Although we cut our paper into hearts to make this simple open ended art project into a Valentine’s Day themed art project there is no reason you can’t just do it on paper. Or cut it into any shape you want! Being a big kid is a big deal at our house right now, showing my daughter I trust her with more and more responsibilities from cleaning her own room to helping with the cooking also extends to creative time. I have allowed her to use the low temp glue gun before but it wasn’t working well today, she said he could handle the full temp one and I trusted her. She did great and LOVED this art project.
Gather your materials. You will need a glue gun and glue sticks for it, thick paper ( ours was top quality printer paper but if I had had card stock on hand I would have used it), a jar for water and water, scissors if you are cutting hearts, watercolor paints, and some brushes.
Start by plugging in your glue gun. Cut out your hearts. I initially made 3 but ended up making more since my daughter loved this so much.
Add your glue. You can make designs but there is no need for any real direction just let them go for it adding as much or as little as the paper will allow.
While the largest was drying she added glue to the smaller ones and then asked me to make more. When she was done with that it was time to paint.
She asked me to paint with her so I only took a few pictures, because just the same way that when a kid asks you to read to them you do when a child asks you to paint you do. It was by far the highlight of my day. We talked about kindergarten, about our upcoming trip to Disneyland, she is desperate to meet Rapunzel, and about how hard it is to do things you don’t want to do like clean up and sit the whole time on the school bus.
See why I put the camera down? It’s almost as good as bedtime talks under the covers. It was rather fitting we were painting hearts.
We painted so long the sun went down and somewhere along the way we lost the tray.
Heather BEll says
Haven’t been to your site in awhile! Been busy moving and life. But I am loving your new format! It’s beautiful and easy to navigate. We’re supposed to have a crazy snow next week in the Midwest and you are my go to for snow day activities. Thank you! Honestly, I have used your site since my now 11 year old was 4 years old or so. Love the variety and all the ideas. Great for girls and boys. Just thank you for helping moms like me work with my kids in fun ways that encourage learning and togetherness.
Allison McDonald says
Thank you Heather! This comment made me so happy I gathered my kids who were home from school to read it to them.
Rachel says
After painting, do you peel off the glue?