If you are looking for easy prep activities you can put together for your kids, you are in the right place. Today I am going to share with you five activities you can do with younger kids for Valentine’s Day.
My personal preference is to set up activities for my son before going to bed. (Video example here) This allows for mornings that run smoother. The activities keep him busy as I make breakfast and set us up for our day. Because I set these activities up after everyone is in bed, I love activities that are easy and almost effortless to get set up. Simple set ups and simple supplies are always my favorite.
If you are looking for free Valentine Printables, check out this blog post with Bible Verse Valentine’s Day Coloring Sheets.
Toilet Paper Roll Heart Stampers
Create a fun painting activity using a large piece of paper, toilet paper rolls, and washable paint. (example video here) Start by rolling out a large piece of butcher paper and tape it to the table. With your toilet paper roll, crease one side outward to make a point. On the opposite side, invert the toilet paper roll and crease. You should have a heart shape when you look at the end of the roll.
Dip the toilet paper roll in to washable paint in Valentine’e Day colors and stamp on to the paper.
This valentine’s day craft is fun and glitter glue adds a little extra if you want to outline your hearts with glitter glue. We use our painted paper as Valentine’s Day wrapping last year. This year we will create Valentine’s Day garland decorations!
Baking Soda Heart Valentine’s Day Science Activity
This Valentine Science activity is a take on a classic baking soda and vinegar fizzer activity. I like to mix and mold my baking soda the night before. In the morning, I will unfold the baking soda shapes and set up containers of colored vinegar.
Mix equal parts of baking soda and water in a bowl. Fill heart shaped molds with the baking soda mixture and put it in the freezer to freeze until hard. If you would like, you can put small trinkets inside the baking soda before you freeze it.
When you are ready, pour white vinegar in to a cup or jar, clear jars are fun because you can see the vinegar color. Add food coloring in valentine colors, pink, purple, red, to the vinegar. Unmold your baking soda hearts and put them in a large baking dish. A baking dish works better than a cookie sheet because the taller sides contain the mess.
Using droppers, allow your child to squeeze the colored vinegar on to the baking soda hearts. They will fizz and if there are trinkets frozen inside, your child will have fun searching for them.
Dot Maker Valentine’s Day Color Matching
This activity is great for Kindergarten or preschool age children. (example video here) Roll out a large piece of white paper and tape it down to your table. Grab several dot markers. Using coordinating washable markers, draw hearts on to the paper. When you are ready, have your child match up the appropriate dot marker color to the heart and dot the heart.
If you have a child learning to read, consider drawing the hearts in black outline and writing the color names with black marker.
We will cut out the hearts when we’re done and write scripture on them to use as Valentine decorations.
Valentine Card Creation Station
This one is simple, but worth mentioning. You can set up your own Valentine’s Day Card Creation Station. My son still takes his time creating all of the cards he needs to for Valentine’s Day exchanges. I have found that starting early and working on it in smaller increments is really helpful. I have a box full of Valentine stickers, stamps, special paper, and creative trinkets.
I set out the box for him with a list of a couple friends for him to write their names on the cards. If you child is not writing, simply skip that step and let them create. This is a special way to keep children busy and avoid last minute Valentine assembly.
Create Pretend Cookies for your Valentine’s Day Play Kitchen
Using salt dough (recipe below) create cookie shapes for your play kitchen. We used heart cookie cutters to create various forms of Valentine’s Day cookies. After they are baked and cooled, you can paint the cookies using Valentine’s Day color acrylic paint.
These cookies pair great with a Valentine’s Day Pretend Bakery printable set I have created. We have so much fun every year pulling out our Valentine cookies and menus for our play kitchen.
Here is the blog post that includes the recipe for salt dough and instructions.
Easy Valentine’s Day Crafts
I hope you found this post helpful for coming up with an easy craft for valentine’s day. These Valentine’s Day activities are sure to keep your child busy! Follow me on Instagram and TikTok for more seasonal activities and night before set ups. Still looking for more ideas, check out this preschool Valentine’s Day activities blog post here.
