Hobbies And Interests
Kids' Games
Children love this holiday and games for this age should focus on God̵7;s love and friendship, rather than romance. Hold a Bible verse scavenger hunt. Send players on a search around the room for hidden hearts that have a different Bible verse written on each heart. The twist is that you have cut these hearts in half and the children must find the other half of each heart, put the 2 halves together and read the Bible verse out loud. The first child to complete this task wins the game.
A variation on this game is to hide differently colored construction paper hearts around the room, each with a Bible reference written on it. Divide the players into teams and instruct them to find the hearts and earn bonus points by locating the verse in the Bible. The team with the most points wins.
"Have a Heart" is a simple game of skill in which children race to see who can pick up the most candy hearts using chopsticks. Give this game a Christian friendship emphasis by having the winning player share bags of candy hearts with every child in the room. Inscribe the bags with the verse: "A friend loveth at all times." Proverbs 17:17
Teen Games
While a party for teens may have couples in attendance, Christian Valentine games should never make any teen feel uncomfortable or unwillingly paired with another teen. A "Sweethearts of the Bible" game is a Valentine's Day-themed trivia game that's easy to organize. Give each player or team of players a piece of paper that lists one half of several Bible couples such as "Adam and _______." Players must fill in the blanks; the player or team with the most correct answers wins.
Arrange a competitive team game called "Words of Love." Divide participants into groups and have each group try to come up with as many scriptures that contain the word "love" as they can think of.
"Compliments by the Letter" encourages teens to see the good in one another. With players seated in a circle, have each player turn to the person on the right and give a 3-point compliment that begins with the first letter of the player on the right's name. For example, a teen complimenting a player named "Cathy" would say something like "I appreciate Cathy because she is courteous, clever and caring." After the game, have the players vote for the best compliment and award a prize to the winner.
Valentine Banquet Games
Games geared toward adults attending Christian Valentine banquets can add a sense of fun to the event and encourage fellowship. A variation on the teen game "Words of Love" works well with adults with a few alterations. Table by table, have guests recite their favorite Bible verses that contains the word "Love" and share insights about that verse. As participants explain what it is about a particular verse that touches their hearts, they'll simultaneously be breaking the ice for conversation and interaction that can help leads to group fellowship.
A round or two of Valentine Bingo is a lively after-dinner activity. Print out bingo cards that contain words that describe love as it is explained in the Bible, such as "compassion," "blessing," "forgiveness" and "gentleness" in the place of numbers.
Another way to promote fellowship and help attendees get to know each other better is to ask each player to write down something about himself that no one else knows. Enforce the point that these facts can be anything as along as they are appropriate to the occasion. Gather these facts and share them anonymously with the entire group, which has to try to guess which fact belongs to which guest.
If the banquet is made up of married couples, play this musical quiz game. Ask players to answer a list of multiple-choice questions about their partnesr. All of the answer choices come in the form of a hymn or worship song. For example "Which song best describes your spouse's mood in the morning? (A) 'I've Got Peace Like a River,' (B) 'On Jordan's Stormy Banks' or (C) 'The Battle Hymn of the Republic'."