Do you ever get part of the way through your day and realize… It’s a holiday!
Happens to me all the time. So, if you are anything like me and had nothing special planned for Valentine’s Day, or maybe you had good intentions and for whatever reason your plans fell through, here are 3 super simple crafts to do with your kids today. (Note: my children are 3 and 2. I suggest variations below each craft that may spark an idea to better suit your child of a different age)
We LOVE you to pieces!
Materials:
- A piece of paper
- An old magazine
- Glue
- Sponge Brush
- Marker
- Scissors (optional)
Directions:
- Write the phrase and draw a heart on the paper.
- Tear out pages from an old magazine that are prominently white, red, or pink- An old Christmas issue was PERFECT for this!
- Have your child tear up red, white, or pink pages from a magazine.
- Spread glue in the heart area using a sponge brush.
- Have your child make a collage of magazine shreds.
Variations:
- For older children, have them write their own phrase.
- For children beginning to write, use dotted letters for LOVE and have them trace.
- Look through the magazine with your child and have them pick out pages that have a lot of the focus colors.
- Work on fine motor skills by having your child use scissors to cut up magazine pages.
- Discuss how everyone’s heart is made of different “pieces” and why that makes them so special.
Heart Strings
Materials:
- A piece of paper
- Scissors
- Hole Punch
- A shoe string, lacing string, or yarn with tape around the end
Directions:
- Cut out a heart.
- Punch holes around the perimeter of the heart.
- Tie the string to one of the holes.
- Guide your child on how to lace if they have not done this before.
Variations:
- Make several Lacing cards, and have them create different patterns on each.
- If you have access to a laminating, this is a good project to protect and use again and again.
LOVE Letters
Materials:
- Paper
- Marker/Pen
- Dot Painter
Directions:
- Write the key letters at the top of the paper.
- Scatter key letters and random letters over the whole paper.
- Have your child “dot” the letters as you call them out. If they need assistance, you can point to the samples at the top of the page.
Variations:
- Leave off the sample letters and call out the letters to be identified.
- Use different color dot markers and do each letter in a different color. We did all red today because that is the only Valentine-y color we had.
- If you don’t have dot markers, you can use regular markers or highlighters and color over the letter they are identifying.
- As you go, talk about the sounds that each letter makes.
- You could use the same concept with sight words rather than Focus Letters.
Each of these activities easily translates to any holiday, occasion, theme you can think up!
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