Montessori-Inspired Heart Activities Using Free Printables

By Deb Chitwood from Living Montessori Now 

February is often known as the heart month. I have lots of free heart printables and hands-on activities for you today. They feature both the human heart and valentine hearts! 

You'll find many activities for preschoolers through first graders throughout the year along with presentation ideas in my previous posts at PreK + K Sharing. You'll also find ideas for using free printables to create activity trays here: How to Use Printables to Create Montessori-Inspired Activities. 

At Living Montessori Now, I have a post with resource links of Free Printables for Montessori Homeschools and Preschools. 

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links (at no cost to you).

Montessori Shelves with Heart Themed Activities

These themed shelves have a variety of human heart-themed activities and valentine heart-themed activities. You’ll also find Montessori-inspired heart numbers, letters, and and more (part of my subscriber freebie pack, so just sign up for my email to get the link and password … or check the bottom of your latest newsletter if you’re already a subscriber)

I got the Learning Resources Heart Model for this unit. It's similar to the Learning Resources Brain Model I had for our brain and growth mindset unit. It's small, but I don't have a large amount of shelf space. So the size is perfect for us. And it's reasonably priced for home learning. The model is mainly assembled when it arrives, so it doesn't take a lot of work to put together, either. 

I always have related books available throughout a unit. I have a number of human heart books in a book basket along with  The Heart by Seymour Simon and Hear Your Heart on the top shelf. The open book on the shelf is the gorgeous National Geographic Kids Ultimate Bodypedia. 

On the top shelf, I also have our human heart book-making tray. Zoey likes to make booklets, so I'm having a few options available during the unit:

• Free Printable: Heart Mini Book from Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus
• Free Printable: Human Body Emergent Reader from 123 Homeschool 4 Me
• Free Printable: My Montessori Systems Science Booklet from Totschooling (I add a new page with each body system we study.)

I'll have the Hape Your Body 5-Layer Wooden Puzzle Girl on another shelf. (There’s also a boy puzzle.) This is to give a general overview of the human body and show the heart along with the other body organs. 

 ou could mix your heart-themed activities among your shelves according to curriculum area. Or you could have a special heart-themed area something like the one pictured. My shelves this month have a mixture of skill levels. Many of the activities can be adapted for a variety of levels. If you’re a homeschooler, just choose the activities that work for your child’s interests and ability levels. If you don’t have room for all the activities you’d like to do, simply rotate them.

Heart and Valentine 3-Part Cards with Objects and Heart Movable Alphabet

 
I designed these 3-part cards to help children see the differences and similarities between the words for human heart, the heart symbol, valentine, and Valentine's Day.

Zoey read and matched the words to the pictures and then checked each with the control card. Then she matched the objects. I had a ten bar and a four bar for her to make 14 for February 14. After that, she built the words "heart" and "valentine" using red acrylic hearts that I'd written letters on with a permanent marker. Zoey loves these hearts! It's great that there are 225 in each package because they can be used for a number of activities.

H is for Heart and V is for Valentine Sand Writing Tray

 
Free Printables: "h" for heart font cards in manuscript, D'Nealian, or cursive and "v"  for valentine font cards in manuscript, D'Nealian, or cursive for heart and valentine sand writing tray (part of my subscriber freebie pack, so just sign up for my email to get the link and password … or check the bottom of your latest newsletter if you’re already a subscriber) 

For the sand tray, I used the wooden tray from the Melissa & Doug Lace and Trace Shapes. You can use whatever tray or container work best for you, though. I had gotten some lovely white sand for making kinetic sand and other projects. I love that it was so easy to make a bright color simply by adding gel food coloring and some water. I spread it on a baking pan to dry overnight. If your sand isn’t already sterilized, you might want to heat it up at  a low temperature in your oven to partially dry it. 

This is the same sand I used for our firefighter sand writing tray. I often use a material for a number of units. 

I used the cursive cards, although there are manuscript and D'Nealian fonts you can choose from in the pack. 

If you would like help with introducing phonetic sounds, introducing objects with sounds, or beginning phonics in general, check out my DIY Beginning Montessori Phonics with Preschoolers.

