3 Valentine Crafts for Toddlers

A keepsake, a writing exercise, and fun with paint – here’s what we’ve been up to this week!

#1: Valentine Keepsake: We painted feet on cardstock, then I outlined them with marker and added the words for our parents.

I originally got the idea from Handprint & Footprint Art. Here are the opaque pens I used (already had them for scrapbooking) – I think they pop on the black paper.

#2: Writing Exercise: Here’s a fun way to stretch out those finger muscles and get ready for writing, as young as my 23-29 month olds!

I got these Magic Scratch hearts from Oriental Trading Company several years ago in a large pack – I think for Christmas ornaments.

My toddlers greatly enjoyed using the sticks (I supervised carefully) to draw on the hearts and reveal the colors underneath! They really got into drawing circles and lines and recognizing the colors!

I was pleasantly surprised to see how well they are learning to grasp things – we are not pushing them to write early, but enjoyable activities like these make them ready!

The only thing I don’t like about these Magic Scratch hearts from OTC is that the back is just plain white. So when I saw this idea from Inner Child Fun, I definitely found the solution! Paper doilies are available at the Dollar Tree, and this could not have been faster or simpler to assemble.

And finally, #3: Rolling Ball Heart Art: Our older students participated more in this, but all the kids were fascinated by it! I taped down a construction paper heart in a sturdy box lid that we have specifically for “marble painting.”

I wanted to use something larger than marbles, and these balls did the trick! I set them each in a puddle of paint, the kids put them on their hearts, and they went to town!

Some of them wanted to move the balls around with their hands.

Others understood the concept of rolling them around in the box. They all watched, fascinated, as the balls plunged from one side to the other side of the inclined box.

We used red, white, and blue paint – I knew the colors would get mixed, and so we ended up with red, purple, and pink.

They each turned out unique, just like the heart that beats inside every child.

 
Coming next week: fun Valentine activities with Dollar Tree finds!