Kid-Friendly Valentine’s Day Crafts

It’s so easy to get lost in the plethora of craft ideas on Pinterest, isn’t it?! The frustrating aspect of the whole thing is that so many of the crafts look gorgeous, but are not kid friendly. Sure, some of them claim to be easy, but will it really be doable for our little kiddos? And can they succeed in making it look remotely like the photo?

I really enjoy doing art projects with my kids, so I’ve decided to periodically test out Pinterest ideas, sift through the ones we like best and share them with you! First up… Valentine’s Day Crafts.

Click on one of the images below to jump to that project (if you are viewing on the website) or just scroll down.

heart bird feeder

celery stamp roses

heart tote

watercolor cards

Heart Bird Feeder

The first craft we tried were cute valentine heart bird feeders. They also ended up to be our favorite and something that very young children can do successfully. The idea came from Jennifer at Sweet and Simple Living and she calls them the “Fruit Loop Heart Bird Feeders.”

We decided to use Cheerios because we had them in the house and figured it would be more healthy for the birds. My daughter, who is four, also found it easier to do this project slightly different than the original directions. I think this is a great one for toddlers too!

Here’s what you need:

• pipe cleaners
• any cereal with a hole in it
• twine or string

In the original directions it shows to start forming the heart before stringing on the cereal. We found it easier and more fun to put the cereal on the straight pipe cleaner before making it into the heart shape.

I helped her form the pipe cleaner into a heart and twist the bottom point.

My daughter decided it looked better with a few pieces of cereal to cover the twisted point at the bottom. And here it is!

She cut pieces of twine and I tied them in loops around each heart. Then we walked outside and decided where to hang them. Really cute, kid-friendly and fun!

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Celery Stamp Roses

Next up… Roses with a celery stamp! I first saw this one on Maureen Cracknell Homemade.

Here’s what you need:

• the root end of a celery stalk
• washable paint (Crayola washable tempera paint is awesome, you can buy 12 large bottles for this and future projects or smaller bottles at craft store)
• thick paper for painting (I recommend and love Canson watercolor paper)
• paper plate or an old plate to pour paint on
• paint brush

Cut the stalks off the celery and use them to make soup or another culinary creation. :) Pour some paint on a paper plate and stamp away.

Add some stems, leaves and whatever else your little one comes up with.

Viola! Roses for a V-day card or a sweet painting to hang on the refrigerator.

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Heart Tote

When I first saw these “Easy Heart Totes” from Bobbie at Clumsy Crafter I have to admit that I did not think a little kid would be successful at doing this project. It turns out I was way wrong and I’m glad we tried it. My daughter uses her bag for preschool and to bring books back and forth from the library. It’s really adorable!

Here’s what you need:

• a canvas tote
• fabric paint (surprisingly inexpensive)
• pencil with a newer eraser on the end
• piece of paper
• duct tape
• cardboard or empty cereal box

The original directions say to use a piece of thin cardboard to cut out a heart and then tape it to the front of a canvas tote. We found that even a regular piece of paper works great. However, I would recommend placing a piece of cardboard or several pieces of paper inside the bag because the paint does soak through.

Have your kids dip the eraser end of the pencil into the paint and stamp it onto the tote to make dots around the heart. It turns out best if you remind them to stamp along the edge of the paper stencil so after you take the heart off the bag you can see the heart shape.

Besides setting up the project there were only two things that you might need to help your kids with: holding the heart down when they stamp dots along the edge and wiping off the eraser if they choose to switch colors. Not bad! My daughter had a huge sense of accomplishment with this one.

The original heart tote used only red paint, but why stop there when you have so many little cute pots of paint to work with?

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Watercolor Cards

The last project is from Kellie at Nest of Posies called “Watercolor Valentines.” She painted these cards with her seven year old son. I tried with my four year old, but I would have to agree that this project is best suited for children a little older. It took some practice to make the cards look like the photos, but of course if you have younger ones you can make variations of these cards and it would still be fun.

Here’s what you need:

• watercolor paper (pull out the Canson paper you bought for the celery stamps!)
• paint brush
• watercolor paints (Crayola has washable watercolors that are inexpensive and work well)
• masking fluid or sticky back vinyl (Winsor & Newton makes nice masking fluid, I’ll explain below)

If you’ve never heard of masking fluid, it’s really cool stuff! It’s a liquid that when it dries watercolors will not stick to it, however you can rub it off with an eraser or your finger after the painting is dry and there will be white space wherever the liquid mask was. The possibilities are endless and it’s definitely something to try.

The original instructions say to cut hearts out of vinyl stickers. Honestly, I wasn’t sure where to find that, so if someone can chime in I would love to learn. Anyway, we used masking fluid to paint a heart on the paper. Then my daughter used watercolors and long strokes to paint over the entire front of the card. You don’t have to worry about the heart at all since the liquid mask is protecting the paper from the paint.

This is her first attempt with the masking fluid still on the paper:

Wait until the paint dries then rub an eraser over the liquid mask. It is similar to rubber and once it starts to peel off you can rub it with your finger until it is completely gone from the paper. It’s a cool sensory experience for your kids.

You can write a note over the paint or just leave it simple.

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Happy Valentine’s Day!