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L-O-V-E CANVAS PAINTING

My Daughter and I made the following art piece three years ago. And it’s still one of my favorites! 

• I used my Cricut Cutting Machine to cut out the “L” and “E” from freezer paper. Make sure to face the shiny side down into your machine. And carefully remove after it’s cut. No cutting machine? Print and cut the letters in the size and font you want, then trace them with a pencil on your canvas.
• Place the shiny side down on your canvas and press with a hot iron on it for a few seconds. It will make a nice seal for a clean edge.
• Paint the “L” and “E” by dabbing paint on with a flat and round foam brush (dab paint because brush strokes can cause the paper to move or come up). You can remove the paper immediately or wait. I prefer to remove it right away so it doesn’t dry on with the paint.
• Then I used a foam brush to place a really thick layer of paint on her hand. Don’t be shy with the paint, the more the better.
• The last step was doing her footprints. I did one of each foot to create the “V”.

Supplies: Canvas (I used a burlap canvas from my local craft store) – Cricut Expressions Machine – Freezer Paper – Paint (we used red, pink & white) – Foam Brushes – Cute little hand and feet 🙂
Bonus Tips: Keep a warm washcloth or baby wipes nearby for quick and easy clean ups in between steps. And make the heals overlap for a nicer looking “V”.
Spin-Off Idea: Use painters tape to make the letters L, O, V and E. After you place them on your canvas, paper or whatever material you like, let your kid paint to their heart’s content. When it’s all dry, peel back the tape and your L.OV.E message will magically appear.

FOAM HEART PAINTING

Little A LOVED this project! To this day, any shaving cream activities bring a smile to her face! The recipe is fairly easy, with only 3 ingredients!

• I started out doing a 50/50 mixture of shaving cream and Elmers glue until I got the consistency I was looking for.
• Add some red food coloring to give it that pretty pink you see.
• I cut a few hearts out of red paper for her to paint on, but you could also try red foam for a different material!

Supplies: Paper – Shaving Cream – Elmers Glue – Tray/Plate – Toddler Paint Brush – Food Coloring

HEART STENCIL PAINTING

We used these heart cookie cutters, which work a lot better than the metal kind because they have a thicker side which helped her grab more paint easily.

• Place a layer of paint in the different colors of your choice on a paint tray or plates.
• Have them dip the cookie cutters in the paint and stamp onto their paper.

Supplies: Paper – Red/Pink Paint – Heart Cookie Cutters – Paint Tray or Plate
Bonus Tips: Dip the thick side of the cookie cutter in the paint for a better surface to stick too. Frame when it’s all dry for a nice keepsake.

I LOVE YOU TO PIECES

A made a bunch of these and we mailed them to family out of state for a fun Valentine’s Day surprise.

• I ripped up a bunch of different colored and patterned papers in reds, pinks, and some fun heart prints.
• Then I squeezed a little Elmer’s glue into a disposable plate and let her paint the glue, inside a heart I drew on her paper.
• This was a project I did with her back in 2014, so I wasn’t able to pull up a photo of the final product. But I took what you see in the last photo and wrote “I Love You to Pieces” on top and bottom of her hearts.

Supplies: Different Colored/Patterned Papers – Elmer’s Glue – Paint Brush – Sharpies

CARDBOARD ROLL HEART STAMPING

This was a fun and cute project that incorporated different art elements to make a lovely keepsake.

• I let the kids paint with watercolor paints to make a colorful background. I find their projects come out a lot nicer with special watercolor paper so it doesn’t wrinkle (like the standard paper shown above – my quick example).
• To make the hearts, bend a couple toilet paper rolls into heart shapes and secured with a piece of tape to keep the shape (a rubber band would also work).
• Next, I poured a layer of red, pink and purple paint on a plate and let them create their masterpieces.

Supplies: Artists Loft Watercolor Paint Set- 36 Colors or Crayola Watercolor Paints – Watercolor Paper – Toilet or Paper Towel Rolls – Tape or Rubber Band – Paint Brushes – Paint for Hearts

LOVELY NECKLACES

This is a great hand/eye coordination activity. Even K had fun with this one. I could tell he enjoyed the challenge of stringing small threaded beads. I found the divided tray from the dollar store which was great at separating all their supplies.

• Place different beads, cut up paper straws and other items into a divided tray.
• Tie one end of the string so they don’t accidentally push all their items off.
• When they are finished stringing their beads, tie the two ends together to make a necklace.

Supplies: String – Cut Up Straws – Beads – Tape – Divided Tray
Bonus Tip: If your string easily separates (like ours) tape it really tight on the end to stop. Just make sure to keep it small so it doesn’t make threading smaller beads harder.

