5 easy, fun and educational activities for Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is a great time to talk about kindness and love with your child. These five fun activities allow you to spend quality time together while being creative and making beautiful things for the people you love.

The things I love heart 

Materials

• Construction paper
• String or yarn
• Tape
• Hole punch
• Old magazines, catalogues or printed images you find online

Cut out two identical heart shapes. It's easiest to layer two sheets of paper and cut the shapes at the same time. Help your child improve their fine motor skills by having them draw and/or cut out the shapes themselves.

Align the two hearts together and use the hole punch to punch holes around the bottom and sides of the hearts. The top does not need holes because it stays open. 

Next, cut a piece of string, tie one end to the first hole, and put a small piece of tape on the other end of the string to make it easier to lace through the holes. Have the child use the string to lace the two hearts together. Once they have reached the end, tie it off to secure it. 

Once the hearts are together you can personalize the heart with their name and other decorations. Next, have the child look through a magazine and find pictures to represent things they love. Have them cut out the picture, glue it to an index card and write what the item is on the other side.

Look through and read the backs of each item and then place them in the heart pocket. This is a great activity for teaching kids to talk about the things they like, improving language skills.

Play kindness Bingo

Materials

• Printed or hand-drawn Bingo cards and markers

Print these Bingo cards or create your own cards listing ways kids can show kindness to others. This is a great opportunity to incorporate anti-bullying teaching with your kids by creating acts of kindness for the empty squares. 

Then, play a fun, week-long game of Bingo, giving your child the opportunity to try as many of the acts of kindness as they can. To keep things festive, use sweetheart candies or another festive Valentine’s Day item to mark the items they've done. This activity encourages the development of compassion and understanding and fosters a growth mindset.

Fizzing hearts

Materials

• Plain paper
• White school glue
• Baking soda
• Vinegar
• Container for the vinegar
• Red food coloring
• Eye dropper

Have some fizzy fun with science this Valentine's Day. This simple activity uses baking soda and white vinegar to create effervescent hearts. Create heart shapes in glue on your paper, sprinkle well with baking soda, and let it dry. Add a few drops of red food coloring to your vinegar. Then, add the vinegar to the center of the heart and watch it fizz.

Beaded name hearts

Materials

• Pipe cleaners
• Alphabet beads
• Pony beads

Beaded name hearts will work those fine motor skills while letting your kids be creative. Kids love making personalized items. Kids can string the letters of their name or the name of someone important to them on the pipe cleaner, then bend the pipe cleaner into the shape of a heart.

Valentine’s Day noodle garland

Materials

• Red construction paper
• Scrap paper
• White school glue
• Paint
• Dry pasta noodles, like penne or something in a tube shape
• String or yarn

Not just a craft, this is a sensory play activity that fosters fine motor development, creativity and problem solving. Line some noodles up on scrap paper and let your little one paint the noodles in a variety of colors and let them dry. Then, cut the red construction paper into hearts. When the noodles are dry, have your child add glue to the hearts and stick the noodles down. Finally, string the hearts together to create a pretty Valentine’s garland. 

SOURCE: Becky Ward, Education Experience Specialist at Tutor Doctor, an international one-to-one private tutoring franchise.