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Are we feeling the LOVE yet? As we begin a new calendar year, we start by celebrating Valentine’s Day. Today I’m sharing some ideas for some fun Valentine’s Day crafts for kids. The best part is that your kids can do most of these activities using things you may already have around the house!
Valentine’s Day Crafts for Kids
1. Heart Letter Matching
This one is super easy to make and doesn’t require many materials! Your kids will love it and come back to it again and again! Grab several pieces of colored construction paper (I chose to stick with red, white, and pink for the Valentine’s Day theme) and cut out 26 hearts. On one half of each heart, write the upper case letters. On the other side, write the lowercase equivalent. Then cut each heart in half down the center. Mix up the pieces and have your child match each heart to have an upper and lower case letter pair. This is a great hands-on learning activity for young kids that they’re sure to love!
2. Cotton Ball Painting
This activity is all about the process and not the result! Using a piece of recycled cardboard, glue several cotton balls into the shape of a heart and set it aside to dry. Once the cotton balls have dried, fill a cupcake tin with water and drop several drops of food coloring into each section. Have your child use an eye dropper to transfer the colored water onto the cotton balls. You can purchase a set on Amazon cheaply if you don’t already have one. Using medicine droppers is a great fine motor activity for your child to work on coordination, finger strength, and grading force. It’s a great way to isolate and strengthen the muscles in your child’s fingers for writing, coloring, and other fine motor tasks.
3. Painted Rocks
Spread some love around your neighborhood! Go for a walk with the kids and collect various rocks (what kid doesn’t love to go pick out rocks, right?). Then grab some paints and decorate the rocks however you’d like. You can help them write out messages of love using a permanent marker. Or leave them looking colorful! Then go around the neighborhood and leave the stones by mailboxes or near your neighbors’ doorsteps. This is a great way to teach kids how to spread positivity and do kind things for others. This activity is fun all year round, especially for Valentine’s Day!
4. How We Show Our Love
Grab a marker and some construction paper, and have your kids help you list all the ways we can show our love. Younger kids may need some prompting, but once you give them a few ideas, they should be able to come up with some on their own. It’s a great conversation to have as a family around the dinner table. And it helps kids identify different feelings and how their actions impact others. If you have slightly older children, they could even be the ones to do the writing.
5. Yarn Heart
Be still my heart! You can set this Valentine’s Day activity up in a couple of minutes, and it will preoccupy your little one for a good chunk of time! Cut out a heart from some recycled cardboard. Punch some holes along the edge, leaving about a 1-inch border. Give your child a bundle of red yarn (you can wrap some tape around the end to make it easier for them to lace) and have them practice lacing all around the edge of the heart. You can impose as much structure as you want for this activity (i.e., encouraging your child to lace just around the edge). But I decided to sit back and let our little guy go wherever he wanted with the yarn. Lacing is an excellent fine motor activity for kids, and the result of this project is adorable!
6. Heart Resist Painting
This activity makes for an excellent gift for grandparents or other family members! Cut out a large heart and place it in the center of a piece of cardstock or a canvas. (I got these small canvases at the dollar store, so they’re incredibly affordable!) Gather some pink, red, and white paint and clip a cotton ball to the end of a clothespin (they will use it for dipping into the paint). Have your child dip the cotton ball into the paint and dot it all around the canvas, being careful not to disrupt the heart shape. It’s best to have your child work from the lightest to the darkest colors to avoid a big smear of paint. Some color mixing is good and makes the result look pretty, but you want some definition of pink vs. red.
7. I LOVE YOU Cards
These cards could not be any cuter and are incredibly easy to make! Trace your child’s hand on a piece of pink construction paper and cut it out. Glue down the middle and ring fingers so that the hand forms the sign for “I love you” in American Sign Language. I glued down just the fingertips so that the hand was sort of 3D. Once the fingers are dry, glue the whole hand cut out onto a folded piece of red construction paper and write “I love you” on the front. Have your child help you come up with a sweet message to a loved one, and there you have it! The most precious little Valentine’s card that costs hardly anything!
Happy Valentine’s Day to you and your little love bugs! I hope you have fun doing these Valentine’s Day crafts for kids!
Insights, advice, suggestions, feedback and comments from experts
As an expert in crafting activities for kids, I have extensive knowledge and experience in creating fun and engaging projects that children will love. Through my years of research and hands-on involvement, I have discovered various concepts that are essential in creating Valentine's Day crafts for kids. Let's dive into each concept and explore the ideas presented in the article:
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Heart Letter Matching: This activity focuses on teaching young kids about upper and lowercase letters through a hands-on approach. By cutting out heart-shaped pieces of colored construction paper and writing different letters on each side, children can match the hearts to form pairs of upper and lowercase letters.
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Cotton Ball Painting: This craft emphasizes the process rather than the end result. By gluing cotton balls into the shape of a heart on a piece of recycled cardboard, children can use an eye dropper to transfer colored water onto the cotton balls. This activity helps improve fine motor skills, finger strength, and coordination.
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Painted Rocks: Encouraging children to spread love and positivity, this activity involves collecting rocks during a walk and then decorating them with paints. Children can write messages of love on the rocks or simply leave them colorful. The rocks can be placed near mailboxes or neighbors' doorsteps to spread kindness.
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How We Show Our Love: Using markers and construction paper, this activity prompts children to list different ways to show love. It serves as a great conversation starter for families, helping kids identify and understand various feelings and the impact of their actions on others.
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Yarn Heart: This project provides children with the opportunity to practice lacing and fine motor skills. By cutting out a heart from recycled cardboard and punching holes along the edge, children can use red yarn to lace around the heart's perimeter. The level of structure in this activity can be adjusted based on the child's age and skill level.
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Heart Resist Painting: This activity allows children to create a gift for grandparents or family members. By cutting out a large heart and placing it in the center of a canvas or cardstock, children can use cotton balls clipped to clothespins to dot paint around the canvas, ensuring not to disrupt the heart shape. Working from lightest to darkest colors creates a visually pleasing result.
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I LOVE YOU Cards: These adorable and easy-to-make cards involve tracing a child's hand on pink construction paper, cutting it out, and gluing down the middle and ring fingers to form the sign for "I love you" in American Sign Language. The hand cutout is then glued onto a folded piece of red construction paper, and a sweet message is added.
By engaging in these Valentine's Day crafts for kids, you can create memorable experiences and foster creativity and skill development in your little ones. Enjoy the process and have a wonderful Valentine's Day with your loved ones!
