Weave baskets with the children from strips of red and pink construction paper. If the students are old enough, have them cut the strips of paper themselves. Weave the paper together to form a little heart-shaped basket. Paper baskets are sturdy enough to hold a few pieces of candy or a stack of valentines.
Help the children create lollipop flowers that can be given as a bouquet for a special someone. Cut out various flower and leaf shapes from different colors of construction paper. Lay the flower shapes on the table and place a lollipop on top of each flower's petals. Tape the lollipop to the flower shape and a few green leaves to the lollipop stick. If you wish, write a message on the flower. Purchase a block of green floral foam and arrange the various lollipops in the foam to create an edible flower garden.
As an alternative to paper bouquets, create foam roses. Set aside a green pipe cleaner to serve as the stem of the rose and cut another in half; wrap one pipe cleaner half around the stem to represent leaves. Cut out raindrop shapes from red, white or pink craft foam. Glue the raindrop-shaped petals together with their points facing downward. Use a hot glue gun if the children are old enough; the glue hardens quickly and makes the flower easier to assemble. Once the rose is complete, glue it to the top of the green pipe cleaner.
Put together a small goodie bag for each child. You can purchase inexpensive, decorative, disposable bags at craft stores in their food sections. Place a Valentine's pencil to be used in class, chocolate candy and conversation hearts in each bag. If you like, include a short note telling the child how much you love having them in your class.
Lay a sheet of contact paper on the table, sticky-side up; sprinkle torn bits of construction paper, tissue paper or colored cellophane onto the contact paper. Use red, pink and white papers to symbolize Valentine's Day. Once the contact paper is filled with the bits, place another piece of contact paper on it, sticky side down. Push out all of the air bubbles between the two adhesives and cut the decorated paper into heart shapes. You can punch a hole into the top of each heart and thread a ribbon through to hang the decoration.