Two Easy Valentine's Day Crafts for Kids

Valentine's Day is a favorite for children. After all, there are classroom parties complete with lots of candy, colorful cards, and the opportunity to cut, past, and glue in an effort to make that perfect card for mom and dad. Cookies and candies come in heart shapes, and the color of the day is red. Assorted shades of pink and white are also acceptable. As a matter of fact, this is one of the only days when boys will not mind receiving something that is pink!

Perhaps the reason for this jubilation is that love is celebrated, and love can take on so many different shapes. There is the love between a parent a child, between husband and wife, the puppy love between students, and the simply friendship and affection that children have for one another. Crafts are a wonderful way of expressing this affection and love, and here are two easy Valentine's Day crafts for kids:

The Lion Door Hanger

To make this easy craft you will need some heavy card stock, preferably light brown, wool, felt, a piece of string, beads, and a glue gun.

1.
Begin your project by cutting hearts out of the card stock: one long and big for the body, one smaller for the head, two small ones for the ears, two long and narrow for the arms, and two long and a little less narrow for the legs. For smaller children, this is a good activity for mom or dad to do, since cardstock can be hard to cut.

2) Turn the big heart for the body upside down. Take the heart for the head and turn it upside down. Glue the head to the body. The pointy side of the head is now facing up. Glue the heart-shaped ears (upside down) to the head, one on each side of the pointy end. The long and narrow hearts for the arms should be glued on next. The pointy end is attached to the body, while the wider end is facing outward. The same goes for the legs.

3) Cut out pieces of felt to mimic paw pads, a nose, the inside coloring of the ears, a tongue, and a bowtie. Glue them onto the lion as applicable. Next, cut short pieces of wool and attach them to the head as a mane. A long piece of wool with a piece of felt at the end can be attached to the back as a tail.

4)Write the word "LOVE" on the beads. Bead the string and punch a small hole in each paw; thread the string through them. Secure the string in the back with knots.

5)Attach a looped piece of string to the back so that the lion can be hung on a doorknob.

An Artistic Craft

If your child is a collector, you will be able to incorporate her or his love of collecting with a fondness for art. For example, if you live near a beach you and the child will be able to collect seashells, bits and pieces, whole shells, all sizes and colors, and later on use them for a craft. The same is true for leaves that may be collected and dried between two pages of absorbent paper in a thick book. Stones are great as well, as are sticks. Whatever your child loves to collect you will be able to incorporate in a craft. Here is what you will need:
1) A handprint or heart shape kit complete with mold and gypsum
2) Your child's collection
3) Time and creativity

The idea is to fill the mold and let the material set for a few minutes but not harden! Depending on the kit you are using, you may need to work quickly. Now insert shells, stones, or whatever else your child likes to form heart shapes.

It is so easy to make these crafts, and Valentine's Day is a wonderful opportunity for any parent to take out some time for themselves and their children to be creative together and to build some wonderful memories.