Tips for Making Valentine's with Kids

Valentine's Day is coming right around the corner. If you have children then you know what this means: passing out Valentine's at school.

If your child likes to make things and loves arts and crafts, it can be lots of fun to make their own Valentine's. While many children do give out the store bought Valentine's, it is still nice to receive a home made Valentine. Home made Valentines are great to give to family and friends, especially grandparents.

To make Valentine's you will need

colored paper (ideally red, pink, purple, white)

optional - some handmade papers, like rice paper or paper with petals or designs

paper doiles

markers or crayons (your child's preference)

optional - glitter pen or glitter and glue

optional - stickers such as hearts and Valentine's Day themed stickers

scissors

glue stick or non-toxic white glue

newspaper

Begin by laying out the newspaper to protect the table you are working on. Decide how many Valentine's you will make, make a list of the people your child wants to give Valentine's to. You can cross them out as you make them, this will ensure that you make a Valentine for everyone, thus sparing hurt feelings when Valentine's Day comes.

If your child is young, draw a heart and cut it out for them to trace and use as a template for all other Valentine's. Or if your child is too young for scissor work, cut out all of the hearts ahead of time so your child can just have fun making the Valentines.

Once a heart has been cut out, have your child write Happy Valentine's Day and then person's name who is receiving the Valentine on the paper heart using a marker or a crayon. Select other greetings if they would like to use them, like knock knock jokes or other classic Valentine's Day greetings.

Use some of the optional items to decorate the Valentines. Decorate with stickers or with glitter. Add a paper doily behind the paper heart. Another idea to make Valentines look pretty is to cut out a larger Valentine and glue that behind the other paper heart. Your child can draw or write on the border of the larger paper heart, or decorate that border with hearts or another design.

Set out all of the Valentines to dry. They should dry in an hour or so. Once they are dry, prepare the Valentines that need to be mailed and put the Valentines that are for school in a large envelope so they are well organized. Happy Valentine's Day!