This Valentine art activity is not only fun for kiddos of all ages, but it incorporates a number of cognitive and motor skills. You can make it as simple or as detailed as you would like depending on age and ability level of the child. We had another snow day yesterday, so I rummaged around in our art supplies, found what we had and created this project for the boys. It turned out to be really fun. I even enjoyed making mine!
Supplies
- Paint (any type of paint works as long as it washes off the skin pretty easily)
- Paint brushes
- Construction paper/card stock
- Sharpie or brush pens
- Glue
- Scissors
Instructions
- Give your child very basic directions so they can be creative on their own
- Pour out brown paint and have them paint a tree trunk, then let that completely dry
- Then pour out red, purple, pink, etc. (Valentines colors) and let them use their fingers to make fingerprint leaves on their tree
- After the entire tree dries, older kids can cut our their own heart shape while younger children will need help
- Have them write their name, a poem, a quote, whatever they would like, on the heart
- Glue the heart on the trunk and label the final piece with the year
The entire project took maybe an hour and kept the boys engaged the entire time. When pieces of the painting were drying, my older child played with other toys while my four-year old practiced writing his letters. Also, we had fun mixing different amounts of pink, red and white to make different shades of red and pink. They were both really proud of their projects. As you can see, my little one (Case) got his letters mixed up a bit, but that’s totally fine. Years from now, I know I will look at this painting and smile to myself remembering his little chubby hands working so hard to write those four letters.
We’ve had several snow days lately, and I’ve decided that instead of getting stressed about the boys being indoors, I just need to be more creative. It was really fun just to dig through our art supplies and use whatever we had to make a fun art project. They absolutely loved getting their hands a little dirty and creating something festive for the upcoming holiday.
Also, every time they said, “Am I doing it right?” or “Can you help me?” I just said, “You don’t need my help. I want yours to be completely created by you.” And they turned out so cute. They only time I assisted was to help Case cut out his heart shape. We used adult scissor because we were cutting card stock, so I placed my hands over his in the handles and we cut together.
I hope you and your kiddos have as much fun as we did with this craft, and I hope you all have a very happy Valentine’s Day! XOXO
Can I come over and do arts and crafts with you :-))