Folded Heart Painting

Valentine’s Day is a fun holiday for school aged kids because they get to exchange Valentine’s Day cards and treats with the class mates, however, often preschoolers just do not love this holiday of love. Helping them make Valentine’s Day crafts can help them learn to love the holiday and get more excited about it.

While the history is of the holiday is unclear, there are many different stories of how it originated. One of them is about the Emperor Claudius II from third century Rome. He wanted to build a strong army, and because he believed that unmarried men fought better than married, so he outlawed marriage. A priest, Valentine, determined this to be unfair, and so he would secretly marry young couples. When it was discovered that he was doing this, he was put to death for his crimes.

Because love is central to Valentine’s Day, let’s look at a few craft ideas that centers around hearts and love:

Folded heart painting: This is a fun paint craft for preschoolers that can also teach them principles of symmetry and helps them get in the Valentine’s Day mode.

What You Need:

• Construction paper hearts
• Medicine Droppers
• Paint

Ask your local pharmacy for some medicine droppers, and prepare them by loading them up with some different colors of paint. Give each child a heart made out of construction paper, and that is folded in half. Then, have each child paint their heart by dropping a little paint onto one side of the heart, then folding it in half and rubbing it together. When they open the heart it will have a fun design, and be the same on each side. They can give this as a gift, or use it to decorate their room for Valentine’s Day!

Marble heart painting: This is a really fun craft for preschoolers, but it takes some adult help to get it set up. Your preschoolers will absolutely love this, and have a ton of fun making their marble heart painting.

What You Need:

• Construction paper hearts
• Marbles
• A lidded box
• Craft paint

You are going to take your large heart made from construction paper, and you are going to place it in the bottom of a box that has a lid. It is best if the box is heart shaped, but if you can’t find a heart shaped box, any box will do. Then, take your marbles and dip them in paint. Stick them in the box, put the lid on it, and give it to the preschooler to shake and move from side to side. The marbles will roll around inside the box, and create a beautifully unique heart painting.

Valentines holders: Every child needs something to hold their valentines from family and friends, and making a craft out of it is a fun way to spend an afternoon.

What You Need:

• White Lunch Bags
• Heart shaped sponges
• Craft paint
• Hole Punch
• Red Ribbon

Let your child decorate the white bags with the sponges and paint, then let the bags dry. Once they are dry, you want to fold the top over, and punch holes every inch or so on the top edge. Then let the kids thread the ribbon through and make a heart.