February activity ideas, week by week

February gives you Valentine's Day, Presidents Day, Groundhog Day, and Black History Month, all inside four short weeks. Here it is week by week, with a coloring page and its Story Starter for each week, two or three low-cost ideas, and a seated version of every one.

Each coloring hour works the same way. Print the drawing in Regular and Bold. Hand out a page or two. Read the Story Starter aloud once, to the whole table, then go back to your own page and wait.

The month at a glance

The holidays:

• Valentine's Day: Sunday, February 14
• Presidents Day: Monday, February 15

Small days that work at a table:

• All month: Black History Month
• All month: National Bird-Feeding Month
• February 2: Groundhog Day
• February 12: Abraham Lincoln's birthday
• February 13: World Radio Day
• February 21: International Mother Language Day
• February 22: George Washington's birthday

Everything for Valentine's Day is on the Valentine's page.

Week by week

Week 1: Shadows, birds, and music

Start the month at the window with Tea by the winter window. Its Story Starter: "What did you like to watch from a window on a snowy day?" The follow-ups lead right to the birds: "Birds at the feeder, children sledding, or just the snow?" and "What did you like to sip while you watched?" Pass around a whole lemon to hold and smell while you color.

• Hand shadows for Groundhog Day. Groundhog Day is February 2. Set a lamp on a table and point it at a blank wall. Take turns standing in the light to make a rabbit, a bird, or a barking dog. If the sun is out, step outside and look for your own shadow, like the groundhog. Seated: aim the lamp low, so hands resting on the table make the shadows.
• Bird feeders for Bird-Feeding Month. February is National Bird-Feeding Month. Thread O-shaped cereal onto pipe cleaners and bend them into rings. Walk outside together to hang them. Seated: thread them at the table, and let staff hang them where the window looks out.
• A music hour for Black History Month. Play recordings by singers such as Marian Anderson, Mahalia Jackson, and Ella Fitzgerald. Ask the table which voice they'd play again. Anyone who likes can get up and dance. Seated: clap, tap, or sway along.

Week 2: Valentine's week

Roses and a bottle is the drawing pair at the top of this page. Print it in Regular and Bold and let each person choose. Bold has thicker lines and fewer tiny details, easier to see and easier to finish. Its Story Starter: "Did you have a favorite perfume or aftershave?" The follow-ups: "What did it smell like: flowers, spice, or soap?" and "Where were you going when you wore it?"

Valentine's Day can be tender for anyone who has lost a partner. Offer the page and the question, and let each person decide how far to go with it.

For a second page, Hearts and blooms is all hearts and flowers. Its Story Starter: "Valentine's Day: are you a candy, flowers, or card person?"

• Doily valentines. Set out paper doilies, red paper hearts, and glue sticks, and make a valentine for someone in the building. Then walk them door to door together. Seated: swap them around the table, or let staff carry them to the rooms.
• A radio show made at the table. World Radio Day is February 13. Make a "microphone" from a hairbrush or a paper towel tube. One person stands and reads the weather, another reads a short news story, and someone sings the theme song. Seated: pass the microphone around the table.
• A slow dance afternoon. On Valentine's Day, play the love songs of the dance-hall years. Anyone who wants to can dance with a partner or a staff member. Seated: hold hands across the table and sway, or hum along.

Week 3: Presidents Day week

Presidents Day is Monday, February 15. Color Butterfly on cherry blossom. Its Story Starter: "Cherry pie or apple pie: which would you pick?" Its follow-ups are good ones for a pie week: "Did you like making pies, or just eating them?" and "Warm with ice cream, or cold from the fridge?" To go with it, hold a cotton ball with a drop of cherry extract under each person's nose, if they'd like to smell it.

• A pie vote. Every president needs an election. Make paper ballots that say "cherry" and "apple," and set a ballot box by the door, so everyone walks up to vote. Count the votes aloud, then serve the winner, or both. Seated: pass the ballot box around the table. Check diets before you serve.
• A penny jar. Fill a jar with pennies and let everyone guess how many are inside. Write each guess on a card. Walkers can come up close to look. Seated: pass the jar around the table so each person can hold it and shake it.
• A hat rack. Bring out a box of hats: a top hat, a fedora, a church hat, a ball cap. Set a mirror by the door, and let everyone try one on and pick a favorite. Seated: pass the hats and a hand mirror around the table.

Week 4: Words and letters

If the bird feeders from Week 1 are still busy, keep a list by the window of every bird seen this month, and read it aloud on the last day.

International Mother Language Day is February 21. Color Butterfly and cosmos. Its Story Starter: "Are you a letter writer, or more of a phone-call person?" The follow-ups: "Who did you like hearing from the most?" and "Flowered stationery or plain paper: which did you like?" Pass around a sheet of flowered stationery and an envelope while you color.

• A poster of words from home. Ask how people said "grandma," "thank you," or "good night" at home, in any language or any way of speaking. Tape a big sheet of paper to the wall and let people walk up and write their word, or tell it to you. Seated: lay the paper on the table and pass the marker around.
• Letters to mail. Hand out cards and envelopes and write a short note to a friend, a grandchild, or an old neighbor. Staff can write for anyone who'd rather talk than write. Walk the stack to the mailbox together. Seated: collect the letters in a basket that goes around the table, and let staff mail them.

George Washington's birthday is February 22, the same week. If the pie vote left any cherry pie, this is a good week to finish it.

Ten questions for the month

Ask about, not whether. Each of these has an answer that can't be wrong. Use one a day, at lunch or at the coloring table. Read it once and give it time. Most stories start after a pause.

1. Who gave you your first valentine?
2. What's the nicest card or note you ever kept?
3. Which birds came to your yard in winter?
4. What radio show did your family gather around?
5. What song did you like to slow dance to?
6. What did you call your grandmother?
7. What words from home do you still use?
8. What's the best pie you ever ate, and who made it?
9. What did you do on a long winter weekend?
10. Who in your family told the best stories?

New in the library this month

Hearts and Flowers is the February pack, for Valentine's Day and anniversaries. Butterfly on a rose and Butterfly in a sunflower ring are in it too, each with its own Story Starter. See the whole set on the Hearts and Flowers pack page.