As a parent it can be difficult to come up with easy ideas for crafting – even though your kids really enjoy it and get a lot out of it. For me, I’m wary of setting up complex crafting activities when I know that setting up and clearing away often takes longer than completing the craft itself! So I’ve come up with 4 VERY Easy Valentine’s Day Crafts and Card Ideas that can easily and quickly be done in any home or setting.
Valentine’s Day Crafts – Pipe Cleaner Hearts
An absolutely zero fuss craft that is also great for fine motor skills. I bought these pipe cleaners in pound land and intend to use them for lots of different crafts. We practised bending them round into the desired heart shape until we got it spot on. Once you’ve got the shape right, you can attach string or twine to create hanging ornaments, or glue onto card to create your Valentine’s card. Easy and fun!
Love Bracelets
When I was in Home Bargains I found these cute alphabet beads that I thought would be fun for a variety of purposes. I challenged my kids to make their own words – which I thought was good spelling and reading practice, but with a Valentine’s theme. They came up with the obvious “Love” but also “Joy” and “Family” which I thought was quite interesting. It did occur to me that it might be a good activity to use to identify difficult feelings too – maybe another time! We only had normal string to make the bracelets, but I think embroidery thread would probably look nicer. You could also decorate with additional beads to make a really special gift – or keyring.
Valentine’s Day Card with Buttons
I was in Dunelm Mill the other day and picked up a load of buttons for a couple of pounds – they are really good for crafting as little hands can easily pick up and glue them onto canvas or card – though you’ve got to watch they don’t end up in anyone’s mouth! We used the buttons to create a heart shape on folded pink card – it’s easier if you trace one with a pencil first – and fixed them with PVA glue – glue sticks won’t cut it on this one I’m afraid. You can write a message on the front or leave blank, up to you! We bought the card in Home Bargains. We popped the bracelet on as well for good measure!
Easy Foam Heart Craft Card
I found some foam heart cut outs in Home Bargains, but you could easily just cut out your own heart from card. This is an especially good craft for under 3s as it’s just so easy, and again, brilliant for fine motor skills. I found it better if I modelled an example first, just to give some ideas to my kids – for older children it might even be better NOT to model to see what they can create themselves without prompting. It’s probably easier to cover the whole area with glue before sticking, rather than sticking individual items. We screwed up small bits of crepe paper, buttons, stickers and gems and stuck them all over the heart. My kids really loved this and thought they were creating something really valuable! When you’re done, you can punch a hole through the top and use as a hanging ornament, or stick to a card like you can see in our photo. Very easy, fun and cheap to do too.
Just sneaking another one – use a craft knife to cut out a heart shape from some folded card, underneath ask your toddler or pre schooler to stick on ripped up pieces of coloured crepe paper. Super easy and fun!
These are really simple crafts that anyone can do – but really it’s not about the end result, it’s about spending time together and making memories. Children really love these kinds of activities and realistically, any time away from devices in these cold winter months, is time well spent! What Valentine’s crafts are you doing this year?
For more Valentine’s day card templates, click on the link!
