Mini Monets and Mommies: February 2017

Saturday, February 4, 2017

Valentine's Day Kids' Art: It's Heart-Felt!


Valentine’s Day is coming up! That means hearts, hearts and more hearts. Am I right? So, that also means kids’ art activities that feature the lovey-dovey shape.


Kids' crafts

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I’ve done quite a few kids’ crafts with a Valentine’s theme. Heart paint resists, crafty little candy pockets and geometry art were all fun children’s activities that feature the holiday. This time I’m working on a super-easy activity.

Craft felt is kind of perfect. It’s easy to work with (your kiddos can actually cut through it) and it sticks to itself. Instead of buying fancy felt boards you can DIY yourself one with an 8x10-inch piece of felt (glue it onto a piece of reused cardboard!). This Valentine’s Day craft is super simple and your kids can use it, reuse it and reuse it again. Or, you can use card stock paper and turn it into a cute (and crafty) card!

What Can Your Child Learn?

There isn’t just ‘one way’ to play with this Valentine’s kids’ activity. Your child can let her imagination lose and figure out new and different ways to create. That means there are endless possibilities, and many, many different ways your child is learning. To give you an idea, check out the basic ways it can help your child’s development. Your child will:

·        Build fine motor skills

·        Explore textures (sensory experience)

·        Recognize colors

·        Identify shapes (math-geometry)

·        Problem solve

·        Learn about the part-to-whole relationship

What Art Materials Do You Need?

Craft felt – in a rainbow of colors
Scissors 
Card stock paper
A marker
Clear-drying school glue

Optional: Cardboard (reuse the front of a cereal type of box)

How-To Steps for Creating Valentine’s Heart-Felt Art

1. Fold the felt in half. Draw half of a heart, starting at the fold. The hearts should be fairly small – about the size of a golf ball.

Valentine's art
 

2. Cut along the line. Unfold the felt to reveal a full-sized heart.

3. Repeat, making hearts in other colors.
Rainbow hearts

4. Create a larger heart. Fold a piece of card stock paper in half and repeat the folding and cutting steps. Your child can also use another piece of craft felt instead of the paper.

Holiday art

Children's crafts
 

5. Put the small hearts onto the larger one! Your child can make a picture, abstract heart art or create patterns with the craft felt.

Kids crafts
 

Optional: Place the larger craft felt heart onto a piece of cardboard. Trace it and cut it out. Glue the felt on to make a Valentine’s Day themed felt board. Now you have a reusable DIY felt board that your child can press the smaller hearts onto.