Heart Movable Alphabet Cards and Phonogram Work

 

Free Printable: Heart movable alphabet cards (part of my subscriber freebie pack, so just sign up for my email to get the link and password … or check the bottom of your latest newsletter if you’re already a subscriber) 

Free Printables: i_e valentine phonogram card (part of my subscriber freebie pack, so just sign up for my email to get the link and password … or check the bottom of your latest newsletter if you’re already a subscriber)

For the movable alphabet work, I have a traditional small wooden movable alphabet. You can just use the printables or another type of movable alphabet. I sometimes like to use more than one type of letters to add interest. 

For this unit, I have an activity for working on alphabetical order. I also made a small movable alphabet using pink acrylic hearts with vowels written in blue and consonants in red for the child to match. I used permanent markers, but paint pens might work even better.

We'll also work more with building words related to hearts.

DIY Kitten and Heart Cards and Counters

 
Free Printables: Kitten and Heart Numbers with optional Odd and Even Labels (part of my subscriber freebie pack, so just sign up for my email to get the link and password … or check the bottom of your latest newsletter if you’re already a subscriber) 

This is my latest design in preparing a variety of cards and counters! Since there are so many acrylic hearts in each package, I used the same acrylic hearts. I don't show it here, but the odd and even labels are great for readers.

Again, you'll see that activity in my fire safety unit. You need exactly 55 hearts or whatever objects you use if you want to do the numbers and counters 1-10.

Spanish Valentine Number and Color Mail Activity

 
Free Printable: Matching Hearts Valentine's Day Printable Spanish Game from Mundo de Pepita at Teachers Pay Teachers 

Free Printable: Bilingual Heart Color Posters by Ms Joop at Teachers Pay Teachers 

I've purchased a variety of heart dishes and special red or pink dishes over the years because they're simply fun for valentine's day! I also used a Multicraft tray. 

This is an activity that can be used with toddlers through kindergarteners. Preschoolers and kindergarteners can learn the Spanish numbers 1-10 and Spanish colors. They can then "mail" the cards in the valentine mailbox. 

I think I got this mailbox a few years ago at the Target Dollar Spot. Amazon has a variety of cute valentine mailboxes. I prefer a mailbox (either DIY or purchased) that has a slot for mailing items. 

If the valentine cards are laminated, this would be a great activity for toddlers to match identical cards (and learn Spanish if you like). Then they can drop the valentines in the mail box, working on a variety of skills.

Human Heart Nomenclature Cards and Booklet-Making Materials

Free Printable: Heart Nomenclature Cards from Elementary Observations 

I just printed and cut out the cards and placed them in a folder I'd made. I placed the booklet-making cards  in a Montessori Services basket. I keep many of my office supplies in a central location, but you might prefer to have yours on the tray. 

These are anatomy terms that can be helpful for your child to review in elementary through high school, too! In this unit, I'm focusing mainly on the anatomy of the heart rather than going indepth into the circulatory system. You'll more activities related to blood and the entire circulatory system in my Montessori-inspired heart and circulatory system activities post.

Free Heart Printables for Preschoolers-First Graders

Montessori-Inspired Heart Pack for DIY Cards and Counters, Number or Letter Matching, Number or Letter Basket, Bead Bar Work, Hands-on Math Operations, Number or Letter Salt/Sand Writing Tray, Letter Tracing, Phonogram Work, DIY Movable Alphabet, and Creative Writing (subscriber freebie, so just sign up for my email to get the link and password – or check your inbox if you’re already a subscriber)

Name:

Email:

...and get free geography album, Mom Bloggers eBook, and monthly subscriber freebie! I respect your privacy

 

More Free Heart Printables

Go to my post at Living Montessori Now for links to free heart printables from around the blogosphere: Free Heart Printables and Montessori-Inspired Heart Activities {Human Heart and Valentine Heart}. And be sure to subscribe to my email list if you'd like to get an exclusive free printable each month (plus two more awesome freebies right away): Free Printables.

