Valentine's Day - Hitting The Sweet Spots

Source: KarBel Multimedia

If you’re like us, you may be finding that the polar vortex has wreaked havoc on classes from the multiple snow-day closures. The looming mid-winter break isn’t making things any easier with the constant struggle to keep kids focused on learning. Add Valentine’s Day into the mix on top of everything else, and things get complicated.

Well, take heart. While we don’t typically spend too much time on Valentine’s Day as a special holiday, we know our kids enjoy it. We suppose that’s why we are always looking to find new material each year to bring them into focus during the heart of winter.

Source: Business2Community

As always, some of our favorite items to share are infographics, because of their ability to meet the sweet spots of engagement through design. How Much Will You Spend On Valentine's Day is one of the new ones for 2014 that was designed for Visual Economics by Karbel Multimedia. Its sectional approach, combined with a 3D array to portray the data, make it different from some of the more standard approaches in laying out the graphics.

Another new one for this year is Some Sweet Gifting Statistics. It has plenty of opportunities for comparative writing lessons. If you're looking to have your students make their own Valentine's infographics, check out the
U.S. Census Data for Valentine's Day 2014
for content and data.

One thing we have noticed in our learners is the growing fondness for motion graphics, sometimes called video infographics or explainer videos. Whatever the name, the power of video truly wins their hearts. So here are just a few of our favorites that we shared with our learners.

An Animated History of Valentine's Day
This video tells the story of the day's history through narrative illustration. It's perfect for younger learners to understand how the holiday evolved, and why it has turned into the card-sending frenzy that we have today.



Happy Valentine's Day 2014 - The Infographics - Andrean Perdana
This motion graphic has the more typical hallmarks of an infographic, with information, images, and data shifting and sliding across the screen.



What is love? - Brad Troeger
This animation takes a shot at the definition of love. It's geared for older students, and perfect for opening up a conversation to discuss how love is easy to compare but difficult to define.



Looking for more? Please see our earlier post: Valentine's Day: For the Love Or Money Infographics