Valentine’s Day
We aren’t stuck in a snowstorm but we are stuck waiting for our furnace to be fixed and moving keeps us warm and having fun. You can write anything on your hearts from numbers they need to identify, to physical tasks like we did to something trickier for older kids. Customize it to your child and have fun.
- Gather your materials. I am using foam hearts because they stand up well to being stepped and walked on, but paper would do in a pinch, just dont’ expect it to be used more than once. You will also need a marker and some music you can pause easily.
- Write out different tasks for your child to do when they come to this heart – mine were mostly physical things: Jump on one foot, crab walk, 5 push ups, break dance etc.. I also included sing the ABCs and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.
- Lay the hearts out face down in a circle.
- Start the music and play. It’s just like musical chairs only when the music stops you do the task on the heart that you were standing on when you stopped. We had a blast! He preferred Bon Jovi to kids music so we were rockin’ out!
I would let them walk ( to the music) longer than we did for the video, we were trying to get a good snapshot for the post. After I put the camera down we all played for another full round. Fun family time !
My son will do anything for marshmallows and he loves sorting. Since this craft itself is super simple I made things more challenging by creating a pre-activity of sorting the colors with bamboo tongs. Yes many were eaten, we did this on a no nap day and the sillies were at an all time high but we still had fun.
- Gather your materials. You will need a divided tray, mini marshmallows, some paper or foam , glue and tongs.
- Start by sorting a few of the marshmallows in a tray. I put a few in each section to provide a guide.
- Hand your child the tongs and let them sort.
- And eat.
- When they are all sorted ( and yes I asked if I could help and sorted a few as well) add glue to the foam/paper in a heart shape.
- Start adding the pink marshmallows.
- Count as you go! We did 13, 5 and 9 before gobbling up a few yellow and green ones.
- Let dry.
We were at the dollar store getting art mats ( the plastic place mats I use) when I spied these napkin rings. Perfect for beading when hands are still not nimble enough for smaller beads. This is a quick craft to make but one that is fun to play with long after. Make one for grandma or mama for Valentine’s day or use it as a basic patterning lesson.
- Gather your materials. You will need some napkin rings, ribbon and scissors.
- Start by cutting your ribbon into a piece log enough to comfortably fit over your child’s head.
- Tie one ring on to make a stopper for your rings. Make sure to leave enough room to have some ribbon to tie.
- Thread them on.
- Loop the last one through is you want, this is just a astetics thing for me I like them all squished together .
- Invite your child who announced that ” I am too big for this craft.” to model the necklace for all the “Other kid’s mommies”.
Books
A Valentine For Norman Noggs by Valiska Gregory is a quite cute , it is about a new girl in school who has caught the eye of all the boys. Normal hopes and dreams that she will look at him and fall in love, but all the other bigger, stronger boys seems to be catching her attention. He is kind to her in class though, offering help without being boastful and although he doesn’t notice she does notice him. When he is made fun of by the bigger boys about a Valentine he made her she comes to his rescue. I like that her character was strong but didn’t like that she physically hurt the other boys. This is a longer picture book , my son zoned in and out while reading it, but would be great for 4-5 year olds.
If You’ll Be My Valentine by Cynthia Rylant is a great book for preschoolers because it doesn’t just focus on romantic love or love of a parent and child but rather love of all the things this little boy is grateful for. He writes little valentines to his family members, teddy bear, even the bird and tree outside. It’s very sweet and cute without making you cringe one bit! My son loved this one , it was perfect for a 3 year old.
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Collage Heart
My son was aching to use this crinkly red paper that came in a gift basket last week. So I gathered it and some other random red materials for some “messy art” which is my son’s name for a collage. He loves pretending he is a garbage truck dumping the materials into the landfill. I am all for pretend play during art time! Collages are a fun way to use up scraps, and make beautiful art.
- Gather your materials. You will need some cardboard, scissors, a marker, glue , red paint and /or glitter glue, and a mix of red materials like tissue paper, foam, construction paper and fun red paper like these fillers.
- Start by having your child if they are able to cut the paper into smaller pieces. Scissor skills are very important so working it into a project like this is easy , logical and saves you step!
- While they do that cut open the cardboard and draw a heart.
- Paint it red!
- Add glitter.
- Add glue. I wiggled the paper as he held the glue, which he thought was hilarious and it prevented big globs.
- Add your materials. This step took 3o seconds- he drizzled a few then he dumped them on and smashed them down.
- Let dry and cut out.
My son liked doing this so much when I took his heart to dry he grabbed the extra materials and made one all by himself! Both are proudly displayed !