More Anatomy Activities and Resources

•  Montessori-Inspired Heart and Circulatory System Activities
• Montessori-Inspired Skeleton Activities
• “All About Me” Free Printables and Activities for Back to School
• Handwashing Activities for Kids – Free Songs and Lessons
• Free Skeleton Printables and Montessori-Inspired Skeleton Activities
• Hands-on Fun with Montessori-Inspired Human Skeleton Activities
• Free Brain and Growth Mindset Printables and Montessori-Inspired Brain Activities,
• Brain Hemisphere Hat and Montessori Activities to Learn about Parts of the Brain,
• Free Brain Cutting Strips (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
• Free Brain Do-a-Dot Printable (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
• Human Body Unit Study Pinterest Board

More Valentine Activities and Resources

• Turning Valentine Crafts into Montessori-Oriented Activities
• Montessori-Inspired Valentine’s Day Activities
• Kindness Challenge #2 – Montessori-Inspired Kindness
• Montessori-Inspired Valentine’s Day Activities (Part 2)
• Montessori-Inspired Valentine Math Trays
• Montessori-Inspired Hundred Acts of Kindness Project
• Homeschool Valentine’s Day
• Montessori-Inspired Transferring Activities for February
• Water Pouring and Water-Bead Pouring
• Free Valentine Learning Printables and Montessori-Inspired Valentine Activities
• Montessori-Inspired Valentine’s Day Activities with Spielgaben {Free Printables}
• Free Valentine’s Day Songs and Rhymes for Circle Time,
• Free Valentine’s Day Sensory Bin with Practical Life and Math Activities
• Easy-to-Prepare Valentine Heart and Colander Practical Life Activity
• Valentine’s Day Cutting Tray with Strings of Beads
• Kids’ Valentine’s Day Activities Pinterest Board

If you'd like to focus on manners with children, please check out my eBook Montessori at Home or School: How to Teach Grace and Courtesy! It's written for anyone who'd like to feel comfortable teaching manners to children ages 2-12.

Have a happy Heart Month in February!

Deb Chitwood is a certified Montessori teacher with a master’s degree in Early Childhood Studies from Sheffield Hallam University in Sheffield, England. Deb taught in Montessori schools in Iowa and Arizona before becoming owner/director/teacher of her own Montessori school in South Dakota. Later, she homeschooled her two children through high school. Deb is now a Montessori writer who lives in San Diego with her husband of 43 years (and lives in the city where her kids, kids-in-law, and grandkids live). She blogs at Living Montessori Now.

COOKING HEALTHY & DELICIOUS FOR CHILDREN

DEVELOPING THE TASTE BUDS OF CHILDREN

A quick thank you to my guest summer guest bloggers, Leo Lundholm of the Sunnyside Head Start Center and Corey Ferrugia of MyTown Music.  I'm so thankful for their June and July contributions!  It's also great to be back.  I'm Enrique, the Founder and Director of Education for the Fostering Arts-Mind Education Foundation, a national non profit leader in Professional Development.  My passions in life include:

• My Family
• Early Childhood Education
• Music in it's many forms
• Dancing Salsa with my wife
• and FOOD!

I'm a total foodie.  I'm the chef in my home and proud to say so!  In this blog, I've combined my passion for food and early childhood education.  It's SO important to open up the taste buds of our young ones as soon as we can.  Here are some tips, followed by some recipes.

1. It's all in the name!  Quite often, if we describe a food in a playful way, giving it a fun title, children will at least be interested enough to try it.

2. Having tasted a certain food ourselves as adults is key.  We have to expand our own sense of taste and model the trying of new foods for our children.

3. Having children grow their own vegetables in a student created garden is a must if we're going to really create the needed paradigm shift needed related to healthy eating as a way of life.

4. Know your allergies and of course check with the families of the children you serve to make sure you're being safe with the foods you introduce to them.

RECIPE TIME

Remember.... modify these to make them your own and allow your children to experiment with you.  You might end up having to throw some unsuccessful experiments away, but get your children involved in the creation of food and they'll be much more interested in eating new foods!

BREAKFAST

Quinoa Cream of Wheat

Ingredients

• Quinoa (amount depends on number of servings needed)
• Several Dashes of Cinnamon
• Several Dashes of Nutmeg
• 1 Tablespoon of Honey
• Dash of Salt

Quinoa takes approx. 25 minutes to make.  I like for the flavor of the ingredients to have time to really get inside the quinoa itself, so try the following: Follow the box directions on amount of water and quinoa; add all the ingredients and bring to a boil; bring down to a simmer and cover for 25 minutes and you're done!  With a high protein content, this breakfast will be very filling and you're body will thank you since it knows how to break this food down in healthy ways... Enjoy!

