Valentine's Day Toddler Crafts!

Valentine's Day can be a great opportunity for you and your toddler to explore shapes, particularly the obvious heart and color red! Luckily, construction paper is relatively cheap, so you can craft away! Here are a few great ideas for you this February!

Valentine's Day Banner

Use stencils to make letters to spell things. Example phrases include "I Love You", "Happy Valentine's Day", "Happy Heart Day", "Be Mine", "I Love My Family Day", ect... Go ahead and cut these stenciled letters out so that your toddler can easily decorate them. It will be much easier to have them prepared ahead of time when working with small children or groups of toddlers. Use creative products like markers, glitter glue, stickers, crayons, sequins, and other fun things to make the letters shine! Then cut a piece of string the length of the desired banner and tape the letters on to it. Review the phrase with your toddler as much as possible and take the opportunity to discuss the individual letters too!

Valentine's Day Paper Hearts

Paper hearts are an obvious first project for kids. Younger kids can use children's safety scissors to cut out hearts traced on the construction paper. If the children are old enough, show them how to fold a small sheet of paper in half and then starting near the fold trace the outline of half a heart which, when carefully cut and opened, will reveal a perfectly shaped heart for Valentine's Day.

Heart patterns in various sizes cut from stiff cardboard can be used as tracing templates by the younger children. Encourage the kids to trace and cut large and small hearts out of pink, red, and white construction paper. You can help them to use pinking shears to give some of the hearts a unique ragged-edged design -- call them "alligator teeth" scissors and the little kids will love it.

Although pink, red, and white are the usual colors associated with St. Valentine's Day, the kids may want to make Valentine hearts using different colors as well. Try not to discourage this as they are simply being creative, and an orange or purple heart will be made with just as much love as a pink one and might be treasured even more.

White paper hearts with a slightly smaller red heart glued onto them make beautiful Valentine Day greeting cards that the child can give to anyone. A suitable St. Valentine's Day message can be added to the card with colored pencils, crayons, or washable markers.

"Love" Buttons and Badges

If your kids have rubber stamps with hearts or love designs on them, they can be used with construction paper to create badges or buttons for the whole family to wear. Once the button shapes are cut out, the kids can stamp them to their heart's content and then give the decorated buttons to friends and family members. The "LOVE" buttons can be fastened safely to any shirt or dress with a bit of rolled tape.

Valentine's Jello Treats

This is a great idea for a craft because it involves food. Food is a wonderful way to reach a toddler and keep them interested! Use cherry or strawberry jello squares to make a yummy treat. You will have the toddler place the squares in a dish alternating whipped topping and jello until the top. Let your toddler spread the whipped topping in between, it will be fine if it gets a little messy! Top it with a strawberry and you have a great treat! Your toddler will be so excited giving their family their treat they made themselves!

Make sure the check the Valentine Picture Book too!