Easy Valentine Craft for Kids

Every year my daughter brings home creative homemade Valentines from other kids and I often think two things 1) Where do parents find the time to help their kids make these and 2) I should help my daughter do something like that next year.

So, this year, my daughter mentioned she wanted to make butterfly pencil holders for her classmates. She insisted it’s easy – and frugal (I think that’s my word for 2018), and she was right!

Butterfly Pencil Holder Valentine

What you need:

-       Construction paper - choose whatever colours of construction paper you want (my daughter is partial to blue).
-       Scissors
-       Pencils (you can get some really nice Valentine’s Day ones at the Dollar Store or, as my daughter chose, glittery ones that are good for any time of year.
-       Markers, stickers, pipe cleaner, etc. for decorating

Instructions

Fold the paper in half and then along the crease draw a butterfly wing shape (you may be able to fit two in one 8.5x11” sheet of construction paper. Cut along the line, careful not to cut along the crease.

Once the butterfly shape is cut out, make a 1” slit near the top and bottom along the crease to slip the pencil through.

Decorate the butterflies using whatever materials you have on hand: pipe cleaners, googly eyes, markers or stickers.

Stick the pencil through the slits and voila! Valentine done!

Do your kids make their own Valentines every year? If so, we’d love to hear what you create and how! Leave a comment and let us know.

Valentine’s Day Crafts for Kids

Valentine’s Day is more than just a holiday for lovers. It’s the holiday for showing love and appreciation to those near and dear to our hearts. For kids, it’s the perfect holiday for homemade crafts to give to the special people in their lives.

Try out some of these Valentine’s Day craft ideas for kids to give to their parents, siblings, teachers, babysitters, or whoever else makes a big impact in their lives. They’ll have fun with hearts, bows, reds, and pinks, and their recipients will love the thought behind them. You can even use them for fun decorations to spread a little love in your home!

Handprint Lovebugs

Handprint crafts are always fun for kids, especially when making homemade gifts for family members who love to watch your little ones, and their adorable hands, grow.

For Valentine’s Day, turn your kids’ handprints into little Love Bugs, a Valentine’s Day version of a butterfly. Paint one of your child’s hands a desired colour using washable paint. Help her gently place her hand on a sheet of construction paper, gently pressing her hand and fingers into the paper to ensure her whole handprint stamps well.

Turn her hand print upside-down, so her fingers are pointing downward. Then, have your child cut out two large hearts for the “wings” of her Love Bug. Have her finish the creation with wiggle eyes, construction paper antennas, foam hearts or stickers to decorate the wings.

Design a T-Shirt

Have your child design a piece of Valentine’s Day art for someone special. Whatever makes your child think of Valentine’s day is fair game: a portrait of your family, hearts, or even red and pink scribbles, depending on his age.

Then, look for cheap shirts to transfer his one-of-a-kind design to! He will love seeing his art come to life on a real shirt. This is the perfect gift for a grandparent who would be proud to showcase a personal, handmade design on a t-shirt from a loved grandchild.

Ceiling Hearts

If you’re looking for a fun, and easy, way to get your family into the spirit of Valentine’s Day this year, start with a simple craft to decorate your home. These Valentine’s Day ceiling hearts are good for even the smallest hands to create.

Using red, white, purple, and pink construction paper, cut out several sizes of hearts. Then, attach some ribbon to your hearts with tape. You can use a simple, white curling ribbon, or get more creative with a variety of ribbons in different widths and festive designs.

Attach your ribbons to the ceiling with tape or thumb tacks, and you have fun craft that instantly puts you and your family in the mood for love!

Foam Love Bracelets

Use craft foam in pretty Valentine’s Day colours to create homemade bracelets with your kids for them to share with their friends. This is a good craft idea for them to make something special to hand out to their friends in class, along with their Valentine’s Day cards during the class exchange.

Cut strips of foam long enough to encircle a child’s wrist (use your own child for a good measurement!). Place adhesive Velcro strips on each end for an easy clasp. Then, let your child decorate each bracelet with foam hearts, glitter, or Valentine’s Day stickers.

If he or she is old enough, he or she can even write her friends’ names on the bracelets, or a sweet message for the holiday.

Candle Holder

This craft can instantly make a room feel the spirit of Valentine’s Day, and is an excellent gift for a babysitter or teacher.

Find a large, empty glass jar, like a pickle or sauce jar. Make sure it’s completely clean, inside and out, and remove any paper and sticky residue from the outside.

