You have come to the right place if you are looking for fun, engaging and exciting Valentine’s day arts and crafts to do with toddlers, preschoolers and kindergartners. Our activities are widely used by teachers, moms, dads, child care providers and more!
All our activities are available at no cost and are free to print and share.
Valentine Puppet
This fun project is a Valentine hit! This is an easy after school activity for which you probably have all the materials at home already.
Materials:
Red construction paper
Scissors
Glue
4 Large rubber bands
Markers
Directions:
1. Cut two hearts of the same size from red construction paper. Make them bigger than your hand. Cut 4 1 inch hearts from the red paper for the puppet’s hands and feet.
2. Cut each of the rubber bands so that they form elastic strings. Glue the rubber bands to the sides and bottom of one of the large hearts to form the arms and legs of the puppet.
3. Glue the tops of the two large hearts together with the ends of the rubber bands between them. Leave the bottom part open to slip your hand in.
4. Glue a small heart to the end of each elastic arm and leg. When the puppet has dried completely, draw a face with markers.
Heart Puzzle
Cut a large heart from red or pink poster board. Cut into several pieces, making a puzzle.
Magnets
Use plaster of Paris or any dough that hardens. Pour into candy size paper baking cups. Let harden. Paint like a piece of candy. Glue a magnet strip on the back.
Mouse
Cut a large heart shape from construction paper. Glue a small length of yarn for a tail at the top of the heart but let it hang off of the heart. Fold in half like a teardrop. Stuff with a little cotton. Glue edges of heart shut all around. Tail should be hanging out. Cut a small heart for his ears. Fold heart in half. Glue on rounded part of big heart so they form an ear on each side. Add whiskers, eyes, and a little pink nose.
Pasta Fun
Dye different shaped pasta in food coloring and rubbing alcohol. Use shades of red and pink and then string or glue onto a heart shaped paper.
Contact Paper Fun
Cut a heart shape out of the middle of a paper plate. You will need the paper plate, not the heart shape. Cover the back of the plate with a piece of contact paper. Sticky side facing the front of the plate. Have a variety of cake sprinkles, ribbons, confetti, etc. for the kids to choose and decorate the sticky part of the contact paper.
Cupcake Stencils
Have children help bake cupcakes in pink paper liners and prepare white frosting. Show the class how to make pink frosting by adding red food coloring. Make paper stencils in heart and dove shapes. Let each child place a stencil on his frosted cupcake and sprinkle with red sugar crystals. Carefully remove the stencil to reveal a valentine.
Colorful Carnations (science experiment)
Materials: Three fresh white carnations, warm water, knife, food coloring. Talk to the children about last Valentines day (or a long time ago) and the present of white carnations you received. They were beautiful flowers, but you had wished for some red flowers, not white. “At the time I didn’t know what to do, so I kept the white flowers and gave them plenty of fresh air, and new water every day. Nothing happened except the flowers got old and died.
This year I found a way for the flowers to change color. Should we try it?” First give the flowers a new cut on the side. Then fill the vase with warm water and food coloring. Put the flowers in the water and wait. (try with different colors and wait for the colors to creep up into the flower).
Valentine Mailboxes
An easy class project for valentine cards and treats!
Materials:
Red construction paper
Shoe boxes (one per child)
Paper scraps
Valentine Stickers
Anything to decorate the outside of shoe box
Directions:
Teacher glues red construction paper on the shoe boxes ahead of time. The children decorate their shoe box any way they want to with stickers, paper scraps, or whatever is available. The mailboxes are for putting in the Valentines each child receives. Teachers can put treats in as well.
Valentine Holders
Kids of all ages will love this easy lacing project. What a cute way to hold those valentine cards.
Materials:
Styrofoam plates (cut one in half)
Stapler
Hole Punch
Colored Yarn
Kids Plastic Sewing Needle
Directions:
Turn 1/2 plate upside down on the full plate. Staple in 2 – 3 spots around the edge to keep it from slipping. Hole punch through both plates all around the sides the 2 plates touch. This will be sewing holes for older pre-K’s to sew. Show them how to sew their plates together and then decorate with stickers or whatever. Hang them up with ribbon and use them as mailboxes.
