Valentine’s Day Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers

Pinterest is loaded with adorable Valentine’s Day crafts and activities! It is a great time of year to spend time inside being crafty and creative with your little ones. My kids love making projects and since they are 2, 4 and 6 years old, I look for simple activities that appeal to toddlers and preschoolers. Believe me, the simpler the better because it is really all about the experience of being creative together.

Here are six tried and true activities for you and your little Valentines to try this year, along with four additional options for your older kids. Have fun!

Painted Heart

I love Jamie’s blog Hands On as We Grow, it is a one stop shop for tons of awesome activities and ideas. It is definitely worth your time to check it out! This activity involves paint but it is still toddler friendly. To make painting easier and less messy, I recommend these paint cups. Just fill them up a little bit at a time and there’s very little mess.

Supplies:

1. washable paint
2. paint brushes
3. white paper
4. painter’s tape
5. paper towels
6. comb (optional but gives extra sensory practice)

First, use tape to make a heart on the white paper. Next, have your children paint all over the paper.

Have your child rub the comb all over the paint giving it a fun texture.

Allow plenty of time to dry. Once it is completely dry, carefully remove the tape. How cute!

Rainbow Heart Sun Catcher

My two year old loves using glue and this type of project can be adapted with any shape or letter. The idea came from Fireflies and Mudpies although I tweaked it a little bit to make even more toddler friendly. My four year old was able to do most of this project independently.

Supplies:

1. ziploc bag
2. glue
3. scissors
4. sharpie marker
5. tissue paper (I had a lot of red tissue left over from Christmas, bonus!)

First, trace a heart shape onto the ziploc bag and cut out the heart (I usually make a few different sized hearts and use them as a template for all of my Valentine projects). Then cut the tissue into small squares.

Have your child glue the tissue on the heart.

I trimmed the edges to make the tissue line up with the round edge.  Hang in a bright window.

Hershey Kiss Valentine

This is a great project for your kids to make and then give to grandparents or family members. The idea came from Crafty Morning  and we liked it because using foil is a great sensory activity for little ones.

Supplies

1. tin foil
2. pink paper
3. scissors
4. tape (we found that glue did not hold tin foil very well)
5. black marker

First, tear off a large piece of tin foil. Have your child crumple it up (my son loved this part!).

Unroll it and draw a rounded triangle shape to resemble a hershey kiss.

Carefully cut out the shape.

Cut out a small heart and tape to the kiss along with a ribbon on the top.

We can’t wait to give out our kisses!

Ribbon Heart Card

We decided to make some Valentine’s Day cards for family and these came out super cute. All three of my kids enjoyed this easy activity which was inspired by Happy Hooligans. I had a lot of red ribbon left over from Christmas and then I picked up some heart ribbon at the craft store.

Supplies

1. white card stock or blank white cards (craft stores sell packages of blank cards which are great to keep on hand).  We used blank white cards so they are already folded.
2. pink construction paper
3. ribbon cut into small strips
4. glue

First, trace a heart onto the pink paper and cut out the heart. Next, have your child glue the strips of ribbon onto the white card.

Glue the pink paper on top of the card.

That’s it! They came out so cute and will be a great gift for teachers or grandparents.

Valentine Name Puzzle

My 4 year old loves to cut paper so I thought this would be a super easy and fun activity for him to do while his little sister was napping and big brother was at school. It was inspired by How Wee Learn and could easily be adapted for any time of the year (think pumpkins, easter eggs, leaves, etc). Cutting is an important skill for preschoolers so this provides great practice with scissors.

Supplies:

1. paper or foam sheet (I used foam just because it feels different when cutting)
2. marker

First, draw a large heart on the foam. Then write your child’s name on the heart and separate each letter with a line or squiggle.

Have your child cut along each line.

Once he or she is done cutting, put the puzzle back together.

You could even glue the puzzle back together but my son likes to do the puzzle more than once.

Love Bug Fruit Cups

I am going to help out at my preschoolers Valentine’s Day party and was assigned to bring in a take home treat for each child. I figured there would already be a lot of sweets going home so I searched for a fun non-candy treat and found the most adorable Love Bug Fruit Cup. These have to be assembled with a hot glue gun so they are more of an adult project but older kids can help with certain steps. I also had to purchase all of the supplies ahead of time.

Supplies:

1. fruit or applesauce cup
2. pipe cleaners
3. pom poms
4. googley eyes
5. foam heart shapes

All that you really need to do here is cut the pipe cleaner into thirds. Glue a pom pom onto each pipe cleaner. Turn the applesauce container upside down and glue the pipe cleaners onto the back and the heart shapes onto the bottom. Finally, glue the eyes on and you have yourself a love bug! I also wrote  “love the party moms” on the top of the applesauce. What a cute little bug!

If your children are a little bit older than mine, be sure to check out our post from last year’s Valentine’s Day. Annie and her daughter made some adorable projects together!