Valentine’s Day is just around the corner! This is my first V-day with a preschooler and we wanted to do something fun for her class. Although baking is a favourite bonding activity of ours, my daughter has a tree nut allergy and her preschool is a nut-free facility so food was not an ideal option. Plus my daughter loves crafts and colouring so we thought a fun Valentine’s Day class card might be best.

I joined Pinterest about 6 months ago and am totally addicted! I thought I would start there and look for some creative ideas and sure enough, my Kid’s Valentine’s Day Craft Ideas board was born! Feel free to have a look and follow me on Pinterest for some V-day inspiration 🙂

Although time consuming, you can use Pinterest to find loads of great stuff from recipes to DIY projects to teaching resources and parenting tips. It’s my new go-to for craft inspirations and more!

Craft time is such a great way to get your kids thinking creatively and to experiment with different materials. It is also the perfect opportunity to encourage and develop their fine motor skills as well as foster some parent-child bonding time.

According to North Shore Pediatric Therapy, there are 5 main benefits of doing arts and crafts with your kids:

1. Bilateral Coordination: Crafts such as colouring, drawing and cutting all require your child to use both of their hands together. This skill is important in other areas of their lives as they continue to grow, such as writing, tying shoes, typing and so much more!
2. Fine Motor Coordination: In order to draw shapes, cut patterns and hand writing, your child is required to use their fine motor coordination. These skills similarly translate to other areas of their lives, such as dressing, eating and other school-related tasks
3. Self Regulation: Crafts that require drying require waiting! This is a great lesson for your child to demonstrate self control and patience. Also, as always, things might not go exactly as we hoped! Crafts are a great way to promote flexibility in your child. There is no right or wrong way in exploring one’s own creativity!
4. Self-esteem Booster: Although we want to challenge our kids, it is also important to initially choose arts and crafts that are at your child’s skill level. Completing the crafts successfully will give them a great sense of accomplishment and pride. As you and your child begin to explore more crafts, you can add in more challenging activities
5. Bonding and Fun: Your kids will love spending time with you and creating something together!

So after some serious searching and pinning, my daughter Maeve and I decided on a delightful and easy peasy, printable Valentine’s day card from Some Day at a Time.

It couldn’t get any cuter: “You are the ‘write’ friend for me!” The free printable comes in several different colours and they can be further decorated by your puny Picasso. Printing them on white card stock worked best and with two quick holes punched, you’ve got a pencil holder!

My daughter really enjoyed personalizing each card and she especially loved going to the Dollar Store to pick out some fun pencils as an accompanying gift.

We have really enjoyed trying out some Valentine’s day crafts this week. Here are a few of our favourites so check them out!

Leah with Love features a great Pom Pom heart painting activity that uses a clothes pin and fuzzy pom pom, putting a twist on the usual paintbrush. The activity created minimal mess and was great for developing hand-eye coordination for my preschooler! Heart-tastic fun!

Lovely Lucky Life shared a super cute and easy stamp activity that only requires 3 bits of equipment: a toilet paper roll, paint and card stock/construction paper. Voila: an instant heart stamp! Maeve went to town with this great craft!

Photo credit: Lovely Lucky Life

The Long Thread has a fabulous, practical and free printable Valentine’s day card, perfect for a last minute class gift idea! Just print it on some card stock, fill in the student’s name and go!

Cooks with 5 Kids has some amazing ideas for Valentine’s day parties and a super sweet, free printable invite. The post includes fun party activities, creative crafts and yummy recipes the kids can get involved in.

Pop Sugar also has a round-up of the 48 Best Noncandy Valentine Ideas for Kids. These adorable DIY greetings require little more than a printer, scissors and some glue to give kids a sugar-free treat!

Be sure to check out my Pinterest account for more Valentine’s Day fun plus loads more useful education and parenting pins! Happy Valentine’s day 🙂