Cuban Omelette

Ingredients

2 Eggs

1/2 a small Plantain (you can substitute with ripe bananas)

Dash of Salt

Dash of Pepper

Canola or Grape Seed Oil

While Eggs are not a new food for children, plantains may be, and certainly the idea of combining different flavor profiles is most likely new.  To build any palette, it's important to introduce contrasting flavors.  In this instance, savory and sweet.  It also helps that this recipe is simply unctuous and truly wonderful and easy to make.  I need to thank my wife's Grandma, Isabelle Perez Sierra, for having been the source of this traditional Cuban dish.

• Heat a pan with about 1/4" oil to medium heat (make sure it's not smoking)
• Cut your plantain (or ripe bananas) in 1/2 inch slices, ideally at an angle.  
• Fry both sides of the plantains and once they're darkened and soft, take a tablespoon and slowly smash them so they flatten out.
• Take the eggs, put them in a bowl, add the salt and pepper, and whisk them until blended.
• Make your omelette and just before it's done, add your plantains, and fold the omelette over them.

LIQUIDS

Water

We all know the importance of water.  Here it is:  Being hydrated makes EVERYTHING in our body WORK BETTER.  Simply put:

• Large Adults: drink at least 8 large glasses of water daily, spread out through the day.
• Small Adults/Large Teens: drink at least 7 glass of water daily.
• Children: 5 - 6 glasses of water daily.

Coconut Water

A great replacement for sports drink and an all natural way to hydrate, increase potassium level and according to some research delay aging.  Some of the brands come with bits of coconut in the water and some don't.  I recently introduced coconut water to preschool children and about 75% of them immediately like it.  Keep in mind that Coconut Water:

• Has 5 electrolytes: sodium, magnesium, calcium, potassium, and phosphorous.
• Has approximately the same amount of potassium as a banana.
• Promotes heart and kidney health.
• Low in Calories.
• Makes great freezer pops!

Almond Milk

I used to drink regular milk.  I have been drinking Almond Milk for about 3 years now and my body feels much better.  Also, know that Almond Milk:

• typically has 0 grams of saturated and trans fat
• 0 mg of Cholesterol
• 60 mg of Potassium
• 30% of your daily calcium needs
• 25% of your daily vitamin D needs
• 50% of your daily vitamin E needs
• Oh yeah... and it's really yummy!

Coconut Milk
I don't always eat coconut... pause... but when I do...pause... it's coconut milk.  Actually, my daughter is a vegan and Coconut milk is a huge source of B12.  I use it when I'm making a rare dessert if I want a coconut flavor highlighted, and sometimes I use it with my cereal.  Also, know Coconut Milk:

• typically has a lower caloric value than Almond milk
• 0 mg of Cholesterol
• 65 mg of Potassium
• 50% of your daily need for B12
• 30% of your daily need for Vitamin D 

EMPOWERING VEGGIES

Superman Salad
Kale, Arugula, Cilantro, Basil

In the last 5 years I've slowly lost 65 pounds, lowered my percentage of body fat dramatically, increased muscle and improved my cholesterol levels in significant ways.  I've done this with daily exercise and by changing what I eat.  I'm not perfect and I do eat some naughty things every once in a while.  A staple to my new routine of what I eat are hearty salad.  Here's my favorite:

I COMBINE KALE, the spinach of the Sea...

with ARUGULA, a lovely peppery green...

with a handful of CILANTRO...

and some FRESH BASIL...

Here is a more detailed description:

• 4 Cups of Kale
• 4 Cups of Arugula
• 1/2 a bunch of Cilantro
• 1 cup of chopped fresh Basil
• Add any fruits or nuts to your liking (I enjoy green apple or grapes)
• Dress as you like (I suggest a lemon vinaigarette)

With young children, I typically introduce Kale and arugula as part of fruit smoothies first.  The same goes for cilantro.  The key is to introduce it in fun, playful ways and in small portions combined with foods they already like.

