Valentine Crafts for Kids

I know.  I’m very late this year.  But if you’re anything like me, you’ll be needing something to do Valentine’s Day to kill the afternoon any ways.  A year or two or three, I saw this cute craft where they hung clay hearts from ribbon in a window.  I thought it was neat.  I finally got around to it, but I decided to make all kinds of hearts from all kinds of things.  Crafts are suitable for toddlers and up.  Depending on the ability of the child will depend on how much help the child needs.  Check out other Valentine crafts here and here.

Suncatcher Hearts

(I adore suncatchers.  They’re easy and pretty.  The boys have yet to complain about making so many.  Do not use glitter.  If you read you can use glitter, they are very wrong.  It does not allow the contact paper to stick together very well, and then everyone is sad.)

Things you need:

• Clear contact paper
• Heart shape cookie cutter
• Marker
• Scissors
• Tissue paper pieces
• Hole punch
• Ribbon

Trace two hearts on the contact paper.  I have my boys decorate before I cut the hearts.  But you can cut out the hearts first.  Have the child place tissue paper on one of the hearts.  Place the hearts on top of each other, sealing them together.  Cut out the heart.  Use the hole punch to punch a hole.  Tie a loop with the ribbon.

 

Shrink-A-Dink Hearts

(I have rediscovered Shrink-a-Dinks.  I heart them so much.  The boys are getting a kick out of making them and watching them get small.  I recently used them to make a Valentine present for a friend.)

Things you need:

• Shrink-a-Dink paper
• Heart shaped cookie cutter
• Colored pencils
• Scissors
• Hole punch
• Oven
• Cookie tray
• Baby powder
• Foil
• Ribbon or string

Trace a heart on the Shrink-a-Dink paper.  Have the child color the heart.  Cut the heart out and punch a hole in it.  Remember the Shrink-a-Dink will shrink to a third of its original size, so if you want to use ribbon, you have to make that hole big.  Sprinkle a little baby powder on the foil.  Place foil on cookie sheet, and place Shrink-a-Dinks on foil.  Follow  the instructions for Shink-a-Dinks.  Mine said to pop them in the oven at 350 for a minute to three minutes.  Then magic!  Take out Shrink-a-Dinks, and let them cool.  String up the hearts.

 

Clay Hearts

(Finally clay hearts.  Polymer clay is very difficult for small hands.  I have to really warm it up and kneed it before the boys (6 and 4) can work with it.  I need to find a new source of clay.  But once the boys start working on it, they love it.  We have made all sorts of clay things.)

Things you need:

• Polymer clay (traditional colors like pink, red, or white, but hey, green could work too.  Or brown.)
• Heart cookie cutter
• Tooth pick or bamboo skewer
• Oven
• Cookie Sheet
• Foil
• Ribbon
• Optional: rubber stamps, glue, glitter

Kneed the clay until pliable.  (This may take a while.)  Roll clay into a ball and then squish it down.  Use the cookie cutter to cut out a heart shape.  If you would like, you can use a rubber stamp to decorate the heart.  Use the tooth pick or bamboo skewer to make a hole in the heart.  Place foil on a cookie sheet, and place the clay heart on the cookie sheet.  Follow the instructions on the package.  Mine says to bake at 275 for 30 minutes for every 1/4 of an inch in thickness.  (And yes, I have burnt clay before.  It’s annoying.)  Take out hearts, and allow to cool.  If you would like, you can decorate them with glitter and glue.  String the heart with ribbon.

 

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Word and name recognition craft

A craft!  A craft!  I finally had a moment to type up a craft for the blog.  Tornado S and I have done dozens of these.  They are fun, easy, and help a child learn to recognize his/her name and start learning to write it.

Things you need:

• Paper
• Computer
• Printer
• Glue
• Various materials such as glitter, fabric paint, shells . . . .

Type the letter or name in a word processor.  In Microsoft word, I suggest Century Gothic because it is similar to block writing.  Make sure the to use bold type and to make the word or letter large enough that it fills the page.  You can either leave it solid or make it an outline. (I always use outline.)  Print out the word or letter.  Have the child hold the glue and trace the letters.  On younger children that are learning to write, help the child trace the letters.  Have the child decorate the letters.  We have used glitter, beans, rice, pebbles, shells, buttons, noodles, sand, salt, rock salt, beads.  The sky’s the limit.  Instead of glue, you can also use fabric paint.  Tornado S especially loved the glow-in-the-dark fabric paint.

Yet Another Halloween Craft

Yes, another, but we haven’t done it yet.  We’re doing it after nap time, but I’ll let you know how it goes.  But since we’re running out of time, I figured I pre-post.  I found this awesome site that actually has ages on it’s crafts.  http://www.dltk-holidays.com/Halloween/halloween_crafts.html  I also got this craft from the sight though I add to it because I thought it needed something extra as well as being more time consuming.

CD-ROM Pumpkin

Things you need:

• CD or DVD disk (something you don’t want back)
• Orange construction paper
• Black construction paper
• Yellow construction paper
• Green construction paper
• glue
• scissors
• yarn or string

Using the CD has a guide make a circle out of the black and the orange paper.  Cut out the circles.  Cut out triangles for the eyes and nose and a mouth out of either the black or yellow paper.  Cut out a cressant or half circle the size of the CD out of the yellow paper.  (Just in case this last direction makes no sense at all, it will be the moon.)  Cut out a “stem” out of green construction paper.  Take the yarn and thread it throw the CD hole so that the CD can later hang from it.  Have the child clue the stem at the top of the CD.  Then glue the orange circle on that side and the black circle on the other side.  Have the child glue the moon on the black circle.  Have the child glue the face on the pumpkin.  Tada.

More Halloween Crafts

Tissue Ghosts

(The boys enjoyed this one.  It was easy and fun.  They especially enjoyed decorating the ghosts.)

Things you need:

• 2 sheets of white tissue paper
• ribbon or string
• markers

Wad one sheet of tissue paper into a ball.  (Evan loved that.)  Place the tissue ball into the middle of the other sheet.  Pull the ends together, and tie the ribbon just over the ball, creating sort of a bag.  Flip it over, and decorate the head with a face.  If you want, decorate the rest of the ghost like Evan did.

Paper Pumpkins

(While I was looking for a template to make a pumpkin, I came across this site.  I was planning on cutting out the pumpkin in orange and cutting out eyes, nose, and mouth out of black or yellow.  I liked this idea better.  I let the boys color them however they wanted, and because my boys are young, I cut out the shapes and allowed them to glue them on.  The boys had a lot of fun with this.)

http://www.dltk-holidays.com/Halloween/mpumpkinfaces.htm