My kids love turning a special day, like Valentine’s Day into a celebration. We love doing crafts and games based on the theme. One of the Valentine’s Day craft for kids that we created together this year turned out really well, so I wanted to share it with you.
This Valentine’s Day craft for kids uses simple materials, turned out super cute, and is really easy to make. I love the fact that it requires very few materials – which makes it perfect for young kids or for a classroom activity.
Materials
You don’t need any special materials for this Valentine’s Day craft for kids you can simply make it using construction paper. You can also simply use the template that I created. (Link below)
I added a few small details, if you want to make it the same way that I did you will need the following:
- Construction Paper
- Large Googly eyes
- Heart Shaped Gem
- Glittery Foam
- Glue
- Template (Included)
I used the template by cutting out the shapes and then tracing them onto different colors of construction paper.
You could simply have children color the shapes on the template and then cut them out. A link to the FREE template is included at the bottom of this post.
For more ideas of homemade Valentine’s to create, check out Homemade Valentine Cards for Classmates.
Steps to Make Your Craft
Whether you used the template to trace the pieces onto construction paper, or are using the actual template to create your treat box follow the steps below.
To start, glue two of the long rectangular pieces together at the end to make an ‘L’ shape. Next, alternate folding the paper on top of the other (as pictured).
Keep folding until you reach the end of the strip of paper.
This creates a cute accordion, or spring, look for the arms and legs. It is also great for fine motor skills for young kids to create.
Kids will likely enjoy playing with the paper because it pops up, like a spring and will make your craft a little bit 3D.
Next, cut the large heart for the head/face. The bottom of the heart works best cut straight so that the character can sit upright when complete.
I then used large googly eyes and glued them on to the face. You could simply use construction paper for the eyes, I just personally like the look of the googly eyes.
Next, I cut a smile from glitter paper.
Last, I added eye lashes. I cut thin strips of black paper and folded them around a pencil so that they had some curl. I then added a bit of glue to the ends and glued them behind the eyes.
Once the face is done, you can start on the arms.
I cut out the 4 smaller hearts, and wrote “I Love You” on one of them. Next, glue the hearts onto the springs that you folded earlier.
Because of the accordion fold, the arms and legs can be easily glued to the heart. Add a bit of glue between the first fold and glue it to the heart. Do the same for the legs and then attach it to the heart.
Once your heart critter is glued together, you can leave your Valentine’s Day craft for kids and be finished. You can set your heart critter on a table or give as a Valentine. It can sit on it own because of the spring legs.
If you want to include a small treat box on the back, then you have one more step for your Valentine.
You can use the box from the template and glue it to the back of your Valentine.
I added a few small Valentine’s Day treats/sweets to the box for my kids. It was a special hand-made gift that they loved.
Valentine’s Day Craft for Kids Template
The template that I created and used for my heart critter is available or free. Click the image below to subscribe to my blog and gain access to my FREE Resource Library.
This library is filled with lots of free printable resources to use with different learning activities for kids – including the Valentine’s day heart critter described above.
Other Ideas for Your Valentine’s Day Craft
This Valentine’s Day craft for kids is easy enough for young kids to make. Especially when using the template children of all ages can easily create the craft.
Another idea to do with the heart critter is use it as a Valentine. You can choose whether to put the treat box on the back or not, and you can write a Valentine note on the back to use as a very creative, and cute, card.
As a teacher, I love using this idea to create something special for my students. These Valentine’s are quite fast to create and you could create one for each child and then put a small treat or gift in the box for each child to take home.
You could also have children create their own heart critter and then surprise them with a small treat in the back for each of them.
Valentine’s Day STEAM Activities
Make Valentine’s Day extra special for kids in the classroom or at home with this collection of 37 STEAM (science technology engineering art and math) activities for kids.
Valentine’s Day Activities
Valentine’s Day can be a great time to do lots of special activities with kids at home or at school. Arts and crafts, like the heart critter above, are a fun way to celebrate.
Valentine’s Day can also be a great opportunity to introduce kids to other subject areas, such as science. I tried a Valentine’s Day experiment with my kids and they loved it!
You just need baking soda, vinegar and small surprise, like a gem, to hide inside and you have a great hands-on learning activity for kids of all ages.
Click the image below to read the full activity description.
More Hands-On Teaching Ideas
If you are looking or more hands-on learning activities for home or school, below is a collection of my favorite and most popular activities.
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