Are you tired of giving your kids candy? It seems every holiday or special occasion revolves around giving our children sweet treats. Jelly beans for Easter, cake & ice cream for birthdays, chocolates for Valentine\u2019s Day and the biggest culprit of them all, Halloween!<\/p>\n
When you think about it, there are so many other fun and meaningful gifts we can give our little ones other than sugar. British Swim School Chicago has created our \u2018Top 5 Favorite non-candy Valentine\u2019s Day Gifts\u2019!<\/p>\n
Books<\/b>
\nAnytime time we can sit down with our kids to share a great story, it is a win. Especially a book that relays a purposeful message or sparks laughter. I know, it isn\u2019t quite as exciting as chocolate, but there are some great Valentine\u2019s Day themed books that your kids will enjoy reading over and over.<\/p>\n
Childen\u2019s Books to Celebrate Valentine\u2019s Day<\/a><\/p>\n We personally love,\u00a0The Secret Life of Squirrels; A Love Story<\/em>\u00a0by Nancy Rose. Nancy Rose\u2019s photography with real squirrels make the book a lot of fun for kids of any age.<\/p>\n The\u00a0Don\u2019t Laugh Challenge: Valentine\u2019s Day Edition<\/em>\u00a0by Billy Boy is also a great book for your kids age 6-12. They will go back to this book time and again.<\/p>\n Stuffed Animals<\/b> Amazon is full of personalized stuffed animal options. We personally loved the Curious George pajama and bag stuffed toy and the personalized sock monkey. Some characters will never go out of style.<\/p>\n Personal Creations<\/a>\u00a0also has a large selection of cute, customizable options for all age ranges.<\/p>\n Board Games<\/b> Bounceback Parenting<\/a>\u00a0&\u00a0Mom Junction<\/a>\u00a0have created a wonderful list, with a variety of board games, that the whole family will enjoy. From brain games to memory games and even physically challenging games, this list has it all.<\/p>\n Art Supplies<\/b> Pinterest is full of amazing ideas on creating little Valentine\u2019s Day gifts and centerpieces.<\/p>\n Eighteen25<\/a>\u00a0has a fun idea for creating little valentine\u2019s day monsters!<\/p>\n We also loved\u00a0Tatertots & Jell-O\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0idea of using jars to create little centerpieces (and don\u2019t you just love their website\u2019s name?). Your family could create their own little Valentine\u2019s Day collage in a jar for the center of the table.<\/p>\n The Experiences<\/b> We especially love theater. Alphabet Soup is bringing back James and the Giant Peach to the Chicago Science and Industry Museum (performances in February and March); we can\u2019t wait to be there!<\/p>\n Classes make a wonderful gift too. Swimming lessons, in particular, are a great way to get your kids active. They provide skills that your children will utilize and enjoy for their whole lifetime. Whether at pool parties, vacations by the beach or just for plain exercise, swimming lessons are the gift that keep on giving; not to mention, swimming is good for your heart. Water acclimation, water survival or swim stroke enhancement are all part of the starter goal for our swim school. We hope that when the time comes to get your little ones safe in and around the water, you will choose British Swim School.<\/p>\n British Swim School Chicago offers premium water survival lessons and swimming lessons for infants, toddlers, children and adults, starting at just 3 months old. Our swim school proudly serves the Chicago and North Shore communities of Hyde Park, Bronzeville, Bridgeport, Chinatown, the Loop, South Loop, Rogers Park, Sauganash, East Loop, West Loop, River North, Streeterville, Gold Coast, Uptown, Lincoln Park, Bucktown, Ravenswood, East Lakeview, Lakeshore East, Lincolnwood, Skokie, Niles, Evanston, Wilmette, Glenview and Morton Grove. Group classes, small class sizes, swim team, special ability programs, private lessons, birthday parties, lifeguarding courses, corporate rentals, & more. Call 708-613-5179<\/strong><\/a> to enroll or you may register for swimming lessons by using our class wizard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Are you tired of giving your kids candy? It seems every holiday or special occasion revolves around giving our children sweet treats. Jelly beans for Easter, cake & ice cream for birthdays, chocolates for Valentine\u2019s Day and the biggest culprit of them all, Halloween! When you think about it, there are so many other fun […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":8415,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[51],"class_list":["post-8414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-seasonal","tag-downtown-chicago-il"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/britishswimschool.com\/downtown-chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/britishswimschool.com\/downtown-chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/britishswimschool.com\/downtown-chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/britishswimschool.com\/downtown-chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/britishswimschool.com\/downtown-chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/britishswimschool.com\/downtown-chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/britishswimschool.com\/downtown-chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/britishswimschool.com\/downtown-chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/britishswimschool.com\/downtown-chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/britishswimschool.com\/downtown-chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nStuffed animals, characters and superheroes are so much fun. Not only do they make great companions for your kids at bedtime, but there is such a variety on the market to choose from. Spend just a little extra to get it personalized, your kids will find it hard to give that present away for years to come.<\/p>\n
\nThis gift idea might seem a little \u2018left field\u2019; however, board games are about family time. Sharing time, sharing laughter & love, as well as, creating memories. Some of our families\u2019 best memories have been, and continue to be, board game night.<\/p>\n
\nConstruction paper, glue, pompoms, googly eyes, paper towel rolls, rocks, yarn, crayons, tape\u2026 the variety of materials you can use to create art is endless. Art supplies, as a gift, makes our list because it\u2019s a great way to get your kids involved in the preparation of family time. Each year, my kids sit down with their gifts to make the center piece for our Valentine\u2019s Day dinner. We all have so much fun with this project each and every year; perhaps it\u2019s an activity that could become a new Valentine\u2019s Day tradition with your family too.<\/p>\n
\nWe love giving our family the gift of experiences. Trips, plays, parks, lessons or classes, our kids really enjoy getting out and trying new things.<\/p>\n
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