Classroom Valentine's Day Cards

Yes, I know it's not even February.  The thing is, if your plans involve a kid helping, you have to snatch that help when they are willing to give it, so plan early!  Spencer loves art and craft activities for about five minutes at a time, and you never know what time that will be.  

I had two things I was trying to include in our Valentines this year:  Spencer’s drawings, and bubbles.  My sister got married this past August, and my mom still has about 30 of those little send off bubbles to get rid of.  I looked around in my craft cabinet, and made a plan.

You will need

Bubbles (gifted from my mom and sister, free)

Paper board (came in boxes we moved with, free)

Construction paper (about 4 years old, free)

Markers (about 4 years old, free)

Hole punch (from high school, free)

Yarn (left from my first knitting project ever, free)

Scissors (ancient, free)

Glue (came with a plane kit Spencer got, free)

Please ignore the poor kid's hair, it was my first time trying to cut it and I didn't realize he has a cowlick in front!

Draw a heart on a piece of scrap paper.  If it looks lopsided, fold it in half, and cut out the good side.  Trace the heart onto the construction paper and cut it out- we made 13, one more than we needed.  Let your kid draw on the hearts.  Lay one of the hearts on the paper board and trace around it, making it large enough to leave a nice boarder around  the construction paper.  Trace this larger heart onto the paper board and cut it out along the inside of the mark, leaving all the marker off your heart. 

It looks rough now, but you can clean it up as you cut it out.

Matching up which picture is for which friend.  He was very specific about this!

Write your message on one side of the paper board.  I like to keep it very simple.  I thought for a second about some cheesy “you blow me away” but I remember as a kid thinking those lines were so ridiculous, so I go with a sincere “Happy Valentine’s Day (name)!”

Glue the hearts together.  Once the glue is dry, punch a hole in the heart, thread the yarn through the heart and the bubbles, and tie a bow that a preschooler can untie.  

Look at that focus! Spencer picked out the yarn color.

Finished! 

Try It

Using all things I found around the house, this project was free)

Buy It

I happened to see Goodwill has class sets for $.25!

Verdict

I saved $.25.  Not an impressive savings.  It was fun to get Spencer involved this year, he really liked drawing and deciding who each one was for, and he got into threading the yarn into the holes in the hearts and bubbles.  I say Try It- I still believe what I said last year- it’s a fun project to get me into the spirit of the holiday.  I also just like the idea of using what I’ve already got!