Simple Handmade Valentine’s Day Cards for Kids
Help your children make handmade cards this year with these easy assembly-line heart crafts. Even as someone who loves to make crafts with my children, I find Valentine’s Day cards to be a chore. We always start with grand plans, but after my kids have made about 10 cards they lose interest, even when we start well before Valentine’s Day. So I was looking for ideas that truly are easy but will make you feel good about creating handmade cards.
If you’re little one is too young to sign her name, try using letter stamps or print her name on stickers and let her put them on the cards. If she can sign her name, but it’s just too tedious for her to sign 20 cards, try making a custom styrofoam stamp like I did here. I know, you’re re-thinking that long name now, aren’t you?
All of these heart crafts can be made with recycled materials, so open up the recycling bin and start crafting!
Pencil with Felt Heart Valentine
Like to sew? Cut out two hearts from felt and sew them together with an opening for the pencil top. Let your kids place the hearts on the pencils and glue on a printed banner.
Accordion Paper Hearts Valentine
Simply fold your paper accordion-style five times and cut a half heart shape to reveal three hearts inside. Or try the opposite and make hearts like you would make paper dolls.
Cereal Box Bookmark Valentine
Upcycle your cereal boxes to make these easy bookmarks. Here we used a rounded corner punch and a heart punch, then added some twine. You could use recycled materials for the hearts as well, making it a fully upcycled project.
Heart Potato Stamp Valentine
Cut a potato in the shape of a heart and stamp away. We used washable tempera paint on white card stock.
Heart Stick Puppet Valentine
With some paper, glue and a popsicle stick, you can make this sweet little heart puppet. We used the heart punch and added a face with pen. You could also add pipe cleaners for arms.
Pop-up Heart Card Valentine
My six-year-old enjoyed making these last year. We watched a video to learn how to make them, but we used regular paper as it is easier for children to fold than card stock. Here we added an extra red heart made with a paper punch to give some color to the plain white background.
Woven Heart Envelope Valentine
This one is a little more difficult, so I’d recommend it for third grade and up, but it has great results. The woven heart opens, so you can slip a note inside or add a hanger and make it into a basket for a small treat. You can find a nice tutorial with photos here. Just remember that you aren’t really weaving, but rather making a woven pattern by slipping the strips into the strips of the other color.
