Love Art:

This is a multi-day craft!

Materials: Canvas (from dollar stores), acrylic paint in hues of dark blue, paint brushes, white glue mixed with equal parts water (or modge podge glue), black permanent markers, scrapbook paper or bits of wrapping paper with designs (preferably in reds and pinks and with hearts), red construction paper, child safe scissors, exacto knife (optional & for adult use only), cutting board (optional).

VALENTINE'S DAY ROCKS:

Materials: stones (either collected by your children or purchased at a dollar store), paint in white, red and pink, paint brushes, old clothes or art smock, newspapers or plastic table cloth to protect your work space, can or yogurt pot of water, paper towels, waxed paper or paper plate for a pallet.

Step 1: Paint all the rocks white. If your child is impatient do this step ahead of time to be ready for step 2.

Step 2: Have your child decorate the stones with hearts! You can draw a heart with pencil to aid little hands.

You can also use this Many Hearts Template as a stencil. Parents can cut out the hearts using a craft knife!

Day 1: Have your child paint the entire canvas in hues of dark blue. Let it dry. Meanwhile cut out the letters LOVE from red construction paper. I let my kids choose their font and then enlarged it, printed it and lay it on the construction paper on top of a cutting board to cut out using an exacto knife. If you have one of those fantastic scrapbook machines that cut out shapes and letters from paper use that…it would be much easier.

Look for any Valentines related crafts at your local craft store, including heart stamps (left) or stencils, or foam kits. One year we painted styrofoam hearts and added glitter with glue, then used a wooden skewer to create a heart bouquet!

Has your family gone #ZeroWaste and you no longer have sponges? You can cut out hearts in cardboard or even in a piece of potato to create stamps!

Step 2: In each of these drawn segments your child can now create his/her own patterns or copy ones he/she may like from online viewing. There are no mistakes in Zentangle. Let the pattern come alive and be whatever it will be. Younger children may want to stick with easy doodles like polka dots, wavy lines, squares or mini triangles. Suggest hearts or flowers or leaves. Anything goes!

Step 3: Your child can either cut out the zentangle or leave it on the page. The cut out zentangle can be mounted on construction paper and hung as a decoration or it can be glued to cardstock to create a card.

Day 2: Have your child choose the paper to use for the hearts. You can use the my Large Heart Template or create your own. We opted for three hearts but one big one or many little ones would be nice, too. Cut out the heart(s). Now your child will glue the word LOVE and the hearts to the canvas. I found that using a mixture of water and glue works best. Create your solution in a paper cup. Try adding equal parts at first and then mixing with a craft stick add water or glue to get to a consistency that you like. Modge Podge Glue would work as well.

Day 3: Once this has dried your child can add embellishments using a black permanent marker (like a Sharpie). We outlined LOVE in black and outlined the hearts with red glue and then sparkly glue. Have your child sign the painting in marker, too.

Day 4: Optional but highly recommended: Add a coat of gloss to the canvas to seal it and make it last for years to come!

There are so many Valentine inspired crafts and art projects, these are just a few. I've given some very basic ones and will share a more detailed project, too. Enjoy!

What to do with all those Valentines...

...Make a Valentine's poster!

Give your child some construction paper and white glue and let them create their own poster collage to hang in their bedroom.

HEART STENCILS:

Materials: Your saved stencils created from the above craft (folded paper with cut out hearts), white paper or card stock, red and white paint, paper, paintbrushes or craft sponge, art smock or old clothes to wear when painting, newspaper or plastic to cover the table when you paint, waxed paper.

Step 1: Show your child how to make various shades of pink by mixing white and red paint together on waxed paper.

Step 2: Open the heart stencil on top of a sheet of paper (for a collage) or on top of individual card stock pieces for classroom Valentines.

Step 3: Show your child how to paint the inside of the stencil using brushes or use a craft sponge to dab paint inside the stencil to create a heart shape once the paper is lifted.

Step 4: Let the paint dry and then display or give as a Valentine’s Day Card.

STICKER COLLAGE:

Materials: Various Valentine stickers, coloured paper, markers and/or crayons (Optional).

Step 1: Let your child pick the colour of paper he/she wants to use for this craft and him/her various stickers to make either a collage or a scene.
Step 2: If your child so desires have him/her add details or embellishments to the scene.

HEART SPONGE STAMPS:

Materials: white paper or card stock, Kitchen sponge, sharp scissors (for adult use only), black marker, red and white paint, paper, paintbrushes or craft sponge, art smock or old clothes to wear when painting, newspaper or plastic to cover the table when you paint, waxed paper.

Step 1: Have your child (or draw yourself) some hearts on kitchen sponge and then carefully cut the sponge into the heart shapes.

Step 2: Put some paint onto the waxed paper (mixed red and white to make shades of pink).

Step 3: Show your child how to paint the sponge using a brush and then press the sponge onto the white paper or cardstock to leave a hear shaped stamp.

Step 4: Let the paint dry and then display or give as a Valentine’s Day Card.

Valentine's Day

here's a Zentangle that I made as a sample!

PAPER HEART COLLAGE:

Materials: Red, pink and white paper, child safe scissors, glue stick, damp cloth for sticky fingers.

Step 1: Fold each piece of paper in half and then show your child how to cut half a heart along the fold to create an entire heart once the fold is opened. You can also draw half a heart along the

Monster Valentine's Box

Materials: Empty Tissue box, red, white and yellow paper, red pipe cleaners, googly eyes, white glue, clear tape.

Step 1: Cover the tissue box in red paper. We cut out pieces of red paper that fit and taped in place but you could also glue.

step 2: Cut out two strips of white paper and cut teeth into them. Have your child glue them in place.

Step 3: Sandwich pipe cleaner between two red hearts with white glue. When dry tape onto the top of the box.

Step 4: Cut out two yellow hearts for the eyes and glue to the box along with googly eyes on top.

Step 5: once dry the craft is ready to hold your child's special Valentines!

Heart Zentangle:

NOTE: Zentangle is a type of doodling that I just love. You create beautiful images by using repetitive patterns and is really relaxing. Even if your child thinks he/she cannot draw, trust me, he/she can create Zentangle Art. Here is a great website that https://www.zentangle.com/ that explains it all and by exploring it your family can get some ideas.

Materials: Print out my Large Heart Template, a pencil, black fine tip marker (or other colours).

Step 1: Show your child some examples of Zentangle before he/she begins. Then have your child draw lines (straight or curved) to create different segments inside the heart.

CRAFTS

PRE-SCHOOL IDEA:

fold to encourage your child to cut his/her own hearts out. NOTE: Save the rest of the paper for the next craft as you have now created Heart Stencils!

Step 2: Help your child to make many different sized hearts using the different colours.

Step 3: Let your child glue the different sized hearts in any fashion on a separate sheet of paper for a collage, or one on top of the other for a special Valentine card or on little piece of card stock for classroom Valentines.