Valentine's Day Crafts for Kids

Use a die-cutter to cut a variety of hearts in different colors and sizes. Include some teeny ones as well as a range of medium sizes. If you do not have access to a die-cutter at your school or business, use stencils or cookie cutters to trace different sizes of hearts. Don't limit yourself to pink and red either. Include hearts in blues, greens, yellows and even browns and blacks to give children the broadest range of possibilities.

Give each child a large piece of construction paper or heavy drawing paper and a glue stick. Instruct them to use the hearts to make different animal shapes. Play a game to see how many different animals the children can create by moving the hearts around on their paper. When they find an animal they really like, let them glue the hearts in place. Then help each child decorate their heart animal with markers, glitter and other materials, like pipe cleaners, for details.

Royal Valentine Crown

Provide one heavy duty paper plate for each child. Turn the plate over face down on the table. With pencil, draw around the bottom of the plate, about ½ inch in from the inside of the rim. Now draw a row of triangles of varying lengths from that cicle with the points sticking into the center of the plate. Cut out the inside of the circle around each of the triangles.

Fold each triangle point straight up until you have a circle of spikes. Let each child paint their plate red, gold or pink. Add heart shaped stickers or craft gem stones around the crown and let it dry.

Easy Silver Valentine's Hearts

Great for preschoolers, the easy silver Valentine's heart card can be as simple or involved as your child's imagination. Cut a rectangle of colored construction paper and fold it in half to make a card. Then gently fold a square of aluminum foil and cut out a heart shape. Unfold the heart and glue it to the center of the front of the card.

Let preschoolers decorate the remainder of the card and take it home for a Valentine's Day surprise.

Heart Candy Pouches

Better for older elementary-aged children, heart candy pouches are great classroom gifts for classmates or the teacher. Fold a piece of colored paper in half and cut out a large heart shape (at least six inches high works best). Trace the shape onto thick, clear plastic like acetate. You can also use pink or red transparent plastics. Hold the hearts together so all the edges meet and punch a series of holes around the edges. Begin at the top and weave a piece of red ribbon or yarn through the holes to seal th edges around the heart. Leave a few inches open at the top to fill your heart with candy. Sweethearts work best but any small candy, like Skittles or M&Ms, works well too. Finish weaving the last bit closed and tie the ends in a bow.