Valentine's Day crafts for kids are a fun, creative way for little ones to say "I love you" this holiday -- and help decorate your home, too! We've rounded up homemade Valentine's Day crafts for toddlers, preschoolers, elementary students and beyond. These fun and easy Valentine's Day crafts include paper crafts, painting, finger and handprints, yarn, washi tape, coffee filters and more. Read on to find the perfect Valentine's Day project to craft with your children.
Remember those paper chains from elementary school? Agnes from Hello, Wonderful has transformed them into a colorful, wall-worthy wreath, complete with a pom. She began by cutting strips of colorful paper, then folding into a heart shape and closing the gap with a mini-stapler. After she had created as many hearts as she wanted, she stapled them together in a circle to create the wreath. Next, she stapled ribbon to the sides to create a hanger, then rounded out the wreath by attaching a playful pom (Note: If your pom weighs down your wreath, reinforce it by taping the top hearts to the wall.
Photo: Hello, Wonderful
Make the Project
Help your child give a one-of-a-kind Valentine's Day gift at school this year with these DIY Mini Valentine Treat Bags! Shauna from Ella & Annie added candy to mini kraft bags, then sealed them shut with pink washi tape and red baker's twine. Let littles add their favorite Valentine's Day stickers so that each bag is unique.
Photo: Ella & Annie
Make the Project
If all you see when you look out the window is wintery white, add a pop of color with these heart suncatchers from Fun at Home With Kids. Prep by cutting heart shapes out of coffee filters and covering your space with a plastic tablecloth to keep messes to a minimum. Place the coffee filters in a vessel to collect drips (such as a plastic takeout box or glass baking dish) and set out a variety of liquid watercolors, then let kiddos add their favorite hues with design droppers. Lay completed hearts on a paper towel-lined flat surface to dry, then hang on the window with clear tape.
Photo: Fun at Home With Kids
Make the Project
Help kids turn a paper plate into a festive hat with this project by Shauna from Ella & Annie. They're a perfect activity for a Valentine's Day party or classroom celebration. Depending on the age of the participants, either fold white dinner paper plates to cut the heart shape per the instructions, or let children do it themselves. Next, let kids paint the hats pink or red and allow to dry (if adding glitter, sprinkle it over the final coat of paint before it dries completely, or apply glue later to help it stick. Then, let each child add his or her personal touch with jewels, stickers, markers and more.
Photo: Ella & Annie
Make the Project
Exercise those fine motor skills and help foster a love of sewing with deceptively simple yarn hearts by Rachel from I Heart Crafty Things. Start with a stack of paper dinner plates (we like red or pink), fold in half, and cut a heart shape out of the center. Next, go around the perimeter of the heart with a hole puncher, then weave yarn with a yarn needle (or use this helpful lacing yarn) until all holes are filled.
Photo: I Heart Crafty Things via Red Ted Art
Make the Project
Celebrate Valentine's Day while dreaming of spring days to come with these super-cute heart butterflies by Donella of Gluesticks & Gumdrops! She began by painting clothespins red and allowed them to dry. While drying, she cut out heart shapes (connected in the middle per the instructions) onto pink and white construction paper. Next, she glued the pink and white hearts together, then clasped the clothespin into the middle. She brought the butterflies to life by attaching googly eyes and chenille stem antennae. Depending on the age of your crafters, involve them in as much of the process as you can.
Photo: Gluesticks & Gumdrops
Make the Project
Perfect for gifting, these framed art hearts by Meri Cherry will look pretty on tabletops year-round. Begin by cutting (or have an older child cut) out heart shapes on a folded piece of paper to create a stencil. Paint another piece of paper with watercolors, then overlay your original heart cut-out sheet over the top and spray over with spray paint. Meri says, "There is no wrong or right way to do this part. Just have fun experimenting and spraying." While all the paint dries, take a permanent marker and write messages and phrases -- or just draw hearts -- on a wooden picture frame. Let your child pick his or her favorite part of their artwork, then cut it out and transfer it into the frame for a Valentine's Day keepsake.
Photo: Meri Cherry
This easy craft by Andreja of Easy Peasy & Fun is designed for the littlest artists -- all they need to do is dip their little fingers in ink or paint and press onto paper! First, create a heart stencil by folding a piece of paper in half and cutting. Trace the heart onto a piece of white paper, then color a tree trunk and branches with a black marker. Then, let kiddos dip their fingers into red and pink ink or finger paint and press onto the paper until they've filled their tree with one-of-a-kind leaves. (PS: Andreja also suggests using this as a homemade Valentine's Day card.)
Photo: Easy Peasy & Fun
Make the Project
If your kiddo just isn't into the lovey-dovey side of Valentine's Day, help them craft these silly, not-at-all sappy love monsters by Jodie and Jen of Eighteen25. To begin, cut a piece of cardboard 2.5 x 4 inches, then wrap your choice of yarn around it 150-200 times. Next, follow the directions to attach a paper cup with hot glue and continue wrapping yarn to create your monster. Finally, help kids bring him to life with googly eyes and chenille stem antennae.
Photo: Eighteen25
Make the Project
Help your miniature nature lover create a wintertime feast for backyard birds with these Valentine's Day Birdfeeders by Lisa from Wine and Glue. Create the seed mixture per the instructions, using plenty of cooking spray on your surfaces to avoid stickiness. Fill heart-shaped cookie cutters with the seed mixture, poking a hole in the top for hanging. Let dry overnight, remove from the cutters, add ribbon or string, and hang onto a tree. If you're giving them to friends, be sure to grab the free printable tag that goes along with them!
Photo: Wine and Glue
Make the Project
If you've been tasked with bringing a treat for a class party or are throwing a celebration of your own, whip up a batch of these adorable Love Bug Fruit Cups by Jenny from The Melrose Family! Start with a set of store-bought strawberry gel fruit cups (or other pink fruit). Cut Valentine's Day chenille stems in half, then hot glue a foam heart to the top of each, then glue two stems to the top of each cup. Hot glue googly eyes and a tiny foam heart nose for the face, then glue two larger foam hearts to the bottom for feet. Place them all together on a snack table so they can double as a decoration.
Photo: The Melrose Family
Make the Project
Shauna from Ella and Annie created these incredibly easy Valentine's Day necklaces by wrapping Valentine's, pink and gold washi tape around craft straws, then cutting at each point where the end of the tape wrapped around to create beads. Next, she cut cording to the desired length and added a pretty "I love you to the moon & back" charm to the center, then strung the washi tape beads and Valentine's Day Love Pearl Beads. Simply tie the ends together in a double knot.
Photo: Ella and Annie
Make the Project