Has your child aged out of exchanging Valentine’s Day cards with their classmates? My daughter is a middler schooler and hasn’t exchanged cards since fifth grade. However, the last few years she has brought candy to school to share with her friend group and celebrate the day. If your kids are too old to exchange cards but still want to treat their friends with something special, maybe this easy Valentine’s gift idea for teens if for you. This post has been updated for 2022.

Valentine’s Day in an Ongoing Pandemic
I love that my daughter’s school made a special effort to give all students something to celebrate in anticipation of Valentine’s Day – individually wrapped, store-bought cookies and popsicles were distributed after school – but middle school students were asked not to bring candy or cards to school for good reason.
In an effort to keep important traditions alive during this never-ending pandemic, she and I decided that we would put together sweet little gifts for the girls in her friend group and we would deliver each one to their doorstep over Valentine’s day weekend.
Cute Teenage Valentine’s Day Ideas
Gift ideas for teenagers is hard! I try to think about what she and her friends are into these days. She’s very much a Gen-Z girl who is into music, hair, make-up, clothes, baking, the beach and – most of all – independence.
My daughter and her friends love to meet at Starbucks to grab a drink and hang out or walk around. For this Valentine’s Day, we decided on a $5 gift card and some candy but made it extra special with how it is presented.
How to Present a Starbucks Gift Card for Valentine’s Day
Target and many grocery stores sell packs of Starbucks gift cards. I grabbed a 10-pack of $5 gift cards during my most recent grocery run specifically for this Valentine’s Day project. If she doesn’t gift all ten cards this time around, that’s ok because they don’t expire and can be used for future birthday gifts, Halloween Boo Buckets, teacher appreciation gifts, etc.
I also picked up a dozen disposable holiday coffee cups at Home Goods and a bag of heart-shaped milk chocolates. I love the cute “Hot Stuff” coffee sleeve most of all! To add some pizzazz, we stuffed the cup with red and white tissue paper we had left over from Christmas.



Isn’t this an easy and cute idea? It’s festive and inexpensive! I promise you, every teen would love to receive a couple of bucks in a Starbucks card and some candy.
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