Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and kids love to celebrate. They get so excited picking the perfect Valentine cards to share with classmates, pawing through candy conversation hearts to find just the right messages for their friends, and making what seems like hundreds of construction paper hearts and taping them up all over the house.

With all of the excitement for Valentine’s Day being centered around the long-awaited class party, we decided to gather some fun and healthy Valentine’s Day themed school lunch ideas to keep the celebration going. Imagine how surprised your little one will be when they open their lunchbox to find these incredible edible delights.

Hearts Galore

You can turn just about any food item into a love-filled, heart-shaped morsel in about 2 seconds with a simple cookie cutter. You can purchase various size heart-shaped cookie cutters at dollar stores and have fun with this project without having to break the bank. Cut your child’s sandwiches, fruit, or even pizza into heart shapes and send them to school in your child’s lunchbox. They will have so much fun noshing on their Valentine cuisine and who knows, they just might share the love with a friend.

Say I Love You With A Special Note

We found these free school lunch printable notes that are just super adorable. These are better than your regular store-bought Valentine cards because there is space to write a personal note to your child. Imagine how special your kids will feel when they open their lunchboxes to find a unique, hand-written note from mom or dad. Just print out the cards, cut them apart, add your message and place in your child’s luchbox. And hey, who said you can’t use the extras on ordinary days throughout the year?

Candy For Lunch?

This is one of our favorite ideas. Take a large plastic heart-shaped candy box and remove the chocolates. (You may want to hide these in a safe place for when those chocolate cravings strike.) Fill each of the holes in the box with a nutritious food such as whole wheat cereal, banana slices, apple chunks, raisins, cheese crackers, or grapes. Kids love having choices and when you load the candy box with all of their favorite foods, lunch is sure to be a Valentine’s Day hit.

Heart-Shaped Hard Boiled Eggs

We loved the creativity that went into this next one. You’re kids are not going to believe how you were able to create heart-shaped hard boiled eggs. They will be completely amazed and you will be the hit of the lunchroom.  Not to worry, no chickens were harmed in the making of these hard boiled eggs. Just follow these simple instructions we found on annathered.com and you are on your way.

Mini Muffins

Every kid loves mini muffins, so why not create some special muffins for Valentine’s Day? These would be great as an afternoon snack or in addition to a healthy lunch. Make a few extras and stash them away for later. Who says you can’t cash in on the Valentine’s Day fun too? The easiest way to create these muffins is to line your mini muffin tins with papers as usual, fill with muffin batter, and then place a marble between the tin and the paper to create the heart indention on the top of the muffin. Bake according to the instructions and voila, you have some crazy-cute muffins to share with your little ones.

As always, we would love to know what you think about this post. Feel free to leave a message in the comments section below and tell us which Valentine’s Day lunch idea was a hit in your home.