 cup honey
2/3 cup oats
1/3 cup nonfat dry milk
4 teaspoons water
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt.

1. With help of a grown-up, mix together the butter and honey.
2. Add the oats, dry milk, and water. Mix well.
3. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. The dough should be soft.
4. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough. It should be 1/5 � inch thick.
5. Use a heart-shaped cookie cutter or cut out the cookies in heart shapes.
6. Ask a grown-up to bake the cookies for 10 to 15 minutes in 325Q oven.