Letter of the Week – L Love

For the past few weeks the most popular searches bringing traffic to my site have been “Letter of the Week” and ” Valentine’s Craft” so today I thought I would try to satisfy both and make a Valentine’s Day Letter of the Week. This L is super easy to make and fast too. You can make it easier with paint , or more complex by having your child draw pictures of the people they love instead of using photos.  The goal is to have fun with the letter so tailor it to your child and their favorite materials.

1. Before gathering your materials, sit down with your child and ask them who they love. Find photos or have your child draw pictures of these people.
2. Gather your materials. You will need some cardboard, tissue paper, tape, family photos, heart punch , red paper, glue and scissors.
3. Start by cutting the cardboard into a L .
4. I used gift wrap tissue paper to cover the L  but this was only per my son’s specific request. You can paint, color with crayons, glitter… whatever your child is into . Keeping crafts fun means keeping your kids learning and playing with letters!
5. If you are using tissue paper tape it on – another big treat for my son, using the tape!
6. While my son taped I trimmed the family photos.
7. Next add glue for the photos.
8. Pop them on your letter of the week.  Let dry.

Books We Love

Valentine’s Day by Anne Rockwell and Lizzy Rockwell is a lovely book with a a cute twist. The story follows a class making special valentines for each other , some are very touching others goofy. The story doesn’t reveal who the Valentine’s are for. There are pictures of the same girl with the various students though so after a while you are clued into that they are for her we still don’t know why. I was so worried she was sick in the hospital. As it turns out the class goes to the post office to send to a classmate that is far far away! The idea of a class all writing to a friend far away, focusing on friendship and not candy is awesome! I also love any book that causes my son to say “Let’s go see a map of where she lives mama!”

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.

I Lost My Kisses by Trudie Trewin is cute story about a little cow who has lost her kisses! She looks everywhere for them, gives wonderful descriptions of what kisses are, sound and feel like but she just can’t find them. The thing is , is that she is picking her daddy up at the airport and has to give him a kiss when he arrives! Luckily her heart find them when she sees her daddy.  My son loved this book, he is an affectionate kid and loves to tease us that he is “all out of kisses” so this book was right up his alley! Very cute and I love the mostly black and white illustrations by Nick Bland.