Heart Flowers
Makes a great party favor or centerpiece. This is an easy daycare or class project.
Materials:
Red, pink and green construction paper
Glue
Scissors
Tongue depressors
Markers
Directions:
Cut out hearts (either red or pink) for the flower. Cut out two smaller green hearts for the leaves. Glue the flower to the top of the tongue depressor and the leaves to the middle of the tongue depressor. Draw a face on the flower and give as a gift to your favorite valentine! You can also collect all the hearts and place them in a vase for a centerpiece for a Valentine’s Day party. When the party is over, the children may take their heart flowers home.
You can also use a small photo of the kids. Make a bouquet and send them to grandma!
Valentine Cards
Hang onto the advertisements from the Sunday paper and special inserts that have valentines day sales. Have the kids cut out valentines related pictures, and glue them onto a big red heart, or make them into valentines cards (fold a piece of construction paper in half and let them at it). You should be able to find pictures of flowers, boxes of candy shaped in hearts, etc.
Puffy Hearts
Cut out hearts from a paper bag. Cut two of each, and have the kids glue them together, leaving a small opening. Stuff the heart with fiber fill or Kleenex or fabric scraps, then glue the opening shut (don’t stuff too much). Have the kids decorate with fabric scraps, old lace pieces, cutouts from doilies, ribbon, stickers, glitter, sequins, etc. If you make enough of these, and not too big, you can hot glue them to a cheap wreath and make a valentines wreath! Add a bow, some ribbon or raffia, and some valentines day pics to finish the look.
Recycled Hearts
Materials: Cardboard, wax paper, red tissue paper, string, glue, cooking oil, one hole punch, paint brush.
Cut the cardboard into a heart shaped frame. Cut out a wax paper to fit the frame. Tear tissue paper into small pieces (approx. inch square). Brush a generous amount of cooking oil over wax paper heart. Place tissue paper pieces on the oil until wax paper heart is completely covered. Glue tissue heart into the cardboard frame. Punch a hole at the top of the heart. Tie with a string for hanging.
Valentine Sticker Collage
Cut big red hearts out of construction paper. Give children Valentine stickers to put on the heart.
Valentine Collage
Each child has a piece of contact paper taped to the table. Provide them with Valentine tissue paper (red, white, and pink), ribbons (red, white, and pink), bows, paper hearts (red, white, and pink), pom poms (red, white, and pink), feathers (red, white, and pink), etc. to put on their collage.
Hanging Valentine
Make 2 huge hearts and let the children decorate them as desired. Staple edges together, leaving an opening, and stuff with scrap paper or newspaper. Staple edge completely. Streamers (pink, red, and white) can be attached to the bottom, a string or ribbon on top, and hang them up.
Valentine Bracelet
Make the bracelet from a strip of construction paper. Glue small hearts on the paper or use cute valentine stickers. Staple or glue the strip to fit over the child’s wrist.
Sponge Heart Prints
Give each child a large heart cut from glossy paper and let them use a heart shaped sponge to paint heart prints on the paper.
Heart Lacing
Cut a large red heart shape from poster board. Punch holes around the perimeter using a hole punch. Let children lace yarn through holes.
Counting Hearts
Children can count the pre-cut hearts from a basket.
Matching Hearts
Make several pairs of matching hearts. Have children find the matching pairs.
Heart Headband
Make a headband out of heavy paper for each child. Trace 2 heart cookie cutters onto pink or red construction paper for each child and let the children color and cut them out. Tape them to pipe cleaners to make antennae and attach to headband.
Heart Rubbings
Cut out different sizes of hearts from sandpaper. Tape hearts to table and lay a sheet of white typing paper over them. Use side of crayon to lightly rub over hearts, making a pattern on paper.
Heart Straw
Trace and cut out heart from colored paper. Use a hole pinch and make 2 hole in center of heart, not side by side, but one under the other, about an inch or two apart. Thread a drinking straw into one hole and back out the other.
