Valentine’s Day is a time of the year where people have fun expressing their love towards their partner and friends. In today’s tech savvy world, there are some really creative ways you can let your loved ones know you're thinking about them with the power of code. Whether you’re an expert coder or just starting your coding journey, here are some fun ways you can express your love with code this Valentine’s Day.

Code a Letter

What’s one of the oldest ways to say how much someone means to you? Through a love letter of course! This year, take the classic love letter and give it a little code twist. You can type up your letter using Python or JavaScript. Here’s a little Python code that displays a love letter to your partner:

print(

"Happy Valentine's Day! More words here."

The text needs to be saved in an a.py suffix file and run through the Python interpreter to execute this code. Run the command python [filename].py on the command line or in a terminal after finding the file’s location. Your terminal or command line will then show the love letter and voila! You got yourself a nicely coded love letter.

Program a Personalized Gift

Pick up an Arduino or a Raspberry Pi to create a personalized gift for your special someone this Valentine’s Day. You can then program your device to display a custom LED heart, a love-themed digital clock, or a fun little message or a photo. The possibilities are endless with an Arduino or a Raspberry. Here’s a fun little project from Arduino and one from Raspberry Pi.

Create an Interactive Website

What better way to say I love you than create a whole website for someone! Use HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to create a Valentine’s Day-themed website that features music, pictures, animations, and messages to your loved one. You can use a code editor like Visual Studio Code to write the code and surprise your loved one.

Build a Two-Player Game

Let your player -two know how much you care by building a game just for the two of you. Use MakeCode Arcade for a more retro-type game or, if you are an advanced programmer, use Unity or Construct to create a fun and engaging game for you and your significant other. Add hearts, flowers, and romantic music to make it more festive. You’ll have just as fun making it as you will playing it.

Valentine’s Day is a great opportunity to express your love in a unique way by combining programming and coding. With these ideas, you can create something that is both fun and meaningful for you and your significant other. You can even use these ideas outside of Valentine’s Day for birthdays, special occasions, or just to send to someone on a random day. Let us know if you use any of these ideas by tagging us on social media at @youthcodejam on Facebook and Instagram!