The heart crafts with Veronika continue, a great way to teach toddlers about the connection between Valentine’s Day and love… and messy crafts! Today we used hearts in our painting, but in two very different ways.

For the first, I cut heart shapes from pink construction paper and placed these on a tray. Dribble on a little red and white paint, then fold the heart in half.

I encouraged Veronika to flatten out the heart! She could either use her hands or roll over it with a small rolling pin. Because we’d used too much paint, this turned out to be a very smooshy messy process!

Open the heart up for the big reveal!

Let dry, then write a Valentine message on the back for someone special.

The second method is one I did with Travis when he was not much older than Veronika is now (!), making it one of the earliest posts from this blog. It’s fun to repeat activities with my kids and see how they differ across the years. All you need is an empty toilet paper tube; push in one edge slightly to form a heart shape.

I showed Veronika how to dip this “stamp” in red paint and print!

Make as many heart prints as your child desires. I remember Travis wanted to cover his whole paper, but Veronika tired out about half way through.

If you try both of these heart crafts, please share in the comments which one your toddler liked best!

We’ve been making lots of Valentine’s Day cards and crafts to send, but Veronika wanted something to be hers around the house! This “stuffie” heart was the perfect Valentine’s friend to keep.

First, I knew we’d need to cover a large area with paint so I laid down our roll of craft paper. I decided the easiest way for her to paint this would be simply to dollop paint all over the paper and let her smear it with a wide-bristle paintbrush.

We used three shades of red, pink, and purple, one of which was glittery, so it all combined into a nice mix.

Once we had covered the paper, I set it upstairs to dry where little feet wouldn’t accidentally walk across it!

Later in the day, it was time to make the heart into a “stuffed animal”. I drew a heart shape on the paper and cut out, then traced it so we had two hearts. Use hot glue to attach these at the edges (so much easier than sewing!).

We used cotton roving for stuffing, but if you don’t have any roving, wadded up newspaper would probably work just fine.

I drew on a smiley face as the final touch.

It turns out Veronika wasn’t the only one smitten with this new stuffed friend. It brought an instant smile to big brother Travis’s face.

And needed a big hug, too!

Kids are sure to love this Valentine’s Day friend.

These sweet Valentine’s (thanks Parents magazine!) are sure to give every one of your kid’s classmates an ego boost. No matter where the spinning arrow points, a compliment is waiting!

To start, trace a 3-inch round cookie cutter onto cardstock, making enough circles for each recipient. Next, trace additional circles on two different colors of cardstock (we used shades in the red and pink family). Divide each of these circles into 6 segments and cut out. You’ll need double the number of segments as you have classmates (so for Travis’s class of 15 kids, I needed 30 red segments and 30 pink segments).

Using a glue stick, attach these segments onto your base circles, alternating colors. Such a pretty tricolor effect!

Next, write in sweet and empowering messages on each wedge of the wheel. Older kids can take charge of this step, but I knew it would be overwhelming for Travis to do so much handwriting. Instead, I wrote 5 of the wedges for each card (with statements like “You’re Gr8!” or “Superstar!”) and left the final wedge blank for him to write in the classmate recipient’s name.

For the arrow spinner, I traced an arrow on a fourth color of cardstock, then traced and cut out 15 of them. Poke a brad fastener through the arrow and then through the center of the wheel, folding down to secure in place.

Give that wonder wheel a spin!

Paper heart doilies always featured into the homemade Valentines of my youth, so imagine my surprise when I had to go to three stores before I could find them! Perhaps this classic decoration is becoming passe? That would be a shame, and I was glad Veronika got to enjoy the whimsy of doilies with this little craft. Our mission: to make Valentine postcards for the relatives.

To start, cut squares from sturdy white paper and then use a paper clip to attach a doily heart to each one.

I then set out a tray with pink and red paint, along with a few sponges I had cut into small pieces so they would fit more easily in Veronika’s hands. I showed her how to dip a sponge in the paint and then dab over the hearts.

When you lift up the doily, a beautiful heart shape is left behind!

Note: We discovered that a light touch with the sponge works best here, or the image becomes a bit muddied.

Let dry, then use stickers or markers for any final decorations before shipping off with love in the mail!

Veronika recently enjoyed painting with a ball dipped in paint, an idea from her Zoom Tinkergarten class. So today we put a simple Valentine’s Day twist on the activity!

I cut out a few heart shapes from construction paper, choosing pink, red, and purple as our background colors. I taped two of them at a time into the bottom of a shoebox with a lid, and added a few drops of pink paint. Make sure the paint is near the hearts, but not directly on them.

Next, add any toys that can shake around! These don’t need to be round balls; in fact Veronika thought it was silly to put in some of her plastic vegetable toys. Anything plastic that can be rinsed and cleaned easily will work just fine.

Close the lid and shake shake shake!

We opened up the lid for the pretty reveal, with the hearts now splattered in paint.

Repeat as many times as your toddler desires! These make great Valentine’s Day cards for relatives or friends, with the bonus that you can make quite a few in a short amount of time.