Cut out hearts in a variety of sizes and colours from tissue paper. Let your child paint some glue onto the jar and stick the hearts wherever he desires. Leaving some space between hearts for light to shine through creates a cool effect, but it’s just as pretty if your child wants to cover the whole jar!

Place a small votive candle inside, and you have a beautiful, handmade Valentine’s Day gift that your child created on his own.

Recycled Seed Paper Valentines

One of the most unique Valentine’s Day crafts for kids is also one of the most educational and eco-friendly! You can use recycled paper to make adorable hearts that hold seeds that will grow once you place the heart in a container with water.

To make recycled seed paper Valentines, like these beautiful ones from jamonkey.com, you’ll need some thin seeds, paper, water, food colouring, a heart-shaped cookie cutter, and some sort of screen, like a window screen, to dry the hearts on.

Your child will have fun tearing up the paper and mixing it with water and food colouring! She can even use a blender, with your help, to shred and blend the paper. Once you drain off the excess water after the mixture sits for several hours, let your child sprinkle the seeds into the mixture and stir.

Shape the mixture into hearts with a cookie cutter and place on the screen to dry in the sun. When they’re fully dry, you can attach them to your child’s Valentine’s Day cards, or put them in a festive baggy, for her to hand out to friends.

How do you get crafty with the kids for Valentine's Day?

Amy is a former preschool teacher turned freelance writer living with her two children and two cats. Amy graduated college in 2014 with an A.A. in Elementary Education and a B.A. in English. When she's not playing "super heroes" with her son or toting her daughter to sports practices, Amy writes for Babygaga, AdvisoryHQ, and several other blogs, including her own mom-business blog: theworkathome-mom.com.

Quick and easy Valentine's Day craft

Valentine's Day Craft

I asked the kids this morning if they wanted to do a Valentine's Day craft. This was before I had figured out what we could possibly do. I grabbed some construction paper and scissors and started cutting.

Valentine's Day is all about the hearts, so I cut out different sized hearts in red, pink and white, and handed them over to the kids who were eager to colour them. They went wild and when they were done we attached some white ribbon to the hearts using tape.

Ceiling Hearts

I used thumbtacks to pin them to the ceiling. The result? A very festive living room, decorated with hand-made hearts, making our Valentine's Day and the days leading up to it special. Try this for a quick and easy craft to do with your kids. They'll love seeing their handiwork.

5 Ways to Celebrate Valentine's Day

When I think of Valentine's Day, I think of red roses and chocolate (actually, I associate chocolate with almost any word, but I'm a bit obsessed). I also associate this day with romantic love - a chance to escape the chaos of family life and celebrate with my husband. But my parents always celebrated The Day of Love with us as children, and I often woke up to a special gift on my chair at the kitchen table. Although I'll look forward to giving my hubby a special card or a homemade treat, I'm also excited to share the love with my children. And truthfully, there's no money (and a lack of babysitters) to give us a night of freedom :)

Here are 5 great ways to celebrate Valentine's Day with your family:

1.  Date Night (or afternoon) - Surprise your child by picking them up early from school, and taking them out for a treat. So what if it's -15 outside? Indulge in an ice cream cone together (if school is more important for your child than it is for my kindergartner, then schedule your date post-dinner)

2. Go outside for a hike in the woods, and leave random hearts in the snow (these snow markers are so much fun!)

3. Read a special book all about Valentine's Day - this is our favourite!

4. Help your child make a Valentine's mail box, where they can collect all their Valentine's from school (yes, I know how annoying it is to have to write 30 Valentine's to all the kids in your child's class, but remember how much fun it was to receive them?)

5. If you want to purchase something, consider a gift that can support a charity - have your child pick out something special!

How are you celebrating Valentine's Day?

Decorating for Valentine's Day

by Carly

The Little Man loves getting into the season, regardless of which one we're celebrating.  One of my favourite decorating "crafts" to do with him is very simple!  Since we don't really want him colouring the walls, I love turning him loose on the patio door windows with some window markers or crayons and some homemade window paint.

I bought the window markers and crayons at Michael's, but you can get them pretty much anywhere.  To make the window paint, I mixed washable tempra paint with a bit of dish soap and we painted away!

Jake was especially proud of the heart he drew with my name in it.  He also loves that he can easily erase his creations and start over again anytime.  The Little Man also specifically asked that I paint a Valentine's Day message backwards on the window so our backyard neighbours could read it too!

Have you decorated for Valentine's Day yet?

Carly has red hair and occasionally the temper to match.  She loves potatoes, rainy nights, photography, her husband, her five year old son, Jacob and her brand spanking new son, Noah. Probably in reverse order. She also blogs.