LOVELY COLLAGE ART

This might be one of A’s favorite ways to make art. It’s just like the “Cut and Color Table” at her school with lots of different art materials to create whatever she wants.

• Easy steps here, just place the different supplies into a divided try and let their creative juices flow and create whatever their minds come up with.

Supplies: Card Stock Paper (reg works also) – Paint (I only bought red, white and purple. I made the pink by combining the red & white) – Paint Brushes – Misc supplies (small foam hearts, plus we cut up lace dollies and tissue paper to make hearts, all were found at the dollar store)

Related: Last Minute Valentines Day Gift Ideas for Her

CANDY HEART CONSTRUCTION

I’m not sure if they had more fun building or eating. They were quite tasty 😉 Together we built a “tower, lollipop palace, airplane, and a helicopter.”

• Insert toothpicks into jelly candies to create different objects.
• Eat create works of art 😉

Supplies: Jelly Candy Hearts – Toothpicks

VALENTINE WINDSOCKS

This was a fun gift to make with a certain Oma in mind, who loves windsocks! I cleaned and checked the cans very well (make sure to double check all cans since they have the potential to be dangerous with sharp edges).

• After taking the top and bottom lids off, I removed the labels under some water.
• I used the divided tray we found at the Dollar Store, to provide them with some paint and decorations.
• After their cans dried, we taped streamers inside for the bottom and string on top for a place to hang them from.

Supplies: Cans – Paint – Streamers – Decorations – String – Packing tape
Bonus Tip: Use strong tape, at least on the string so it doesn’t fall off. We used heavy duty packing tape on ours.

TISSUE PAPER STAINED GLASS WINDOW ART

• Cut out large hearts from red paper and remove the middle so it’s a “frame”.
• Stick them onto contact paper.
• Let them decorate the sticky inside, with small pieces of tissue paper you can cut or rip out.
• Cover the back when they’re done, with another layer of contact paper to seal it all together.
• Hang or tape, to windows to enjoy the new “stained glass” decorations.

Supplies: Contact Paper – Tissue Paper – Craft Paper – Scotch Tape

WRITING TRAY

This is a great activity for building letter/number recognition and practicing their writing skills. Plus it’s relaxing and reminds me of the zen gardens.

• Fill a deep tray with a mixture of sugar and sprinkles.
• Write every letter of the alphabet and numbers 1-10 onto small foam hearts.
• Let them pick a number or letter and stick it in the “sand”.
• Allow them to practice writing with their finger in the sand.

Supplies: Sugar – Sprinkles – Tray/Plate – Letter/Number Hearts (You can create these is many different ways. I wrote on foam hearts from the dollar store with a sharpie).
Bonus Tip: Turn it into a game and have them build words and names to practice more than one letter at a time.

SENSORY BIN OF LOVE

When I create sensory bins for my kids I try to hit 4 of the 5 senses (leaving out taste, so I don’t have to worry about everything being edible). Sensory bins literally have a bazillion different combinations. We have this container that we use for the sensory activities and just switch out the insides for different holidays and themes.

• For this sensory bin, I died rice to red and pink by stirring in food dye with a bowl of white rice until I got the colors I wanted.
• I added pink and red heart beads, feathers, scoops and red hot candies.
• We also added a few drops of Strawberry Essential Oil.

Supplies: Bin/Tub – Rice – Food Coloring – Strawberry Essential Oil – Acrylic Hearts – Feathers – Measuring Cups – Red Hots Candies

YARN WRAPPED HEARTS

• Cut different sized hearts from cardboard (we cut ours out from boxes we had lying around).
• Switch it up by cutting out the middles on some and leaving the rest “full” for different looks.
• Wrap yarn around them till they are decently covered.
• Hang and enjoy 🙂

Supplies: Cardboard – Yarn – Scissors

HEART HOPSCOTCH

This was a fun activity we took outdoors when we were lucky enough for some warmer weather. You can also do it inside if you don’t/can’t go out.

• We cut a standard poster paper in 6 equal parts from two different colors to make the squares.
• We used a bunch of fun colors from our pack of sharpies to write the numbers on the paper. You can also paint on the numbers, but you’ll have to wait for it to dry before playing.
• We just laid them on the sidewalk, but if you do it indoors on hard flooring you can opt to tape them down, so they won’t move.

Supplies: Paper – Sharpies – Tape – Scissors

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! Enjoy the craft and activities with your little love bugs. Don’t forget to follow me on Pinterest to see more fun and creative art projects and activities you can do with your little ones!

Related: Last Minute Valentines Day Gift Ideas for Her

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