Valentine's Day fun!

Happy Valentines day to everyone! 

I believe that Valentines day is one of those made up holidays, so, I celebrate it for the kids only! And boy are we having fun! 

First, the kids woke up to this...

And then we had breakfast...

And for Craft today, we made heart shaped cats. First I cut 2 larger heart shapes, for the head and body, then I did a tiny heart for the nose, and 4 small hearts- 2 for ears and 2 for feet, I also did one skinnier heart for the tail! 

The kids coloured them, and then cut them. 

Then we glued them together to form the cat. We also added some googly eyes too! 

After craft time we had lunch...

And for snack today we are having cherry jello, with a marshmallow layer (so it is a lighter colour)! (picture to come when they are done setting!). 

We also made these for preschool snack day tomorrow. They are cherry chip cupcakes, but they are 2 colours- pink and purple, and in the shape of hearts! The school doesn't allow cupcakes with icing, that is why we used the colour in the actual cupcake! 

3-D heart pictures

This was a fun, and messy craft! The kids had a great time, but it does take some time to get ready! If you have older kids that can help, that would be great, they would really enjoy making the 3-D hearts.

It took me awhile to get the stuff ready to make this craft. I had to cut strips of paper, then staple the top, flip and staple the bottom- forming hearts. I originally was going to do a few hearts in one, but it was taking awhile! Then, I added some powdered paint to some white glue, and cut the cardboard backing for the pictures! That is pretty much all you need!

Then, I let the kids go crazy with the glue! You will need lots of it, and this craft will take a while to dry! We poured a pile of glue onto each backing (used cardboard! The stronger the better!). Then, they used the glue sticks to spread it around. By the time we were done, there was glue all over the place- but it was fun! (and it all washes off!)

Then, they placed their hearts onto their lake of glue!

These have been sitting in the sun on the table for about 3 hours and they are not dry yet, so plan on leaving them in the same spot for as long as possible! Remember- it is a glue lake, so it could take some time! Don't try to hang it before the glue is dry, or the hearts will just slide off!

Mess free, Valentine's Day finger painting

Yep, that is what I said- Mess FREE! This is a pretty easy project, and you could just do it so the kids play with it when it is done. But, I had them help create their mess free "paper".

First, I got everything ready, I cut the framework out- 2 hearts for each. Then got a plastic ziploc bag- you could use freezer bags- those would hold up better, but I only had regular- and you can use any size, but if you are framing it, make sure your frame is big enough! Then I got the packing tape, paint, and crayons. Our hearts were a bit bigger than the bag, so we also made "I love you" signs.

The kids coloured the frames, and the sign first.

Then we filled the bags with finger paint. I used finger paint just incase a hole appears in the bag- then it is totally washable! We put a couple squeezes of paint in each bag (they could probably use a little less, but it will work when they are hanging up! We zipped the bag up, and also put a layer of packing tape over the zipper part- to make sure it stays closed!

Then we taped the bag to the back of one of the hearts, and glued the other one on- sandwiching the paint bag!

After that was done, we glued on the I love you sign, and we are letting them dry!

Once those are dry, we will hang them on the window (I recommend using something like a patio window or a window they can reach that is above something washable- just incase!). You can also just leave them on the table! Then the kids can "paint" with them whenever they want!

Heart collage

Today, we took our craft from an inspiration on pinterest. (yeah, I love that site). We made stamped heart collages. It was very simple, took little time to get ready, and the kids loved it!

First, I took 2 toilet paper rolls and cut them in half. (make sure you know which was the "good" end and which you cut- because if you didn't cut straight they won't stamp properly). Then I squished them down- so they were flat. Then took the one edge and folded it in, and put some tape around it so it would stay like that. I did that for all 4. Then put some paint on some lids so we could stamp.

Then, we went to it! The kids shared the colours, and stamped all over their pages. Sometimes the paint was like a bubble in a wand, so when they stamped it was filled in on the paper! They also thought it was pretty neat to pop that paint bubble first!