Ring in this feast of love by sharing these fun Valentine’s Day activities, crafts, games, and gift ideas.
Make some thumbprint heart cookies. This is a great recipe to help the little ones! Use a roll of prepared sugar cookie dough. Place the cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet. Dip thumb or index finger into egg mixture to generously coat with color. Press your finger on each cookie at an angle twice to form a heart. Sprinkle with red sprinkles and bake. Create a small bag with some colored cellophane and add some cookies. Tie with a special ribbon and a card. Share these treats with your neighbors and friends.
Make a family photo album. Cut out a cover page from red craft paper and write the headline “I love my family” at the top of the page. Cut a heart out of pink craft paper and decorate with glittery pens. Each family member creates a page for the family book. Ask each family member to add a photo(s) to their page and decorate it. Laminated for added strength. Poke holes in the pages and tie them with a ribbon or string. Cut out a small heart and attach it to the end of the string. This makes a great coffee table book.
Create a Valentine Mouse Bookmark. Make this simple Valentine’s Day bookmark to give as a gift to someone special. Use a wooden stick and paint red. Trace and cut out one large and two small hearts from red and pink craft paper. Glue small hearts on top of the large heart as ears. With marker draw eyes and whiskers on the face. Glue on the wooden stick and add a conversation heart just below the face.
Play and learn with Valentines Conversation Hearts. Use a muffin tin and add colored circles to the bottom of each pan. Have the children sort the conversation hearts and fill them into the correct colored cans. Let your child be the manager of the candy store and you be the customer who buys sweets. Example: I would like to buy 3 pink candies and 2 green candies. Have the children count them and hand them out. Add them up to see how many sweets you bought in all.
Stay home and enjoy a family game night. Enjoy some quality family time and share some laughs over a game of “Candyland.”
Gifts from the heart Make homemade valentines to share with your classmates. Buy lollipops and make your own lollipop cards. Find patterns and prints at http://www.kidssoup.com. Be sure to remember special people for whom your child is giving Valentine’s gifts, such as older neighbors.
Valentine’s Day is a wonderful celebration of love to share with friends and family. Make this Valentine’s Day a fun and sweet memorable day.