™

VALENTINE CELEBRATIONS

"Providing BOOKS and RESOURCES

to Help Your FAMILY   Thrive"

FAMILY BOOKS  ▪  FAMILY RESOURCES

Ideas for Kids & Crafts

Make Valentine Cards

Valentines are fun to make and everyone enjoys receiving them. Supply children with some basic materials and let them be creative. Red, white, pink and some shades of purple or blue pieces of paper can be used. Heart-shaped stickers and other Valentine stickers are useful too. If you have old Valentine cards or other greeting cards available, children might want to cut pictures out of those and paste them onto their cards. Some doilies, ribbons and small silk flowers can be glued in place. Make scissors, school paste or white glue and markers, paints or crayons available. (Of course, for young children, you might have to do the cutting and help with the glue. Keep children safe.)

For Valentine's Day

Valentine Fabric Wreath

This is so easy, I've had kids make them. Bend a wire coat hanger in the shape of a heart. Tear strips of Red, White and red/white print fabric to about 1" x  5". Tie fabric strips onto the wire heart until it is full. Add some ribbons and/or flowers to decorate the heart and hang it on your front door as a "Valentine Welcome".

Make Valentine Characters and Critters

Cut heart shapes out of construction paper in different sizes. Paste them onto a sheet of paper to create Valentine characters and critters. A heart turned sideways makes a good fish and they work well for teddy bears too.

Make a Lace Potpourri Heart

Cut a 2 heart shaped pieces of nylon net and two pieces of red lace of the same shape and size. Pin one piece of red lace and one piece of nylon net together. Pin white lace edging around the outside edges of that heart and stitch it in place. The net is on the inside and red lace on the outside. Pin the second piece of red lace and nylon net together. Stitch it to the first heart with the lace, leaving a opening. The nylon net goes inside on both hearts. Fill the opening with potpourri and then sew the opening closed. Add a ribbon that is tied into a bow and a small silk or ribbon flower. Hang it from a Valentine tree or use it as a table decoration.

Bake a Heart-Shaped Cake

If you don't have a heart-shaped pan, use an 8" round cake pan and an 8" square cake pan. Follow the cake mix instructions or recipe to prepare cake batter. Grease and flour pans or use baker's parchment to prevent cakes from sticking to pans. Bake the cakes. 

When cakes have cooled, cut the round cake in half and position it, as shown in illustrations below, around the square cake. This forms a heart shape. If you don't have a large enough platter to hold the cake, cover a sturdy piece of cardboard with aluminum foil.

Frost the cake and decorate it. Let kids try their hand at using a decorating tube with icing. They can practice on waxed paper first.

Heart-shaped cake illustrations:

Weave Paper to Make a Heart

Cut two pieces of paper as show above. Make one red and the other one white, pink or orchid. Weave the strips together and make a heart. Small ones can be hung as decorations. Large ones can be covered with clear plastic Contact paper and used as placemats.

Make a Heart Garland

Fold a strip of paper accordion style. Cut a heart shape through all layers, leaving areas on each side of the folded hearts that are not cut. Open the accordion for a chain of hearts.

Play with Red balloons

Try to keep the balloon from hitting the floor and toss it from one person to another. (As always with balloons, immediately dispose of broken piece and don't let young children play with balloons which have not been inflated because they are a serious choking hazard.)

Some Ideas for Sweetheart STITCHERY

Valentine Bag with Needle Weaving Design

Use the squares of the gingham to cross stitch a heart design.

Counted Cross Stitch Design

for Cards or Pillow Ornaments

Counted Cross Stitch Hoop

Love Knot