Valentine Crafts for Toddlers – Scissorless!
Don’t get caught thinking that Valentine’s crafts are just about cutting hearts out. Kids of all ages can get involved in the celebration. Toddlers are too young to use scissors safely on their own, but they can still participate in craft making with the family.
Here are some ideas for Valentine’s Day crafts that don’t require using scissors.
PAINT: Toddlers love to paint (all ages actually!). If they are in preschool, they have likely learned that it is safe and fun to paint. Give them some finger paints in red and white and let them create just about anything!
With finger paints, you have to have an area prepared to contain the mess. Dress the kids in play clothes so that they can get messy without ruining their good clothes.
Show them how to use their little hands to make a heart shape out of their prints. You can have them alternate between red and white… or they can mix the white and red to make a nice pink for more hearts. I think it is absolutely adorable to have them paint on poster board… Guide their hands to write ‘I Love You’ and you will have a beautiful masterpiece to hang on the wall for the holiday!
Toddlers can give the gift of flowers out of tissue paper as well. Give them a variety of colors and sizes of tissue paper so they can make different kinds of flowers for their loved ones.
Kids Valentine’s Crafts with Construction Paper
Crafts are so much fun for kids… and Valentine’s Day is the perfect time to let them go at it! Construction paper is one of the most versatile tools for Valentine’s Day crafts that kids will enjoy creating and family members will enjoy receiving.
First things first – start with a simple pad of construction paper. You’ll want to be sure the pad has white, red and pink sheets… as well as other colors too. The local craft store or even the dollar stare should have just what you need for the job.
Obviously the first project would be paper hearts… like I mentioned in my last post. Kids can use safety scissors to cut out heart tracings on a folded piece of paper. Let your kids draw big and small hearts out of red and white sheets of construction paper. You can even let them use those fancy craft scissors to give the hearts a unique edged design.
Red, white and pink are the usual Valentine’s Day colors… but, if your kids want to use other colors as well – let them! They are being creative… this is a great time to encourage their creativity. A blue or purple heart will be made with just as much love as a red one.
Kids Homemade Valentine’s Day Decorations
Kids are absolutely FULL of ideas when it comes to decorating for a holiday like Valentines Day! Here are some ideas for making homemade Valentine’s Day decorations for your home…
First things first… start simple. Stick to decorating just the main rooms of your home. You can give each child a ball of red, white or pink ribbon and just see what they decide to do with it. Ribbon is great to wrap around vases of flowers or draped over doorways. And, don’t forget to get a pair of scissors to run through the ribbon to create curls!
Last year I cut out a bunch of hearts out of construction paper and had them all over our craft table for the kids to do whatever they wanted with (within reason!). They made all sorts of fun Valentines… and some ended up on the top of the piano, on the window, the walls… fun! Let your kids stick them all over – whevever they can find a good spot. If you sit long enough, there may be a few attached to you! Bigger hearts can be taped onto walls and windows (make sure the tape won’t strip the paint!)… Or, you can punch a hole in the heart and put a string through to tie them onto things.
Valentine’s Party Fun!
With the holidays behind us, it’s time to get ready for Valentines Day! It is the perfect excuse to have a party. Here are a few ideas to make it fun…
1. Plan Ahead: Although Valentines might not be as bit as Christmas, you will still want to plan ahead to avoid the rush for supplies. With your list in hand, find games and items for everyone.
2. Dress your guests to celebrate. For the girls, you can give them something as simple as a candy necklace. For the boys, try candy whistles.
3. Start your party with games. How about a game of hearts for the card players? Poke around on Google for kids versions of a game so you can have both kids and adults playing the same game. Another idea could be to plan a word game. Using the words, ‘Happy Valentines Day’, give the kids two or three minutes to write down as many words as they can using those letters. The one with the most words wins a prize.
4. Don’t forget those prizes! Prizes can be as simple as paper hearts that work like coupons…. For example, create a coupon that can be traded in for a day with no chores or a five dollar gift from the store. The more prizes a person wins, the more coupons they can cash in. If you have guests that are not a part of the family, you could have a separate prize basket with small prizes like candy and teddy bears.