I'm a craft and activity lover, that's no secret. There are moms that say, "I'm not a Pinterest, mom." But, I say the opposite, "I'm that Pinterest mom!" Give me all the crafts - glitter, messes, sensory, I love it just as much as the kids. If I can DIY it over buying it, you better believe I'm pulling out the glue gun.
But I've always been that way, even as a child, so it just comes naturally to me, I love art in general.
Just because you may not, doesn't mean you're a bad/not fun/boring parent. You're probably saner than me in many ways (I write, as I tell my 3-year-old to pour in more glitter to add to her slime).
But just because you may not like the mess that comes with crafting, or maybe you feel like you’re not creative when it comes to crafting ideas, regardless, it doesn't mean you can't still help or provide your children with fun crafts and do cool activities. Naturally, I'm always Pinteresting different activities and crafts, specifically by holiday, or at least by month.
So, to make things easy and save you the time of combing through Pinterest, here are 10 of our favorite crafts and activities for Valentine’s Day.
10 of Our Favorite Crafts + Activities for Valentine's Day:
1. Love Bug
We made these adorable paper plate Love Bugs for the first time when my oldest was 3, and it was so fun!
What You Need:
paper plates
construction paper
google eyes
glue/glue-stick
colorful tissue paper (or you can sub the pieces of tissue paper out for crayons/markers).
Directions:
Rip the tissue paper into squares with your kiddo.
Glue the tissue paper to the paper plate (or color it, if using that method).
Glue your eyes on.
Cut out shapes of construction paper to design your bug, then glue on where you would like.
Add antennas of whatever kind (you can also use pipe cleaners).
Draw or glue on a smile (or frown, if you're like my husband).
Although we love this super easy, love bug, I've also found several other cute kinds of "love bugs" that we'll be trying out this year, too. Check out my Pinterest board to see the different versions of a love bug.
2. Wind Socks
What you need:
Construction paper
Markers
Stickers
Tape and/or stapler
Streamers
Pipe cleaners
Directions:
Lay out the paper for your child to color and decorate
Once decorated, roll the paper in a tube shape and tape or staple along the seams.
Use tape, glue or the stapler to attach the streamers to the bottom end of the tube.
Attach the one end of the pipe cleaner on each side of the top of the tube to make a handle.
3. I Love You to "Pieces"
This is for those of you who claim you don’t have a single crafty bone in your body. Draw a heart, or if that is even too crafty for you, I have a free printable you can grab (with text or without text)! Tear up whatever color construction paper or tissue paper your child fancies, and let them glue it to the inside of the heart. Ta-da! You just did a craft.
4. Heart Puppets
This is a cute little craft we’ve done before just for fun. Plus, your kiddos can extend the fun by putting on little shows with their imagination even after the fun of creating them. You can find the directions + supplies needed here.
5. Bead threading
A great, but simple activity that can be themed with any holiday is bead threading. Just grab some pipe cleaners and whatever kind of beads you’d like and let your kiddos thread away. Dollar Tree had these cute, cardboard heart boxes and heart beads on sale last year during Valentine’s Day, so I let my then 2 year old decorate her “bead box” and then she threaded away.
6. Valentine's Day Headband
If you have daughters, they may prefer to call this one a “crown,” at least my three-year-old did. You can use whatever supplies you have on hand for this — stickers, pom-poms, glitter glue, etc. Pick out a color for your crown base, measure your child’s head, then cut and staple (or glue pieces together accordingly), and let your kiddos color and decorate their crown. Easy peezy, right? For a really cute version of one, click here!
7. Pink Sparkle Slime
Okay, this one may be looked over purely because the word slime is there. BUT, if you’re okay with messes and like to do hands on things that require more of your help, rather than less of it, then this one is for you.
8. Shaving Cream Hearts
This is one of my favorites — not even for my daughter, but purely for myself. Although, she thinks it’s pretty cool, too.
What you need:
Shaving Cream
Washable Paint
Construction or watercolor paper
Toothpick
Casserole dish
Directions:
Fill the dish with shaving cream
Squirt paint all over it
Use a toothpick to slowly stir the paint across the shaving cream
Take a piece of paper and press it down on top of the shaving cream, covering the paper completely
Lift it up, set on table or cookie sheet to dry
Once dry, cut out hearts for Valentine Day Cards
9. Dot Paint Hearts
All you need for this is paper, a heart cut out, paint, and whatever painting tool you’d like to use. Personally, we love our Do-a-Dot Paints or we use q-tips. Both make a great dot. Not a fan of either of those? You could always use a pencil eraser like this blogger does.
10. "Invitation to Play" Valentine's Day Cards
My all-time favorite and probably the easiest activity/craft you can do is set up an invitation to play to make cards. Why? Because you can use whatever you have on hand.
Stickers, paint, markers, shredded paper, glitter, glue, crayons, scissors, pipe cleaners, pom-poms, stamps — seriously, the list is never-ending!
I keep a plastic serving tray on hand to rotate each month. We got ours at Dollar Tree, but Amazon has packs of them as well.
Fill each slot with a decorating item, set out some paper or even cardboard, and let your kids go to town decorating!
