No Time For Flash Cards

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Valentine’s Day Craft and Math Lesson

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Patterns, ordering, shapes, sorting, and counting are all used in this simple Valentine’s Day craft and math lesson, 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!

Valentine’s Day Craft and Math Lesson

  1. 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 also some clear tape.
  2. Start by sorting the cards into suits. This is a long craft so I only put two suits on our place mat. 
  3. Next, place the cards in numerical order. 
  4. 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.
  5. While they do that, punch holes in the cards that they put in numerical order.
  6. Punch holes in the hearts.
  7. Next, start threading. Of course, this is not easy. Be prepared to help, or if your child’s like mine, be prepared to be told you aren’t allowed to help. In that case, wait until they ask for it. To make lacing easier, be sure to 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.
  8. Finally, hang it up and enjoy your Valentine’s Day craft and math lesson on display!
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29 Comments

  13. Susie says

    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

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  18. Mama Meg says

    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.

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Trackbacks

  1. […] 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 […]

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  10. […] combine playing cards with string to make a garland […]

    to Playing With a Full Deck! Higher-Level Thinking Skills With Playing Cards for K-2 – Big Ideas for Little Scholars" aria-label='reply to this comment to Playing With a Full Deck! Higher-Level Thinking Skills With Playing Cards for K-2 – Big Ideas for Little Scholars'>reply to this comment

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