Easy Valentines Crafts for Kids

Whether you are looking for easy Valentine's crafts for kids in a classroom, Sunday school, or as a way to stay busy on a rainy day there are simple, inexpensive crafts ideas for every age. 

Valentine's Day is a fun holiday for kids. It is a good excuse for a celebration, a school party, candy, and cupcakes. Since most children love to craft it is a wonderful opportunity for them to use their creativity to make things for others. Another benefit of Valentine's Day is that the focus is on expressing love and appreciation rather than gifts so it is generally a less stressful, more light-hearted holiday all around.

Remember to keep your crafts age appropriate and if you are creating in a classroom situation make sure that you have at least one older child or adult for every three children under the age of seven.  This will keep things moving smoothly and decrease any frustration that a child might have.

Other tips are:

• Use washable paints, glue, and markers.
• Have the children bring an old button up shirt of mom's or dad's to use as a smock to keep clothing clean.
• Use the tops of baby food jars to hold glue if not using glue sticks.
• Plan projects around a child's attention span – about five minutes total for ages under three and no more than ten minutes for most children from three to six.
• Stickers are better to decorate cards than cutting out pictures and gluing them on at this stage.
• Let the kids do it their way. Their creativity is more important than making it look like the picture on the box.
• Do all the preparation ahead of time so that when it is time to craft children can get right to work.

Here are some easy Valentine's crafts for kids that almost anyone can do.

Paper Conversation Heart Wreath

Everyone loves the conversation hearts. Make a wreath for the door from construction heart cutouts and your own sayings and quotes. This craft is best for ages 7 and up.

Materials

• Construction paper in conversation heart colors like pink, purple, blue, and mint green.
• Dinner plate
• Cereal box or poster board
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Markers
• Glue sticks

Instructions:

1. These first steps can be done ahead of time by an adult. This will save time and frustration.
2. Trace around the plate onto the posterboard.
3. Draw another circle inside the first circle, about an inch away from the first one.
4. Cut out the circle and then cut out the center to make a wreath shape.
5. Cut the construction paper into squares and fold in half.
6. Draw half a heart against the fold of the paper and cut out.
7. Open it up and you should have a perfect heart shape.
8. Flatten the hearts and write messages on them with markers.
9. Arrange the hearts on top of the cardboard wreath until you have them the way you want them. Glue them in place and let dry.
10. Attach a loop of string or wire to the back for hanging.

Some possible sayings are:

• Be Mine
• Love
• Call Me
• U R Sweet
• Kiss
• Hug Me
• Always

If you run out of ideas for mottos just look at a bag of the real conversation heart candy for inspiration.

Box for Valentine's Day Cards

Create a mailbox for each child's Valentine's Day cards from an empty Kleenex box.

Materials:

• Spray Paint
• Empty Kleenex boxes for each child
• Glue
• Construction paper
• Markers
• Stickers
• Glitter
• Other embellishments

Instructions:

1. Before craft time spray paint the boxes. Use red, pink, or white glossy spray paint.
2. Cut one heart per box out of coordinating construction paper.
3. Write the child's name on the heart and glue it to the box.
4. Use the stickers and other embellishments to create a unique Valentine's mailbox.

Jar of Hugs and Kisses

These hugs and kisses can be sent far away and used anytime.

Materials:

• Pint Mason jar with screw on lid
• Hershey's Hugs
• Hershey's Kisses
• Paper for a tag
• Raffia

Instructions:

1. Fill the jar with a mixture of hugs and kisses. You can even add some colored sugar crystals for sparkle.
2. Screw the lid on the jar.
3. Write "Hugs and Kisses for You" on the tag and attach it to the jar with raffia.

From cards to cute candy holders, there are easy Valentine's Day crafts for kids all over the Internet. Here are some that you might be interested in:

Danielle's Place, a number of cool craft ideas.

Printable Pencil Toppers

Sun catcher Heart

Candy Cane Hearts

Remember to Have Fun

Most of all, when creating with children remember that the most important part of the time together is having fun. Creating should be done in a stress free environment without worry about whether you are or are not coloring in the lines or creating the properly colored sky. Children need the freedom to create their way, so keep it simple, light-hearted, and happy.