Celebrating Valentine's Day with Food Allergies

Happy Valentine’s Day! Small hands are getting ready to pass out tokens of friendship, admiration, and love, and are eagerly waiting to pour over the valentine’s cards they will get from their classmates and friends. But Valentine’s Day has evolved beyond the simple passing around of paper cards and sharing some candy hearts among friends. A whole range of treats and candies are available to help you say “Be my valentine”, from the traditional candy message hearts and cinnamon hearts to colourfully packaged chocolates, toffees, which kids excitedly look forward to.

But, like Halloween, Valentine’s day can be a tricky time for those suffering from food allergies and dietary restrictions. These treats get noshed on while kids are still at school and more often than not come in a package without allergy labeling (or even a list of ingredients), making it hard to tell what’s what. Luckily there are lots of non-candy valentines ideas out there to help you safely celebrate Valentine’s day with food allergies.

From classic printable valentine’s day cards and activity pages to more extravagant mini-gifts featuring small toys, glow sticks and bubbles, there are lots of great valentine options that will give your kids fun, candy-free ways to profess their love and friendship.

If you still haven’t finished your Valentine’s shopping and are looking for some inspiration, check out my board on Pinterest for my favourite non-candy valentine ideas.
Follow Sarah @ Accidentally Crunchy’s board Non-Candy Valentine’s Ideas on Pinterest.

For those of you bringing a candy or food treat, be sure to opt for something with clearly labelled ingredients and allergy warnings. If you can, consult with the parents of children with allergies to be sure that you are bringing something safe for the whole class.

Looking for fun, healthy, allergy-safe ideas for your Valentine’s Day party food? What using some mini cookie cutters to make these adorable fruit kebabs or fruit-in-fruit watermelon-strawberry slices?