February is the shortest month of the year, but it always seems to feel like the longest. The excitement of holiday toys has worn off and the chilly weather makes playing outside not realistic or fun.
These activities are great ways to let your kids explore all things Valentine’s Day.
Play-Dough Hearts
Kids love the squishy play-dough between their fingers and it’s a great sensory activity that isn’t too messy. Grab some play-dough, heart-shaped cookie cutters, and some arts and crafts supplies, such as pipe cleaners, beads, jewels and feathers. I set this up during my daughter’s nap time and it’s a great afternoon activity that keeps her entertained for almost an hour (which is rare with a 2-year-old)!
Sensory Bins
Grab a plastic bin from your favorite store (I like to have one that I keep as a designated sensory bin and then just change out the items as I create new ones). Fill it with punched paper hearts, pom poms, strips of construction paper, anything goes! I also add in some fun plastic heart containers, heart jewels (if your child is past the putting things in their mouth stage), some fun scoops (measuring cups where you can’t read the measurements anymore are great for this) and let your kid go to town scooping, pouring and exploring.
Heart Painting
Cut out a large heart from white paper and let your child paint with reds, pinks and purples. You could place painter’s tape on the heart to make designs that would appear after your child paints and the tape is removed or just let your child paint the entire heart themselves. This makes a quick art project that could easily be given or mailed to family members as a Valentine’s gift.
Stamp Art
The heart is an easy shape to cut by free hand to make stamps if you don’t already have a store-bought stamp set that includes a heart. Using a piece of foam or even a potato works to make a quick DIY stamp.
Tissue Paper Hearts
Another fun option is to cut out a large white heart from paper and then rip up pieces of tissue paper. I love to use pink, purple, red and white, but you can use any color that your child likes. Using a glue stick, cover the heart in glue and then let your little one place the tissue paper wherever they would like. This project also makes a great Valentine’s Day card that can be given or mailed to family!
Valentine’s Day crafts are usually easy, quick and definitely fun for little ones to explore and create. Keep these ideas in mind when the days feel long, it’s cold outside, and you need a few minutes of quiet in your house.
