Heartfelt Crafts for Valentine's Day

Valentine’s Day is the perfect time to share your heartfelt feelings with family and friends. Here are a few easy heart-themed crafts for children age three and older with little to no help from mom and dad. Most of these crafts use items you most likely already have around the house, either in the craft box or recycle bin, or can be bought inexpensively at a dollar store.

What You Need:

Construction paper

Scissors

Glue

What to Do:

1. Draw then cut out a large heart from the red construction paper.

2. Cut out two eyes, a nose and a mouth from the white construction paper then glue onto the middle of the heart

3. Cut two one-inch strips that are the length of the paper (along the long side). Fold the strips accordian-style for the arms and legs. Glue onto the heart.

4. Trace your child's hands and feet onto construction paper, cut them out and glue to the ends of the arms and legs. Allow to dry completely.

5. Decorate with glitter, stickers, etc..

Make several of these to create a tasty bouquet. You can use different colored plastic wrap to create a rainbow of roses.

What You Need:

Chocolate candy Kisses

Colored plastic wrap

Glue

Green pipe cleaners

Green tissue paper

What to Do:

1. To create the flower, glue two foil-wrapped candies bottom to bottom. Allow to dry.

2. Cut out a five-inch square from the plastic wrap then drape over the top of the bottom candy then gather the edges and twist them into a tail below the candy..

3. Use a green pipe cleaner to tie around the tail for the stem.

4. Cut out leaves from the tissue paper then add them by holding a strip of green tissue paper against the stem and rolling the pipe cleaner around the center. You may want to reinforce this with tape.

4. Trim the leaves so that they have pointy tips.

5. Fluff the plastic wrap around the candies to make it look more like a flower.

What You Need:

Coffee filter

Clothespin

Spray bottle with water

Markers

Tape or glue

Construction paper

Pipe cleaners

What to Do:

1. Decorate the filter with markers. Mist with a spray bottle to wet the filter and allow the colors to blend together. Dry with a hair dryer.

2. Using a thin-tipped marker, draw a face on the front of the clothespin. (The slit should be on the side.)

3. Slide the filter, or wings, in the opening/slit of the clothespin.. Attach the wings with tape or glue.

4. Add pipe cleaners for antenna.

What You Need:

Construction paper

Glue

Tape

Stickers, lace, glitter or other decorations

Googly eyes (optional)

What to Do:

1. Cut out 15 hearts, about four-inches tall, from different colors to create the body. Overlap them as seen in the picture then glue together.

2. Decorate the body with stickers, glitter, bits of lace or whatever you have in your craft box.

3. Draw a face onto the top heart. You can use googly eyes or draw them.

Caterpillar

To make the worm into a caterpillar, simply add an antenna. To create the antenna, cut two small heartss and a four-inch piece of the pipe cleaner. Tape the hearts to the ends of the pipe cleaner then bend it in half and attach the back of the top of the front heart with tape.

What You Need:

Heart-shaped paper doilies or sandpaper

Scissors

Tape

White paper

Crayon

Construction paper

Glue

Decorations

What to Do:

1. Cut a heart shape from the sandpaper or use a heart-shaped doily.

2. Tape the heart to the table, with the tape on the back side of the heart.

3. Cover the heart with the white paper and rub the crayon over the heart. Be careful not to rub too hard as you might rip the paper. Cut around the heart-shape leaving a small border around the heart.

4. Fold the construction paper in half. Glue the heart to the front of the card. Allow to dry completely.

5. Decorate the front of the card with markers, stickers, glitter or anything else in your craft box. Write a special message on the inside.