DESSERTS

Dark Chocolate Covered Edamame

So far, I've shared things we need to grow and make, or that come from a natural source.  I'm going to share one store bought item because it's become a great replacement for something sweet for me and the kids I'm around.  I also realize I'm by default, promoting a store, but I happen to be a big fan of "Trader Joe's" which offers many healthy options.

Dark Chocolate Covered Edamame are a pretty healthy alternative to cake, pie and milkshakes.  With 7 grams of protein in one serving and only 200 calories for a 1/4 cup of these sweet, yet salty treats, you're in good shape.

My suggestion for maximum enjoyment is to put the treat in your mouth and slowly let the dark chocolate dissolve in your mouth and then the dried edamame nut shares its salty flavor with you!

Enjoy these tips and use them in playful ways with your children, your families and yourself.

Cheers!

Enrique

Valentine's Day in PreK + K

Welcome to February! 

Welcome to a whole lot of celebrating! 

For the shortest month in the year -- 

there's a lot of opportunity to turn this teeny month into an amazing party. 

Before we 'look' at all things February, 
let me just share an incredible milestone we've just reached together!!  

Yes. Faithful readers and brand-new friends alike(!!) Together we have done an amazing thing here at this Sharing Collaborative. In under fifteen months, without a whole lot of gimmicks and hoopla, we have built a dynamic source of original content -- to benefit you and the children in your lives. We are gaining traction and readership with every passing month. Earlier this week we surpassed the incredible milestone of one million page views!!!! OH HAPPY DAY! 

You're finding us and you're coming back and spending time here combing through the previous articles. We've just installed some slick gizmo-html so that as you hover over any picture in the blog you will see the opportunity to 'pin' the image over to Pinterest. Think of every pin that you create as a good-will gesture to our Early Childhood community and building better bridges between PreK+K! As editor-in-chief and Queen-Bee Numero Uno, I know that every author here appreciates your pin, tweet, + and more! Thank you for your continued trust and support. Your comments are another helpful way of directing our authors to topics near and dear to your heart. THANK YOU!!!! 

It has now been one month since we launched our collaborative 'cyber-mall' known as the 

EARLY EDUCATION EMPORIUM 

and its a thrill to tell you that we have our first happy shoppers! We've had authors shipping their traditional 'hard-goods' to eager recipients and we've had even more peers enabled to download materials instantaneously from the EEE 'cloud' of immediate gratification digital files! YEAH team. This time last month we had 4 individual EEEs ready for shopping, today I'm happy to report that we have 23 shops up and operational. Click right here to go shopping in your jammies. Will you be our 24th shop keeper? The more the merrier! We want to be the 'go-to' spot for resources for this significant stage of development. Come on over!

Now let's get the February Party(ies) started!! 
Sweet, SWEET VALENTINE'S DAY 

I know that bulletin board displays are the bane of some teacher's existence. I wanted to share this example of a "A School Filled with Love." There are all sorts of possibilities with that headline and creating fish with your peeps. This particular display is filled with glitter galore. Where do you fall on the glitter continuum? 

Just last week I saw this bulletin board display-of-hearts in Ohio, that will continue to grow as the month unfolds. The teachers sent home the pre-cut construction paper hearts to the parents, with the instructions to write an 'act-of-kindness' on the heart that the parent observed at home and then send it back to school. What a great home to school project! 

At my own blog, RainbowsWithinReach, I have an earlier RoundUP of all sorts of ideas to reinforce the skills of kindness -- in the classroom and at home. Click here to go see those earlier thoughts and some amazing visuals. Several ideas revolve around the idea of 'bucket filling.' Our world can always use some more kindness! There are some great bulletin boards and a decorate door worthy of your time.

Kindness, Bucket Filling, Emotional Intelligence

It amazes me that the #2 read article here of all time, is one I wrote on Process vs. Product in the art experience for children exactly a year ago. Several reader's comments applauded my taking on a controversial subject? [What's the controversy?] 

That initial article then evolved into subsequent articles on the need for children to "do their own work" when it comes to art (and school and life.) There were folks blowing-the-whistle that they have seen teachers and coworkers 'fix' children's art. Here's an incredible project that combines the open-ended nature of marble-run painting, for the snowglobe back-drop, with the delightful snowmen 'product' outcome. KUDOS! These snow globe snowmen are a perfect project for a February day!

