Every year the big stores stock up on cheap kids’ Valentine’s Day cards and gifts, all of which miss the point of the day. Valentine’s Day is about personal expressions of love. We’d rather get a uniquely personalized gift over a generic card any day (as you might easily guess given the nature of our website). With that in mind, here’s three Valentine’s Day craft ideas we’re sure you and your kids will love making.
How to Make a Valentine Candy Flower
Instead of sending cards and candy to friends and family this year, why not send these cute flowers instead? They’re easy to make and much more fun than store-bought kids Valentine’s cards. You’ll need:
- Green masking tape
- Hole punch
- Colorful baking cups (six per flower)
- Craft wire
- Scissors
- Dum Dum suckers
Fold four of the baking cups in half and flatten two more. On the folded cups, punch a hole ¼” from the center. You don’t want to punch through the folded edge. These will be the flower’s petals.
Take the two flattened cups and punch a hole in the center of the folded edge to make a hole in the dead center of the cup. Open the cups back up and re-flatten.
Thread the four folded papers onto the sucker stick, overlapping each to make petals, then thread the two open cups onto the stick.
Cut two pieces of the green masking tape into seven-inch lengths, sticky side up. Place a piece of wire slightly shorter than the masking tape down the center of one piece of tape and sandwich the two pieces of tape together. Cut leaf shapes at either end of the tape, leaving an inch of tape in the middle trimmed close to the wire. Twist the leaves underneath the baking cups to keep the flower in place. For a personalized touch, attach each flower to a personalized love note, like the fourteen sweet messages including in My Little Lovebug.
Flowery Kid’s Valentines Cards
You’ll find plenty of idea for homemade kid’s Valentine cards online, but this is one of our favorites. These delicate doily cards are suitable for a range of ages—little ones can make them if you cut out the flowers first, while older kids can handle the whole craft by themselves. You’ll need:
- Paper doilies in various styles
- White craft glue
- Green card stock
- Red card stock
- Scissors.
Cut symmetrical flower blossoms out of the doilies, and fold a piece of red card stock in half. Glue the blossoms to the card stock. Cut flower stems and leaves from the green card stock, then glue them close to the blossoms to make pretty flowers.
How to Make a Valentine Heart Stamp
How to make a valentine for really young children? This is one of the simplest Valentine’s Day craft ideas we’ve ever found, but the results can be amazing, even when the artist is a very small child. Even better, you can make your own Valentine’s Day cards with items you’ve probably already got in the house. All you need are:
- Cardboard tubes (Toilet roll tubes work well)
- White card stock
- Red and pink paint
- Masking tape
Flatten the cardboard tube, making creases on both sides. Push one crease into the tube to make a heart shape. Wrapping pieces of masking tape around the outside of the tube helps maintain the heart shape.
Pour some paint onto a paper plate, dip one end of the cardboard heart into the paint, and let the little one stamp hearts onto the card stock. It doesn’t matter if the hearts are smeared or smudged—when you make your own Valentine’s cards with little ones, the mess is part of the charm!
Valentine’s Day craft ideas help create happy memories, but let’s face it, most crafts don’t stand up well to the passage of time. Give your child lasting proof of how much you love them with one of our personalized Valentine’s Day gifts. It’s a gift they’ll adore for years to come!
