Busy Mommy Media» Valentines Day Arts and Crafts

Valentines Day Crafts for Kids (Linky)

Rachel — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 18:10:04 +0000

Making crafts during the holidays is a wonderful way to create memories with your kids. My kids love taking some time out of their regular schedule to get creative and create something festive.

We scourer Pinterest to find some of our top picks for Valentines Day crafts for kids (and included a few of our own favorites).

For more Valentine’s Day craft ideas, be sure and follow our Valentine’s Day Pinterest board.

Heart Handprint

Source: Uploaded by user via Busy Mommy Media on Pinterest

ASL I-Love-You Craft

Source: busymommymedia.com via Busy Mommy Media on Pinterest

Homemade Heart Crayons

Source: flickr.com via Busy Mommy Media on Pinterest

3D Valentine

Source: busymommymedia.com via Busy Mommy Media on Pinterest

Homemade Heart Necklace

Source: Uploaded by user via Busy Mommy Media on Pinterest

Free Printable Valentine’s Day Craft

Source: busymommymedia.com via Busy Mommy Media on Pinterest

Easy Heart Stamping

Source: prudentbaby.com via Busy Mommy Media on Pinterest

Printable Valentine’s Day Coloring Page

Source: busymommymedia.com via Busy Mommy Media on Pinterest

Fun Homemade Valentine’s Day Decorations

Source: marthastewart.com via Busy Mommy Media on Pinterest

Easy Homemade Valentine’s Day Rings

Source: Uploaded by user via Busy Mommy Media on Pinterest

Do you have a favorite Valentine’s Day craft you like to do with your kids? Share the link with us in the comments or add it to the linky below.

Homemade Valentine Tutorial

Rachel — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:02:48 +0000

I am not a crafty person by nature so the crafts we do around here are foolproof. I love the look of homemade Valentines cards because they are so much more personal than the generic little cards you buy at the store but with my options are limited by my crafting skills.

I love this super simple idea for creating homemade Valentines and the best part is you can make it from supplies you probably already have around the house!

Supplies

Camera
Pipe Cleaner
Multi-colored cupcake liners

Instructions

These homemade Valentines are so easy that your kids can actually do most of the work. My son made these in our co-op preschool last year and he was so proud of the end result (You’ll have to excuse the photo. I couldn’t find the original at the moment so this was just a quick snapshot that was take of the project last year).

The first step is to take the photo. You can either take a snapshot in your backyard or create a solid background by having your child stand against a painted wall. If you don’t have a solid wall in your home, try hanging a solid color blanket or sheet behind your child.

Lighting is the key to getting the best photo. If you have a wall next to a window that brings in a lot of natural light that will work the best. Outside photos are a great alternative as well.

Have your child make a fist and hold his arm out. For younger kids, you may have to tell them to pretend that they are holding something in their hand. It’s best if your child’s thumb is on the side of their fist so that the end result looks more realistic.

Print enough photos to create the number of Valentines that you need.

Poke a small hole in the photo at the top of your child’s hand. If you want to be fancy you can poke a second hole at the bottom of their hand so it looks like the stem of the flower is coming out the bottom.

Poke a hole in the center of a stack of cupcake liners. Don’t make the hole too big of they’ll slide down the stem. A toothpick works great for this.

Have your child thread the cupcake liners onto the pipe cleaner to make them look like a flower. You can use tissue paper cut into interesting shapes for this too if you want to be a bit more create.

When your child likes the way their flower looks, fold over the top of the pipe cleaner to keep the cupcake liners in place then feed the other end through the hole in the photo.

Optional: If your child doesn’t want a flower in his Valentine, you can use a lollipop instead.

Free Printable: Valentines Day Coloring Page

Rachel — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 03:46:24 +0000

This adorable Valentine’s Day coloring page will be a hit with preschoolers and can be used as part of a preschool Valentine’s Day preschool theme or as a fun activity to do at home with mom. We plan to use this page to decorate our homeschool classroom.

Have you colored this page? Send a picture of your picture to Rachel with “coloring page” as the title and have your child’s artwork featured here.

