Who said that Valentine's day was just for adults? Get your child involved in some Valentine's day crafts, they can give them as gifts to friends and loved ones, or display them with pride around your home.
Here are some Valentine crafts that parents, carers, grandparents... anyone with toddlers... can try with their little ones.
1. Make colourful hearts
All you need for this is some cardboard, cut up some heart shapes and let your little one loose with pom poms, scrunched up tissue paper, paint, pens... basically anything that you have in your crafting cupboard. We tried this with a one year old, but it works for most ages.
2. Drive-thru hearts
We just gave this one a fancy name, all you need is some paper cut into heart shapes, paint and some toy cars. Your child can dip the car into paint and roll it on the paper for a fun Valentine's process art activity.
3. Valentine's Wreath
Cut out the middle of a paper plate, or use up some boxes from all those Amazon deliveries and cut out a wreath shape. Scrunch up some pink, red and purple tissue paper and let your toddler or preschooler loose with the glue. They'll love it hung on their bedroom door, or gift to grandparents.
4. Sponge Print Hearts
Image from Doing the Mummy Thing
Make some gorgeous Valentine's day cards by simply cutting up sponges into different heart shape and letting your child print them onto cards. Perfect for any age, you'll love getting involved in this one too.
5. Footprints
We tried this with our newborn and it doesn't get as messy as you might think. Get some red paint, decent card stock and make prints of feet, together at the heels to make a heart shape. They make a great first Valentine's day keepsake AND you could make it a yearly tradition to show how much you love them, and to see how much they've grown year on year.
6. Handprint Valentine Flowers
You can make a card or display this in the nursery. Again, really simple to do, and great for parent's who want something quick and simple to do with their child. All you need is some card, some paint in your (or your little one's chosen colour). Simply draw on the flower stems, get some paint on your child's hand and print them at the top of the stem to create tulips, or whatever flower it ends up looking like.
7. Reverse Dotted Heart
Image from Miss Frugal Fancy Pants
Not as complicated as the title we've given it might suggest. If you don't think your toddler can create art work that's worth framing then this is the one for you. Cut out a big heart shape and using masking tape on the back, stick it down to a piece of A4 paper. Your toddler can then get their fingers covered in paint, and lovely and messy and dot their fingers around the heart and voilá, a masterpiece for hanging on the wall!
8. Fingerprint Rock Hearts
Something for all ages, and particularly if you're looking for toddler craft inspiration, you'll be all too aware that they love to collect "special" rocks when you're out on a walk. This is the perfect way to make some use out of that rock collection. Simply dip their fingers in paint and print them on the rocks, older children will love drawing on faces too (if they can be trusted with permanent marker pen!)
