Valentine’s Day is not an exclusive celebration of lovers, children can also take advantage of this occasion to express their love and affection to those around them. Whether it’s a big morning hug and a simple “I love you” or a more elaborate idea, like a cute card or a woolen heart, it’s a great excuse to get the little ones involved in this holiday and have a fun time together. family.
Children’s crafts to celebrate Valentine’s Day
Whether your little ones have craft skills or are starting to develop them, here are some simple but very nice ideas that they can do with their own little hands to give away on February 14.
1. Gradient hearts
Hearts are a classic Valentine that children love, so they can be a great gift idea for this date. On the Internet you can find many designs, such as the degraded hearts proposed by the Simple Fun for Kids site, which, in addition to being beautiful, are an excellent opportunity for children to develop their creativity while experimenting with colored paints.
Materials:
- coffee filters
- Dropper
- Colored markers
- Kitchen paper
- Small bowl of water
- Pair of scissors
- Low tray to work
Let’s do it!
- Fold the coffee filter in half and, with the help of scissors, cut out half of a heart. To facilitate the work you can mark the outline with a pencil beforehand and then cut it out. When you open the paper, you will be left with a perfectly symmetrical heart.
- Then draw small circles on the heart with the markers, slightly spaced apart. The little ones can use as many colors as they want, although with only two shades the result will be very pretty.
- With the help of the dropper, let the children pour water on the circles. Half an eyedropper per circle will suffice. The idea is to get the colors to disperse.
- To remove excess water, place the heart between two kitchen papers. If necessary, change them until the heart loses excess water.
- Then, let the heart dry completely and the little ones can use it as a greeting card, writing “I love you” or “Happy Valentine’s Day” on the design or as a decoration for any other gift.
2. Hand with hearts
Decorations are another cute craft that kids can make for Valentine’s Day gifts. On the Internet you can find many ideas, like this hand with hearts proposed by the craft site The Crafters Nest. Without a doubt, it is a very cool and versatile gift since the design lends itself so that the little ones let their imagination run wild and add personalized details to the decoration.
Materials:
- Brown cardboard for the structure
- colored cardboard for the hearts
- Pair of scissors
- Glue
- Pencil
- Rule
Let’s do it!
- Extend the brown cardboard and place one of your hands on it. With the other hand and the help of a pencil, mark the outline until the beginning of the doll. Just below, with the help of a ruler, mark a rectangle approximately 5 centimeters high and 20-25 centimeters long, which will be the base of the hand.
- Once the model of the hand and its base are ready, cut it out with the help of scissors. Remember to make a few opposing cuts of about 2.5 cm towards the center near both ends of the rectangle so that you can then close the base of the hand. In the case of the little ones, this task can be done by the parents to avoid possible accidents.
- Then fold the rest of the colored card in half and draw the outline of half a heart. Cut them out with the scissors and open them up to get perfect symmetrical hearts. The idea is to make between 10 and 15 hearts of different colors and sizes.
- With all the pieces ready, the funniest part will come for the children. Glue the hearts starting from the tips of the fingers towards the palm of the hand, as if it were the leaves of a tree.
- Once the glue dries, kids can write a little message on the doll, then close the base to make the design stable and ready for gift giving.
3. Greeting card
Cards are a classic that never fails on Valentine’s Day, they are easy to make and if the little ones put their personal stamp on it, they are a detail with which they can express all their love in a simple but profound way. For this occasion, the decoration site Decoideas proposes a beautiful card with a bouquet of hearts from Make and Takes that children will surely be very excited about.
Materials:
- White cardboard for the card
- Color papers
- Markers
- Gift tape
- Glue
Let’s do it!
- Fold the white card in half and cut a kind of rectangle lengthwise to make the card. The dimensions may vary depending on the size that children prefer, although it is recommended that it be at least 20 x 10 cm to be able to work comfortably inside.
- Next, cut small squares out of colored paper. Fold them in half and draw the shape of half a heart. About 10 hearts of different sizes and colors will suffice.
- With the help of the marker, let the little ones unleash their creativity and decorate the hearts. There is no model to follow, they can draw stars, dots, flowers, other hearts or whatever else they can think of.
- When the pieces are ready, draw with a green marker what will be the stems of the hearts. It is important that the lines coincide at the same point located closer to the bottom.
- Then, it is time to glue the hearts to the end of the stems, as if they were flowers. To give the card a more realistic look, it is recommended to stick the hearts with just a dot of glue in the center. It does not matter that some hearts overlap with others.
- To finish the design, make a kind of bow with the tape and stick it at the point where the stems meet. The card will be ready and the little ones can write whatever they want inside.
4. Heart doll
Valentine’s gifts don’t always have to be cheesy, there are also many fun crafts that children can do for this date, such as this heart-shaped doll proposed by The Soccer Mom Blog site. It is a funny heart-shaped doll that includes a photo and congratulations. And besides, it is very easy to do! We explain everything you need and the steps to follow.
Materials:
- glitter heart
- red cardboard
- Mobile eyes
- Pipe cleaners that match the rest of the colors
- Glue gun
- black marker
- Photograph of the child or the child together with the recipient of the gift
Let’s do it!
- The ideal is to have a ready-made glitter heart, but if you don’t have one on hand you can always make it by cutting a heart out of thick cardboard and decorating it with colored glitter. Once you have the heart, glue the wiggly eyes to the top with the glue gun and draw the nose and mouth using the marker.
- While it dries, fold one of the pipe cleaners in half and then the bottom ends to shape the doll’s feet. Glue it to the folded part at the bottom back of the heart. They will be the legs of the doll.
- In the meantime, cut another pipe cleaner in half and fold the end over as you did with the end of the legs. Glue each one on the back half of the heart to be the doll’s arms.
- Then, cut out the photograph in the shape of a heart, keeping the protagonists in the center. Meanwhile, cut out a heart on the red cardboard and write a phrase for the occasion. “I love you”, “Happy Valentine’s Day” or “Have a nice day” will suffice, but in any case, let the little ones give free rein to their emotions and write whatever they want.
- Finally, stick the photograph to one of the doll’s hands and the heart-shaped card to the other and voilà! The children will have their gift ready for February 14th.
5. Wool hearts
Whether to decorate a space at home, give a personalized touch to a card or simply as a symbolic gift, this beautiful wool heart proposed by the site A Wonderful Thought is an excellent idea for children to have a detail with their loved ones for Valentine’s. It is very simple to make and it is very easy to combine with any style, so without a doubt, it is a perfect gift to surprise on February 14.
Materials:
- colored wool
- thick cardstock
- heart sign
- Pair of scissors
Let’s do it!
- On the cardboard, place the heart sample and draw the outline. With the help of scissors, cut out the heart, it does not matter if it is not perfect, the thread will cover the imperfections.
- Then, take a skein of yarn and roll it around the central part of the heart, making a small knot to ensure that it stays in place throughout the task.
- Once the skein of yarn is secured, let the children start covering the heart with the yarn. The idea is that they pass it from one side to the other in different directions until the cardboard cannot be distinguished from the background.
- When it’s finished, tie a small knot to keep the thread from coming loose. If you are going to use it as decoration, you can also make a kind of hook with the thread itself to be able to hang it.
- Once the heart is ready, the children can repeat the design with other colors or even make a multi-colored heart.