DIY Valentine Cards for Kids

Cute and Simple Valentine Cards

Looking for fun and easy DIY Valentine Cards for kids? Check out these creative ideas linked up to the Kids Co-op last week. Many of the links contain FREE printables! Enjoy!

DIY Valentine Cards for Kids

“Fishing” you a Happy Valentines Day from Frogs Snails and Puppy Dog Tails
You make my heart sparkle from The Educators’ Spin on it.
Sewn Valentines from Housing A Forest
I dig you Valentine from The Keeper of the Cheerios
I only have eyes for you from Tutus and Tea Parties
Origami Love Lollipops from Twig and Toadstool
Cutest Pencil Holder from from Crystal & Co.
Pipe Cleaner Pencil Topper from Teach Me Mommy
Salt Dough Heart Magnets from The Connection We Share
Bee Mine Valentine from Kitchen Counter Chronicles

If you loved these, then check out our favorite Valentine ideas from Housing A Forest. Design a simple Heart Shaped Animal, make a Sewn Valentine, or create one of these 20 DIY Valentine holders your kids will love.

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{If you are checking us out for the first time, we would love for you to follow along on Facebook or check out our Pinterest account. We love sharing new ideas to play and learn with your kids. }

Window Decorations

Beautiful Kid made Suncatchers and Window Art

Brighten your windows with these inspiring ideas. 10 beautiful kid made window decorations from the Kids Weekly Co-op. They are each a little different and will add a little color to a grey winter day. We have a number of windows that could use a little pizzazz, and I know just the kids that are up for the job;)

Window Decorations

Suncatcher snowflake craft for kids from Kiddie Foodies
Sticky Valentines ~ how to make DIY window clings from The Connection We Share
Ice rainbow suncatchers from Twig & Toadstool
B is for butterfly from Crystal & Co.
Mondrian window art from What Do We Do All Day?
Watercolor Coffee Filter Snowflakes from Homeschooling Mom 4 Two
Heart Shaped Berry Bird Feeder from Sun Hats and Wellie Boots
Tissue Paper Dyed Hearts from Mess for Less
Tissue Paper Heart Wreath from Crafts by Courtney
Reaching for the Stars from Little Moments

Glitter Marble Painting

Simple Painting Activity for Toddlers

As you know, we love quick and easy art projects at Housing A Forest. Today we added a simple twist to one of our favorite toddler painting activities. Glitter Marble Painting received lots of ooh’s and aah’s from the kiddos. I’m wondering why I didn’t think of it sooner? Marble painting has always been a hit, and adding glitter just makes it that much better.

Are you familiar with Marble Painting? It is one of our go-to painting techniques that is a always a hit. You can almost marble paint anything. We have created a number of seasonal pieces, including spiders, wreaths, and leaves. Last summer, the kids also got creative and made a fun Painty Marble Maze that you have to see. It is about 6′ long and incorporates our backyard slide. I love how kids think!

Glitter and Valentines go hand in hand, especially when you are a sweet little sparkle loving princess.

Are you ready to create your own glittery masterpiece? You will need:

craft glue
Marbles
Lidded Oatmeal Container ~ or something similar
Paper Heart
Glitter ~ lots of glitter

Have the kiddos roll the marbles around in the glue and drop them into the oatmeal container along side the paper. Now comes the fun part…shake, shake and shake some more.

Once your heart is covered in glue tracks, cover the heart with piles of glitter. Ok you don’t need piles, but according to my little princesses the more the better;) Thank-goodness for Craft Project Ideas, who gave us a wonderful pack of free craft supplies, including the glitter we used.

When in doubt, just add glitter.

We love Valentines Day. Check out our Favorite Valentines Kids Projects. I adore these simple glitter tissue paper hearts, sewn Valentine cards and check out these adorable Valentines card holders. Lots of simple ideas your kids will love.

Indoor Snow Painting

Indoor snow painting ~ bring your snow canvas indoors and stay warm and cozy!

The weather outside is frightful…so we decided to play with snow indoors. Chilly winter days are perfect for bringing the snow inside or creating beautiful melting art work. This simple indoor snow painting activity requires no bundling up in all the usual winter gear. Stay warm and cozy by bringing your snow canvas indoors!

The kids each mixed up their favorite color of paint (drops of food coloring in water). We had a combination of blue, green and purple paint. Love that all the colors coordinated.

The kids used paint brushes and eye droppers to apply the color.

Paint A Snow Canvas

Like with our melting art, we placed a cookie sheet inside our tray. As the snow melted, it dripped into the bottom of the tray.

I love all the colorful snow crystals.

When the kids deemed their masterpiece finished, they emptied their melting snow canvas into the sink. I should have counted how many times they each scooped a fresh layer of snow onto their tray.

They spent a good part of the afternoon playing and painting.

Squeeze bottles and spray bottles were requested for next time. Since we only used brushes and eye droppers, this activity was relatively mess free.

Here are a few of our favorite ways to stay warm while playing in the snow!

Melting Art | Indoor Snow Painting | Bringing the Snow Inside | Snow Ice Cream

What is your favorite way to play in the snow?

Heart Animals

Animals made from hearts ~ Valentine Craft Ideas

With Valentines Day right around the corner, our house is slightly heart crazy. I have a ton of Valentine craft ideas floating around in my head, and I can’t wait to try them all out. Currently my kitchen island is covered in colorful heart shapes and paper scraps. Love it. Who knew Heart Animals could be so adorable.

Each image below has a photo of the hearts used and our finished heart animal.

Heart Fish ~ Valentines Craft for Preschoolers

By simply cutting slits in a few of the hearts, we created adorable fins. I also love the tiny heart scales.

Heart Dragonfly ~ Valentines Craft for Preschoolers

The body is built with graduated sizes of hearts. We created the wings by layering half hearts. The top wings are slightly larger than the bottom set. All this little guy needs is a little glitter.

Heart Dog ~ Valentines Craft for Preschoolers

I love this simple floppy eared puppy. The heart tongue and whiskers were our favorite additions.

Heart Bird ~ Valentines Craft for Preschoolers

Chirp, chirp. Tweet, tweet. Just like our fish, we added a few slits to the wings of our little bird to create dimension. The addition of whimsical heart tuft of hair makes me smile.

Heart Owl ~ Valentines Craft for Preschoolers

I have a little owl obsession, and I am elated with how this little guy turned out. “Hoo” can resist these adorable round eyes?

Heart Monkey ~ Valentines Craft for Preschoolers

My daughter would love to have a pet monkey, however this little heart monkey will have to do;) We create this little guy in a number of different color combinations, but blue and brown was our favorite.

Heart Ladybug ~ Valentines Craft for Preschoolers

Ladybugs are always a favorite, but when made out of hearts…adorable!

For more creative Heart animals, check out our latest version. I am in love with the little hedgehog and alligator. I also created a free printable PDF for each animal. Click on the link or the image to take you to the full post.

For more of our favorite Valentine crafts and activities, check out our:

Heart Binoculars

Sewn Valentines

20 Valentines Day Card Holders

Cardboard Roll Heart Stamp