Looking for a fun and functional Valentine’s Day activity for your special education classroom? A Valentine’s Day gift exchange is a fantastic way to incorporate functional life skills while celebrating the holiday!
I love doing a gift exchange with my middle school special education students because it provides opportunities to practice real-life skills like making a purchase, considering others' interests, using money skills, and demonstrating appropriate social behavior in the community.
Since my class is just down the street from a dollar store, we take a community-based instruction (CBI) trip every year. Each student purchases a small gift for a classmate, wraps it, and then we exchange gifts. This is a great alternative to Valentine mailboxes and aligns with age-appropriate activities for middle school special education students.
Teaching about Appropriate Gift Giving
Before we head to the store, we start with a mini-lesson on appropriate gift-giving. Using images from the Dollar Tree website, we sort items into "good gifts" and "bad gifts." This activity helps students develop critical thinking skills about what makes a thoughtful present.
For an additional layer of engagement, have students complete quick peer interviews to learn more about their classmates' interests. This encourages social communication skills, which is an important part of functional special education instruction.
Teaching Community Behavior for CBI Trips
Since this is a community-based instruction activity, we spend time discussing appropriate behavior in public settings. Before heading to the store, we review:
How to walk safely as a group
How to interact politely with store employees and other shoppers
How to wait in line and use money skills at checkout
By practicing these behaviors ahead of time, students gain confidence and learn how to navigate real-world experiences successfully.
Real Life Money Skills Practice
This Valentine’s Day classroom activity is also a great opportunity for students to practice real-life money skills at their level.
I ask each student to bring money, which I put in labeled envelopes. The amount they receive is based on their individual money goals:
Students working on exact change receive a mix of coins to count out the correct total.
Students working on the next dollar strategy receive dollar bills only, so they can practice giving the right number of dollars.
I intentionally avoid giving the exact amount they will need—I want them to get authentic, real-world experience handling money and making purchases independently.
Valentine's Day Gift Exchange
After shopping, we wrap the gifts and have a classroom gift exchange at the end of the day. The students always love the excitement of both giving and receiving a surprise gift.
This hands-on, age-appropriate Valentine’s Day activity is one of my favorite special education lessons of the year! It promotes functional skills, money skills, social skills, and independence—all while making Valentine’s Day extra special.
Free Valentine's Gift Exchange Packet
To make this activity even more accessible for your students, I’ve created a free Valentine's Day Gift Exchange Resource to support their learning! This printable download includes everything you need to teach the skills required for this activity, including a social story about buying a gift, a peer interview worksheet to help students learn about their classmates’ interests, and a gift sorting activity to reinforce appropriate gift-giving choices.
It also includes a community behavior sorting activity, a visual task analysis for wrapping a gift, social sentence starters to support communication, a step-by-step checklist for shopping, and a reflection worksheet to help students process their experience. This resource is perfect for building functional life skills, social communication, and independence in an engaging way.
Grab your free copy and make your Valentine’s Day gift exchange even more meaningful!
Do you do a Valentine’s Day gift exchange or another functional skills activity in your special education classroom? I’d love to hear your ideas! Drop a comment below and share how you make Valentine’s Day engaging for your students.
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