Five Valentine’s Day Projects Your Toddler Will Love

Valentine’s Day is a perfect opportunity to teach children about love and compassion. One of the most important ways to show caring is to share time with each other. Craft projects can allow toddlers to express their creativity while producing precious keepsakes for friends and family members. In honor of this very special holiday, the professional educators at Discovery Point have created a curated list of delightful activities to help you celebrate Valentine’s Day. Here are five of the best and most memorable projects to share with your toddler this year.

Cookie Decoration

A simple sugar cookie can be the canvas for a masterpiece in icing. You can start with store-bought cookies or, for even more fun, bake your own using a mix or from scratch. Colorful icing and sprinkles can help your toddler turn his or her ideas into reality. Best of all, these delicious creations can be shared with your entire family, allowing your aspiring pastry chef to take pride in a job well done.

Confetti Surprise

Creating paper hearts that can be filled with sparkling confetti or metallic stars can provide a festive touch to Valentine’s Day parties and get-togethers. You will need construction paper, scissors and a glue stick to begin:

• First, help your toddler cut out matching hearts from different colors of construction paper.
• Next, glue the two hearts together at the bottom, leaving a small hole at the top in which you can pour the confetti or glitter stars.
• Once the filling of these hearts is safely inside, glue the top of the heart to seal it off completely.

During the party, guests can rip the hearts in two to scatter confetti and celebrate this holiday with friends and family. This can add to the fun and provide a sense of accomplishment for the youngest guests at these events.

Homemade Valentines

Working with your toddler to create handmade Valentine’s Day cards for every member of your family can be an excellent opportunity to talk about love, compassion and empathy and to instill these values at an early age. Scraps of ribbon, crayons, paints and construction paper are commonly used for these projects; however, almost any type of paper and decorative items can be used to create customized Valentine’s Day cards. By allowing your toddler to create his or her own unique artworks for members of your extended family, you can also include a personal touch in your communications with these individuals.

Hiding Your Hearts

Construction paper or felt can be used to create decorative hearts that can then be hidden around your home. By providing your child with a gold star or a small treat when all hearts have been found and returned to you, you can ensure that he or she is motivated to participate in this healthy form of play. This can also be an excellent rainy day activity at any time of the year.

I Love You Lists

This Valentine’s Day tradition should be part of your annual routine. The process is simple and requires little preparation:

• Sit down with your children and help them to construct list of positive qualities for each member of the family. For toddlers, these may be very simple concepts.
• Share the finished list with its subject.
• Store the lists in a scrapbook or other safe place and revisit them annually on Valentine’s Day.

This yearly ritual can help your children to see how far they have come from year to year and can provide a sense of belonging for your entire family.

At Discovery Point, we celebrate the unique qualities of your child every day. These Valentine’s Day activities are ideal for bringing laughter and learning into your home and creating a positive educational environment for young children during every season of the year.