Patterns, ordering, shapes , sorting and counting are all used in this simple Valentine’s Day craft made with playing cards . That’s not even all the wonderful skills used, lacing the cards on uses fine motor skills and hand eye coordination. What I love is that I can make a Valentine’s day craft that is educational, low mess ( no glitter, glue or paint) and cost me less than $3!
- Gather your materials. You will need a deck of playing cards with a red design on the back, a heart paper punch, hole punch, some ribbon or yarn , scissors and some clear tape.
- Start by sorting the cards into suits .
This is a long craft so I only put two suits on our place mat. 
- Next place the cards in numerical order.
- Next hand your child the heart punch and have them punch hearts in cards of other suits . We used the clovers that we sorted in the 2nd step.
- While they do that punch holes in the cards that they put in numerical order.
- Punch holes in the hearts .
- Start threading. This is not easy. Be prepared to help, or if you have a child like mine be prepared to be told you aren’t allowed to help and wait until they ask for it. To make lacing easier wrap tape around the ends of the ribbon/ yarn.
My 4 year old laced 3 cards and 4 hearts alone, then handed me the right numbers as I did the lacing. A nice thing about using playing cards is that they are sturdy and hard to tear. 
- Hang it up!
22 Responses to “Valentine’s Day Craft and Math Lesson”
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that is a terrific re-use for a deck of cards. very cute, I LOVE it!
ummm….i totally LOVE this! i will be doing this with my (since yesterday) FOUR year old! i told you i was totally stalking your blog. i’m in LOVE…..you have the most wonderful ideas. totally up my alley!
and since i know you IRL and know that you are a doll it makes me all the more happy about this discovery!!!
xo
Awesome!
)) Love the idea and off to hunt a deck of cards!
So, so cute! Not only is it a great “lesson”…it looks great on the mantle!
Okay, this is pretty and wonderful for all skills! I’m doing this next week in my classroom, that is, if we ever get back there with all this snow…
Awesome! Love this craft.
Now who would of thought of that??!! That’s awesome and so creative!!!
Love this! I’m going to head out for a deck of cards today.
What a great idea! I will be doing this one with my 5 yr.old.
I just ran over to my game cupboard, got a deck of cards and made this with my son. He LOVED it. So did I. Thanks!
A post has to be spectacular to get me to click to the blog through my reader…& this is SPECTACULAR! Thank you for sharing! My girls are going to love this! I bought a happy Valentines Day banner @ Target the other day but it is SO LONG that I don’t have a place for it. I am for sure going to be making this!
I love this! What a great idea!! I think I am going to run out and buy a deck of cards tomorrow!
[...] how to reuse the rest of your deck of playing cards? No Time For Flash Cards has another fun kids craft idea using old playing cards – a Valentine’s Day [...]
I love it! I have some plastic yarn needles that work great for crafts like this.
We just used part of a deck of cards to make Valentine pals, so we used the rest to make your banner. Thanks a lot!
Linked to you here: http://www.mommysavers.com/2011/02/kids-valentines-day-crafts-deck-of-cards-and-hug-me-valentines/
and here: http://mommysavers.com/boards/your-creative-side/143446-valentines-day-crafts-homemade-gifts-7.html#post1292471
I am so excited to have found your blog! You have wonderful ideas. Thank you so much for sharing them!
I love what you share here on your blog. Just thought I’d pop over and invite you to share at my silly little blog today if you get a moment. I’m hosting a Saturday School Show and Tell. Hope you’ll be able to link one of your great posts for my readers.
Adorable! Can’t wait to try this!
Of course! Hearts are playing cards!! Great idea.
Had to tell you I loved this activity, and so did my 3 year old. We did this on Saturday and it was a big hit. While his older borther was out, my younger son had a chance to show what he can do on his own- wow was I suprised when I turned around and saw him threading the last card without ever once asking me for help. Usually he has trouble focusing for awhile on a task, but this kept him engaged for quite awhile! Thanks, as always, for such a wodnerul idea.
[...] idea to play with cards came from this math post at No Time for [...]
Where did you find a heart hole puncher? That would be great for valentines! We are going to make this garland today! Thanks so much.
[...] Shake Painted Heart Valentine Circle of Friends Heart Wreath Paper Hug Musical Hearts Game Hearts Playing Card Banner ( great for a math lesson too!) Puffy Heart Wreath Love Bug with Heart Wings Heart Tambourine Heart Sun Catcher Heart Filled Dump [...]