Note-to-self. Insert this collage of images into the original article.

These perky penguin products below were also created by children with special needs -- for whom gluing is a big time effort. I am just thrilled that the teachers have allowed each piece to be the actual work of the student. YEAH!!!! Unique and individual. That's the whole point, right? Both the snow-globes and these penguins are winter Florida projects. You can't even tell, can you?

Now, some very Valentiney work. Here's an awesome bulletin board idea that our own MaryJo Huff shared here last year. When you click back you will also be treated to a simple DIY puppet creation -- she is the puppet queen.

The old Art-teacher in me looks forward to the monthly insight of our Art teachers.

Follow this link to see the instructions for how our own Laura of 'Painted Paper' had her students create these ubber AMAZING Valentines captured below. She is very specific in how she directed these masterpieces. The finished collaboration is simply glorious.

Our Maggy of "Red Ted Art" walked you through the basics of some clever card making, this time last year.

Valentine's Day Cards

Last year Bill put together an amazing article with TONS of ideas -- from a parenting perspective. 

Valentine's Day Box Creation

Let's go now to the 'process' of weaving a heart and creating a dream catcher. 

These sculptures below were created by kindergarten students in Florida and given to me as parting gifts at the conclusion of my day in their midst making one of my Author/Illustrator visits.

They are simply breath-taking.

Texture. Color. Effort. Fine motor. 

To see the process involved and the fingers in action, click over to my blog here.  

As you may have guessed:

Pipe cleaners + Yarn + Energy = PRICELESS!

While we're on 'hearts' here's a few more from my travels.

Symmetry!

Blotto. Folds.

Easy.

Math.

I know that we're theoretically on the 'early/young' chapter here,

but these next print-making beauties were just too lovely too leave on the cutting room floor.

Speaking of Feb. articles worthy of a second glance around here.....

I was JUST with Barbara of Character Counts, in Friendswood, Texas last week.

Our time together was the culmination of over a year of dreaming and scheming.

Not even a head-on collision by a drunk-driver could keep her away from our time together. 

Go back here to read her 'kindness' article from last year. 

The woman has a heart as big as her adopted Texas.

Our Carolyn of here and Wise Owl Factory created quite the happy FREEBIE for Valentines that combined Penguins and oh-so-cute hearts. Did you get it last year?

It's not too late to click back and download.

With schools starting at every possible point on the calendar, I'm sure some of you have already had your big festivities for your 100 Day Party. Others are no doubt just around the corner. Take a look at this 100th Day Party Drum! This would be an awesome addition to the big day and an incredible tool to lead the parade!

Here's the link over to my recent RoundUP of all things 100 Day! 

So what do you know about the "Project Based Learning" Approach? 

Is it the way that your program unfolds? 

I am always tickled to learn the latest acronyms and see how I 'fit-in' to the soup.

[Click here for the origination of PBL at Buck Institute, or an overview by Edutopia on PBL or Wikipedia here for the gathering thoughts there.]

Since the inception of our collaborative blog the word I've heard over + over is: 

RIGOR! 

The question in my mind, is how to you aspire to rigor --

in a developmentally appropriate manner?

Also making an appearance in February is President's Day.

I present you with this AMaZInG Kinder PBL project that was spear-headed by my picture book, "Red, White and Blue."

You seriously want to click back to my blog to see all that they did to connect their project to the 'real world' for their kinders and their community. Their model could easily be fine-tuned for an older or younger audience.

I continue at my blog, marching along on my on-going series of Fine Motor Friday.

Recent RoundUPS have been Installment #42 on all things "Snowflake."

And a week earlier Installment #41 focused on all things "Penguin"

(including some clever penguin piggy-back rhyme-songs.)

As I sit here typing on February-eve, in Ohio, the snow is mounting up outside.

These ought to come in handy.

In the last month at my own blog, I participated in the most rigorous blogging experience of my career. I joined the 5 day series challenge sponsored by KBN (Kid Blogger Network) and pulled together my thoughts on the ABCs of Arts Integration. I created that series at my 'calling card' for future reference. Please come over and check that series out -- during the next SNOW DAY on your agenda.

It's time to sign off until next month! 

Have fun with all of your celebrating.