Make Your Own Recycled Paper

Rachel — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 20:26:44 +0000

My kids love to recycle but until recently, they really had no idea what happened to our paper after they put it in the recycling bin. This simple activity is a fun and interactive way to teach kids how to recycle paper and can be a good use for the extra newspaper you have laying around from couponing.

We decided to make use of my toddlers destructive streak earlier this week and recycle the book that he destroyed. I’m hoping we didn’t unintentionally encourage his book tearing habit but at least my kids learned how to recycle something we weren’t using anymore. Kids love learning how things really work but there are so few opportunities for kids to see and understand the full process of things that they do everyday.

What You Need

Paper to be recycled – this can be old newspaper, junk mail (just avoid the glossy kind), leftover tradeshow material (that’s a big one around our house after CES and now as we’re getting ready for Toy Fair), extra construction paper, etc.
A blender – Don’t worry about using your regular blender for this. The paper washes out easily and after you are done.
A window screen – If you have old screen material laying around this would work just fine but be sure and put masking tape around the edges to prevent sharp edges from hurting your kids while they do this activity. I bought a cheap adjustable window screen with a metal rim that worked well.
Optional: Flower seeds – These are a fun addition if you want to plant your paper after you are done use it and plant it in your yard to show the complete process of recycling.

What To Do

This project takes several days for kids to complete because you have to wait overnight for several steps to be complete.

Step 1 – Tear paper into squares that are about 1-2 inches wide. This does not have to be exact. You just want to start the process of breaking the paper down.

Step 2 – Soak the paper pieces overnight in a bowl of water.

Step 3 – Take the soaked paper out of the water and place it in the blender. Fill the blender halfway full with fresh water. Blend the paper and water mixture until you have something that is about the consistency of pureed soup. Add water as needed to thin it out.

Step 4 – Lay the window screen over the sink or have a child hold it over the sink and slowly pour the paper soup over the window screen, trying to pour it in an even layer. We found it helpful to start in the center and pour the mixture in a circular spiral moving out towards the edge until you make a very unappetizing paper pancake. Use your fingers or a spoon to even out any uneven places immediately after pouring. The paper begins to dry almost immediately once the water starts to drain and it becomes less workable as it dries. If you are adding flower seeds to your paper, add them at this point before the paper dries. You can either gently push the seeds into the top of the wet paper or put them on the paper and then use a tiny piece of paper mixture to “plant” the seed by laying it on top so the seed is not visible.

Step 5 – Lay the window screen with the paper mixture on a dry towel and leave to dry at least overnight. Change the towel throughout the day as needed if it becomes soaked through.

Variation – Add natural food coloring to create colored recycled paper to be used for preschool art projects or crafts for elementary school aged kids.

Your homemade recycled paper can be used as part of a preschool science lesson, as a homeschool science project, as an Earth Day project for kids, to send a unique birthday card to a friend, or as a special Valentines Day card.

What will you use your homemade recycled paper for?

ASL I-Love-You Craft

Rachel — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 05:19:17 +0000

This fun craft uses a cut out of a preschoolers hand to create the ASL sign for I-Love-You and makes a great Valentines Day Craft or part of a sign language preschool theme. Preschoolers will love using their imagination to decorate the paper heart that they will glue their hand sign on.

What You Need

Red construction paper
Skin colored construction paper
Scissors
Glue
Glitter
Buttons or other decorations

What To Do

Fold the red piece of construction paper in half and cut a heart out of it. Preschoolers can do this on their own if you draw half of a heart on the paper for them to roughly follow as they cut. Help the preschooler trace their hand on the skin colored construction paper. Cutting the hand out is too detailed for many preschoolers to do on their own and may cause them to become frustrated. Help the preschoolers by cutting their hands out of the paper for them if they would like you to.

Teach the preschoolers what the ASL sign for I-Love-You is. Have them practice making the sign. When the paper hands are cut out, help preschoolers to fold down the two middle fingers. Glue the fingers down to the palm of the hand. Glue the entire hand cut out to the enter of the heart.

Provide preschoolers with glitter, buttons, stamps, stickers, and other decorations. Allow them to use their imaginations and decorate their heart in whatever way that they would like to.