This Valentine’s Day, we’re doing toddler valentine crafts using these three quick and easy art ideas!
Valentine’s Day is coming, and nothing is cuter than a toddler-made valentine.
If you’re not into valentine crafts, check out our latest sensory bin or our magic snowball experiment!
Art time is my two-year-old’s favorite part of the day.
Typically, I have her color or use dot stickers, but I knew we needed something special for Valentine’s Day.
We do like to do crafts around here, but my daughter loves to just do her own thing when it comes to art.
I’ll ask her to stay in the lines and she will defiantly color just a little outside the lines.
I love watching her create art and I don’t want to step all over her creative process, but some of the things she’s painted and colored are things only a mother would love!
Lucky for her, I am her mother and I love all her little scribbles. But when she’s not even trying to draw something? Come on!
Sometimes she even colors without looking at the page!
My toddler is no Picasso (yet!), but the one trick I’ve learned to making her art look decent enough to be on a greeting card is this:
Cut it out!
Yup. I cut up that art into a new shape, glue it onto a blank card, and I have a Hallmark-worthy greeting card.
Since Valentine’s Day is coming up, all the shapes we did are hearts, but you could also do:
- shamrock for St. Patrick’s day (do people even do cards for this holiday?),
- a heart for a thank you card (just write “Thank You” on the front so people can distinguish this from your Valentine’s Day card),
- a pumpkin for Thanksgiving (or Halloween, I suppose, though again do people send cards for this holiday??),
- a balloon for a birthday card,
- a star or Christmas tree triangle for Christmas.
Hearts are perfect for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, too!
Just choose colors and a shape that goes with your holiday or occasion!
Looking for an organized guide of fun, easy activities to do with your toddler that also encourages their growth and development?
I’ve created a 3-month activity planner just for busy parents like you! The plan includes 65 detailed, simple, and stress-free activities including: arts and crafts, sensory play, motor skills, and STEM–all using easy-to-find supplies.
Let me help make planning activities for your toddler easy, so you can skip the stress and get straight to the fun!
3 Quick & Easy Toddler Valentine Crafts
These toddler valentine crafts are made using the following steps:
- Toddler makes art.
- Mom cuts out heart shape.
- Toddler glues heart onto cardstock.
- Mom writes “Happy Valentine’s Day” and sends it off.
For the first step, choose one of these methods to make art: stamping, crayon resist art, paper mosaics.
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Stamped Hearts
To make stamped hearts, set out a variety of stamps and an ink pad and let your toddler go to town on a sheet of paper.
We used multicolored ink (because that was all we had on hand) and pink paper (see, it’s Valentinesy!).
Our stamps and ink pad are from this Melissa & Doug Baby Farm Animals stamp set. We only had one large heart stamp, and these baby farm animal stamps were perfect for my two-year-old’s little hands!
I drew four hearts on the pink paper and had my two-year old stamp all over them.
When she was done, I cut out the hearts.
Then we moved on to the next heart project.
Crayon Resist Hearts
Crayon resist is one of my favorite art techniques to use!
On a white sheet of paper, I drew hearts, squiggles, and xoxo’s with a white crayon. This part was really fun for me!
Ella painted over the designs with finger paint that I diluted with water.
Once the paint was dry, I drew four hearts on the back of the paper and cut them out.
I think it would be really cute to trace your kid’s hand in white crayon and then paint over that too!
Paper Mosaic Hearts
Ella is always begging to use scissors, so although we normally tear the paper into little pieces, I let her cut little pieces with her safety scissors.
First, I cut a two narrow strips of pretty scrapbook paper.
Then I held them up for Ella to chop up with her scissors.
She doesn’t have the dexterity to use scissors with one hand yet, so I have to hold the paper strips while she hacks them like a gardener trimming a hedge.
Let me tell you, having a toddler chop wildly with a pair of scissors is a little scary sometimes, but I survived!
Once the paper pieces were made, Ella glued them onto a heart I had drawn on a sheet of paper.
Well, she tried to glue them inside the lines.
Then she deliberately stopped trying.
I didn’t sweat it though, because once she was done, I got my grown-up scissors and cut out the heart so it looked nice and neat.
The Final Result
With all our hearts finished and cut out, I got some blank white cards and glued a heart to each card.
I printed “Happy Valentine’s Day” on each card, and now these toddler valentines ready to be sent out!
Looking for an organized guide of fun, easy activities to do with your toddler that also encourages their growth and development?
I’ve created a 3-month activity planner just for busy parents like you! The plan includes 65 detailed, simple, and stress-free activities including: arts and crafts, sensory play, motor skills, and STEM–all using easy-to-find supplies.
Let me help make planning activities for your toddler easy, so you can skip the stress and get straight to the fun!
Your Turn! Make Valentine Cards with Your Toddler
Whether you make stamped hearts, crayon resist hearts, or paper mosaic hearts, don’t forget to cut it out!
Which valentine are you making with your toddler?
Comment below, and send me a valentine!
Then try out another quick toddler craft: painted paper snowflakes!
For more Valentine’s Day fun, check out how we made and played with a Valentine’s Day sensory bin!
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