Use this Valentine’s Day preteen Sunday school lesson to help preteens learn about God’s loving guidelines. Find more great Sunday school lessons to help kids grow in their faith.

1. Do What I Say

Form two groups. Have each group create an imaginary dangerous mission for the other group to go on. Then have groups tell their mission to the other group. Have groups accept their missions and create guidelines to protect the people they’ll send on those missions, such as “Don’t feed the alligators.”

After five minutes, have groups report their guidelines.

Ask:

• How important would these guidelines be if you were actually going on this mission?
• How is the world sometimes a dangerous place for us?
• Did you know that God has given us protective guidelines in his Word for our mission on Earth?

Say: God loves us so much that he gave us loving guidelines that are usually called the Ten Commandments. Let’s look at how God wants to protect us.

2. Rephrase the Rules

You’ll need:

• Bibles (try kid-friendly versions like this one!)
• sheet of copy paper
• markers

Form pairs and have them read Exodus 20:1-17.

Give each pair a sheet of copy paper and a marker. Have them write the numbers 1 through 10 on their sheet of paper. Have pairs reword each commandment to explain why that commandment is a loving guideline from a loving God.

For example, kids may write, “Because I want you to be protected from religions that would mislead you, don’t have any other gods except me.”

When pairs are finished, have them take turns reading their commandments.

Then say: This is a new way for you to understand why the Ten Commandments are important for us. They’re commandments from God that show us how to love God and others. They’re love in action. When you obey these rules for loving, you share God’s love in wonderful ways.

3. Show Love to Mom and Dad

You’ll need:

• stationery
• envelopes
• stamps

Say: One of God’s loving guidelines tells us to honor our parents. So now you get to put that into practice. Write letters to your parents—or someone who takes care of you—to help them know how much you appreciate and respect them. Thank your grown-ups for all the things they do and the many ways they love you. I’ll send the letters so they arrive on Valentine’s Day.

Close with a prayer of thanks for God’s loving guidelines.

4. Eat a Sweet Snack

You’ll need:

• message heart candies (make sure the messages that appear on the candies are kid-appropriate)

Give each child a box of heart candies. Have kids sort through the candies and select five hearts with a message that resonates with them. These hearts might say something like “Love you” or “Hugs!” Lead a light-hearted discussion about how kids can use these phrases as ideas of ways to show love to their families.

Then let the kids eat the candies.

Looking for even more great Valentine’s Day ideas? Check out all our Valentine’s Day posts.