The Tuneful Tales ensemble, from left: Becky Taylor, Larysa Pavelek, Kayla Zuckerman, Spencer Stromquist, David Taylor and Julia Paine.

Valentine’s Day isn’t just for lovers.

It’s for kids, too, at least as far as the Miami Piano Circle is concerned. And this morning, they’ll be hosting Tuneful Tales, a group of classical children’s music performers, at ArtSouth in Homestead. They’ll perform The Lion and The Mouse, by Boca Raton-based composer Clark McAlister, a version of the Aesop fairy tale for woodwind quintet and narrator, with a text by A.J. Wood.

Founded by Cassandra Eisenreich, the outreach coordinator at the University of Miami’s Henry Mancini Institute, Tuneful Tales includes members of the Frost School of Music’s Stamps Woodwind Quintet: flutist Becky Taylor, clarinetist Spencer Stromquist, hornist Larysa Pavelek, oboist David Taylor, bassoonist Julia Paine and soprano/narrator Kayla Zuckerman.

Thursday’s program, which begins at 10 a.m., opens with Sean Craypo’s Clap Your Hands and James Haymore’s Children’s Medley. After The Lion and the Mouse, Tuneful Tales will host an instrumental “petting zoo,” to give the attendees a chance to see the orchestral instruments up close.

Pianist Mia Vassilev, founder of Miami Piano Circle, said she’s seen Tuneful Tales’ work before and thought they would be ideal for the Circle’s annual Valentine’s Day children’s concert this year.

“The concerts are about half an hour in length, they’re quickly paced … and the music’s all very accessible and melodic and friendly,” Vassilev said. “They’ve done it at a number of venues, but I think ArtSouth is a great place to do it because they bus in children that don’t have the opportunity to see these concerts.”

Vassilev said the Piano Circle’s mission also includes children outreach, and the Tuneful Tales concert aligns perfectly with that.

“I think it will be worthwhile, something different, and something these kids will remember for a long, long time,” she said. “I’ve seen the reaction of kids when [Tuneful Tales] presents, and it’s amazing. It really resonates with them.”

It is by now a commonplace of cultural observation that music education programs have been heavily cut back over the years in the nation’s schools. Vassilev said outreach efforts for kids help enrich their lives outside the regular class fare, and compares the idea to her own nearsightedness.

“Once I had glasses, I couldn’t live the other way,” she said. “I guess it’s like seeing something through a different lens. You see something through an artistic lens, and all of a sudden, you’re opened up to this whole other world. It’s a different way of thinking, and processing. And it’s hard to go back from that, so I think it’s necessary, in that regard.”

Vassilev said she’s thinking about adding some more children’s programming to the events of the Circle, which was founded in 2007, and this year will host recitals by Martin Camacho at Barry University and the Steinway Piano Gallery in Coral Gables, a performance by Vassilev herself with the Alhambra Orchestra in the Rachmaninov Second Piano Concerto, and in late April, a “monster concert” at Barry called Ten Grand, which will present 10 pianists in arrangements of works from the operatic stage.

In May, the Circle presents an outdoor evening of classical and jazz performances at the Soundscape Park next to the New World Center. Vassilev said she’d like to supplement that with outdoor performances by Tuneful Tales or other kids’ ensembles to create another family-friendly event.

The mother of a 3-year-old girl named Veronika, Vassilev says she finds that there are an overwhelming number of things to do for kids in the area, but that in many cases, children are overscheduled and lose focus.

“I see people pull kids from one thing to another thing to another thing, just as they’re getting engaged in it,” she said. “Personally, I have a couple of activities for my daughter, and I think it creates a calmer vibe because you’re not always rushed, you’re not always running from dance to horseback riding to ice skating.”

And while there are many children’s concerts in the area, the ArtSouth event will bring something a little different to its young auditors.

“The Tuneful Tales group is unique because it combines the storytelling with the music,” she said. “I really believe in the group, and that’s why we wanted to present them this year.”

Admission to Tuneful Tales is free. For more information, call 247-9406 or visit artsouth.homestead.org.