-- Debbie --

Debbie Clement has written and recorded over 100 original songs for children and transformed three of her songs into the traditional picture book format -- where the song's lyrics become the text of the book. She is all about collaboration and sharing..... and shining a spotlight on the hard work of others. You can shop for her digital songs and traditional books, under the big umbrella of amazing Early Childhood materials by clicking right here to hop to the Early Education Emporium. She's also something of a Princess on Pinterest and is nearing her first 100K followers over there. You owe it to yourself to follow her pinning escapades!

Two Valentine's Crafts to Try Out

Hello!

I am so pleased and honoured to be part of this fabulous Pre K + K network of bloggers and part of this wonderful website producing such a fabulous range of invaluable resources! My name is Maggy and I blog over at Red Ted Art, where I regularly get crafty with my 4 and 2 year old children. You will find weekly Kids Crafts, as well as more adult focussed tutorials, as I hope to get all age groups more interested in crafts and creativity. Everyone can, in my book! My kids crafts usually combine a story plus craft approach. We love reading in our house and this gives us the chance to explore stories in a different way! So here is a book and 2 crafts for you. As Valentine's Day is only around the corner, I thought it would be a great theme for my first post!

The Book 

 

Roses Are Pink, Your Feet Really Stink, by Diane deGroat. Mmmmh, ok, so why did I choose this book? Two reasons, 1) is that Valentine's can be incredibly pink and mushy and 2) because I have a little boy at home and he is rapidly become selective about the type of story that appeals to him. The pink fluffy ones are interesting once (to see if anything good will happen) but he quickly can loose interest. So this one is a nice compromise... The children have been told to write Valentine's cards to each other. However Gilbert is less than keen to write a card to two of his classmates that have been mean to him in the past. So writes them some silly verses and and signs them in the other children's name. He is discovered. He ends up doing the right thing, writing nice cards to the children, who also apologise for having been mean in the first place. Everyone is happy again. My son LOVES the silly (if sometimes not nice) rhymes and that keeps his attention. I think it is great that there is a "moral to the story" and that all ends well. We also love the illustrations, perfect for the preschool readers!

The Craft 
 Today I have a project for you that "evolved". It started off with my 2 year old, getting hold of the paints and saying "Mummy paint face".  Me: "No darling, they are not for your face". She: "Mummy paint feet". Me: "Ok, we can do that tomorrow". Next day (6am) She: "Mummy paint feet now". Me: "?????".

So... once I eventually got up, we painted some feet.

And then some hands... 

   

We painted lots of feet and lots of hands and had paint everywhere. Lots of fun. Then we made some "hand and fingerprint bouquets" (the left one is the 2year old's and the right one the 4 year old's). I think they look a little but like flowering cactuses, but they reminded me of some cards I had made many moons ago for Valentine's. So I decided to make them again. 

Materials: Old Christmas Cards, a heart shaped hole punch (but I made a sample card by cutting the hearts out by hand - I hate it when you need"specialist" equipment to make something), cardstock and glue

I think you could also make these out of old magazines, "old" children's artwork or even heart shaped stickers. You could also make these MUCH larger and make a huge collage - especially if the children are cutting out the hearts themselves. 

    

 1. Cut out/ hole punch lots of hearts. My son ADORES hole punching! Cards can be a little tough, but he loves magazines with their thinner pages... If you are cutting out the hearts yourself, you can incorporate the patterns of the cards you are recycling.

2. Stick onto the card. I always make a "sample" first if I "want him to do something specific"... he likes to copy, as much as he likes "free crafting". I found it helpful to add the glue to the page for my son already. He is going through a stage of not liking getting glue on his fingers. This meant he could just stick on the hearts and that the hearts would roughly stay within a "bouquet shape" - but to be honest, this is a free for all bit and the more hearts the merrier!

3. Draw some stems

   

 4. Add a paper bow. You can draw this too with a big marker pen.  Done! My son loved the card so much, he wants to send it to himself. I hope you liked this little Valentine's craft and that you do have a go and get crafty soon! If you need more Valentines Craft inspiration, do come and visit Red Ted Art - you will find our own Valentine's crafts, as well as great round up of Valentine's crafts from around the web!

See you again soon!

Maggy