Valentine Silly Slime!

When I was teaching preschool, the children loved to play with homemade goop / silly slime.  I made it a few times each school year for the kids to enjoy.  It can be a bit messy so I had the children put an over sized t-shirt or apron on over their clothing.  I also gave each child a tray / cookie sheet to keep their small batch of slime on while they played with it.

I came across this recipe for Valentine Slime.  It's the same recipe that I used but I usually added food coloring to white glue and sometimes I added glitter too.  I like the ides of buying colored glue and also adding confetti for some extra Valentine sparkle!   Enjoy!

Valentine BINGO

Whether you're planning a classroom party, a small party at home or just want to have fun with your kids, BINGO is lots of fun.  The great thing about BINGO is that you can customize your cards to reflect the theme / holiday you are focusing on.  For Valentine's Day I like to replace the word BINGO at the top of the cards and write HEART instead.  For markers, I like to use conversation hearts.   I usually just make my own BINGO cards but I also found some printable cards over at DLTK.  If you don't want to make your own, this is a great and easy option.  They even offer customized cards.  You can print them in color or black and white (and color them yourself).  You can also choose from picture cards or cards with words, colors or ABC's.  Have fun!   DLTK's BINGO cards.

Valentine Marshmallow Treat Pops!

I was looking for an easy Valentine's Day treat for my kids to help make when I found these!  So cute and easy!  I'm sure they will be a hit.  Marshmallow Treat Pops.

Valentine's Day Surprises!

This morning I surprised my kids with light up heart spinners and Valentine snow globes.  They loved their surprises.   My husband is working tonight but we're planning to go out for a nice lunch on a different day.  Restaurants are too busy on Valentine's Day anyhow.  Maybe I'll make heart shaped pancakes and strawberry banana fruit smoothies for dinner :)  My kids will love that!   Happy Valentine's Day!

Fun, Easy Valentine's Day Craft.

Here is a cute and easy Valentine's Day craft to do with your preschoolers.  

Items needed:
Toilet paper tube
Construction paper
Pipe Cleaner
Glue
Tape
Scissors
Crayon or marker

Valentine Butterfly!

Cut a piece of construction paper to size and let your child roll it around the toilet paper tube (covering the entire tube).  Glue to secure.  Precut the heart shaped wings and let your child glue them to the back of the tube.  Cut one pipe cleaner in half.  Tape pipe cleaners to the inside of the tube.  Provide small cut-outs or markers / crayons for creating a face and decorating the wings.  You could also write a note on the wings and use this as a Valentine "card" that your child could give to a special family member or friend.

Fun Valentine Party Games for Kids!

I'm currently in the process of planning a children's Valentine party. I know that coming up with themed party games can be challenging so I'm going to make it easy whether you want to host a classroom Valentine's party or a party at home with your children and a few little friends. You could even do some of these games one on one with a child at home.

Heart Hunt: This is super easy. Simply cut out a bunch of paper hearts. Hide them all over the house/classroom or even outside if you are in an area with mild weather (it's snowing here). Let your children have fun finding all of the hearts. It's basically just like an Easter egg hunt but with hearts.

Candy Heart Towers: Set a bowl of candy hearts and a timer on a hard flat surface. See how high the children can build their heart tower before the timer goes off. This can be a competitive game or not depending on the age of the children and what they would enjoy. Really, everyone is a winner because they can keep and eat their candy hearts.

Candy, Candy, Heart!: This is a game that is perfect for toddlers and preschoolers as it is played just like Duck, Duck, Goose. Just replace the wording with Candy, Candy, Heart!

Estimation Jar: Fill a jar full of candy hearts or any type of pink/red candy. Make sure to count out how many you put in the jar! Let each child take a guess at how many pieces of candy are in the jar. Whoever guesses correctly gets to keep the jar of candy. Another option: If you don't want to let just one child win the prize, just give the winner a round of applause and then everyone can share the candy inside.

Famous Pairs: This is always a fun game. I remember playing this when I was a child. Make a list of famous pairs that your particular group/age range of children would recognize. You name one half of the pair and the children have to guess what goes with it. Some ideas: Peanut Butter & Jelly, Mickey Mouse & Minnie, Snoopy and Charlie Brown, Bert & Ernie, Jack & Jill, Hansel & Gretel. You get the idea.

I hope you enjoy one or more of these Valentine's Day party games with your kids. Have fun playing!

Valentine's Day / Handprint Hearts

I want to share a very easy Valentine idea. To make a hand print heart: paint on your child's hand in his/her choice of color(s). Once the hand is painted, instruct them to close their fingers and then press their hand onto a piece of white construction paper at a sideways slant. Paint the other hand in the chosen paint color and press that hand onto the paper slightly overlapping the fingers of the print already on the page. This is a very easy project but rather difficult to explain so I'm going to add pictures of my own children's hand print hearts so that you can actually see the project. I think this will make it much easier for you to do the project at home or school.

Once the hand print hearts are dry, you could add a clever Valentine message and give the card to a parent, a grandparent or special friend as a gift. A couple of Valentine phrases that I have used in the past:

~You're the best Valentine, hand's down!

~I've got to hand it to you, you're the best!

You could also do this project with feet. You could make foot stamped hearts or trace the children's feet and help them glue their foot cut-outs into a heart shape.

Valentine Mailbox / Love Box Craft

A fun and easy craft to do at home, school or daycare is a valentine mailbox or love box.

Collect enough empty tissue boxes for each child. I prefer the longer boxes (8.6 In X 8.4 IN) rather than the smaller boxes. A shoe box would also work fine.

You have a few options. I usually just let the kids paint the entire box using their choice of red, pink, white and purple tempera paint. They may also sprinkle glitter onto the wet paint. When the paint dries, they can add a variety of heart shaped cut-outs, etc.

Another way I have helped the kids decorate the boxes is to cover the box with paper (usually red or pink), as if I am wrapping a present. Be sure to cut out the opening at the top. The children then decorate the paper covered box by coloring on it, adding stickers, glue designs or even stamp art.

This is a great craft to use in a school or daycare setting where the children exchange valentine cards with several other children. They usually get a lot of cards and need a place to store them. Make sure each child's name is clearly visible on their mailbox so that others can easily drop cards in the appropriate boxes.

This is also a fun project to do at home whether you have several children or even a single child but I have a slightly different idea for the use of the box. Instead of using it just for a Valentines Day box, use it as a love box. The week leading up to Valentines Day (or however far in advance you would like to do this) you can leave your child special love notes and messages, maybe even a small piece of candy or a trinket inside the Love Box. You could even make a small "flag" out of card stock paper and when your child sees the flag raised, he/she will know that she has mail waiting. The flag is really not necessary as I'm sure your children will be checking the box all day anyhow but it's a fun option. The love boxes are fun for all family members and it would be extra fun if the parents had one too. I know that my kids love writing me notes, drawing pictures and even leaving things inside my shoes as a surprise.

I'm sure that your children will enjoy making the valentine / love boxes and will especially love getting surprises inside!

If you are interested in a Valentine Lesson Plan unit, I do have them for sale on my Lesson Plans Plus Website. You can inexpensively purchase my set of 28 themed lessons or you can purchase the lessons individually for only $1.99 each.