Valentine’s Day Kids Craft Ideas

Valentine’s Day is the perfect opportunity to get crafty with the kids and create some LOVE-ly gifts and tokens that are guaranteed to delight.

We’ve put together a list of fun craft ideas that are ideal for keeping little hands busy. They’re simple and easy and don’t require a long shopping list or a frustrating hunt for out-of-the-ordinary items. In fact, many of the crafts make use of plain old household items - and as every parent or caregiver knows, a homemade gift from a child which has been made with love is always a winner.

So, start spreading the love with these Valentine’s Day crafting ideas:

Footprint Heart Card

Firstly, you’ll need to dip the child’s feet into some water-based paint (you’ll probably have to pick them up to get this done without messing too much) and get them to stand (with feet together) on a piece of card to make an imprint of their feet. Once the footprints are dry, you can then draw a heart shape around the footprints and get them to cut it out. Then glue the heart onto the front of a folded piece of coloured card and get the child to decorate around the heart shape. A personal message can be put inside the card.

Handprint Love Tree

Get the child to dip their hand (halfway up the elbow) and make a hand and arm print on a piece of card so that it resembles a tree. Then get the child to cut out small paper hearts or scrunch up its of coloured tissue paper and glue them onto the ‘branches’ to make a tree of love! A simpler option is to trace the child’s hand and arm onto paper to make an outline of the tree which they can then decorate. Voila - a handcrafted masterpiece!

Balloon kisses

First blow up a white balloon and attach a string to it. A white one is best. Then put bright red lipstick on the child’s lips and get them to plant kisses all over the balloon to create a fun, floating Valentine’s gift.

Origami Bookmark

A heart-shaped bookmark made using the Japanese origami technique of folding paper is a fun and easy Valentine’s activity. All you need is a square piece of paper about 7.5cm x 7.5cm (you can use ordinary coloured paper or origami paper which is slightly heavier). There are heaps of easy-to-follow instructions on Google and YouTube - and in a few minutes, your child can create the cutest heart bookmark in the world!

Heart Tree

Fill an old can with sand and ‘plant’ a small branch in it so that it resembles a tree. (Dead wood is best) You can even spray paint the branch for an even fancier look! The child can then cut out little heart shapes, punch a hole in them and hang them on the branches to look like flowers or leaves. They can then water their tree to let their love grow!

Potato stamp paper plates

This one will require a little bit of prep work to make the potato stamp. You can either use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to create a potato stamp or you can manually cut out a heart shape on the halved potato (you’ll find plenty of demonstrations how to do this on Google). The child can then stamp heart shapes onto a paper plate - which can be turned into a lovely hanging decoration by attaching some string or ribbon to it. The perfect picture of love!

Valentine's Day is a time to celebrate love and connection and the joy of having other people in your life - and that’s why it’s a special time at our early education centres in Mandurah, Bibra Lake and Fremantle. The family is a key focus of ours and we see Valentine’s Day as an excellent opportunity for little ones to tell their support crew just how much they mean to them.

For more Valentine’s Day craft ideas or for a friendly chat about early education in Perth, please get in touch. And if you book a tour of one of our childcare centres on 14th February, you’ll see how love makes our world go round!

If you found this article useful, you might also like “Easter Traditions for Your Family” and “How Art Helps With Child Development“.