Valentine’s Day Crafts for Kids

Kids like to create things. Valentine’s Day is the perfect time to let them get creative. Here are some ideas to get them started.

If there are girls in your child’s class, jewelry is a good craft. Stores sell kits to create bracelets, necklaces and rings. Your kids can visit a craft store and choose their own necklace material and the beads to go on them. In keeping with the theme of the day, they can choose heart-shaped beads in various colors and a necklace material that is suitable for school age little girls. Create one necklace yourself so that they can see how it is done. Matching bracelets can be made using the same beads.

Kids can give their teachers a bouquet of roses. These aren’t just any roses! These special roses are made of tissue paper and pipe cleaners. Show kids how to fold the tissue paper and wrap it around the pipe cleaners. The flowers can be presented in a vase or with a ribbon tied around them.

Candy is still the most popular thing to use for crafts. Instead of beads, use candy to create bracelets for boys in the class. Candy pieces can be strung over a piece of string. It’ll look nice at first and the boys can nibble on the candy throughout the day, kind of like a snack on the go.

Valentine’s Day crafts can be created for family members. If grandma is into flowers, kids can give them a flower pot with seeds and a little bag of potting soil. Using paints, kids can decorate the pots in Valentine’s Day fashion.

Instead of buying packs of Valentine’s Day cards, let the kids use a card program and make their own for other members of the family. They can add whatever they want to the card. Some cards come blank for the kids to write what they want or with cute sayings already inside.

Kids can make Valentine’s Day decorations for the house to put everyone in the mood to express their love. Using a piece of string, construction paper, scissors and glue, they can create a banner to be hung in the kitchen or anywhere in the house. Each paper heart can contain one letter in the words “Valentine’s Day”.

Make arrows for the boys so that they can pretend to be Cupid. Instead of metal, use wooden skewers as the arrow. Styrofoam pieces in the shape of hearts can be painted red and stuck on the end of the skewer. Pieces of ribbon can be glued to the other end to act as feathers on the arrow. To create a quiver for the arrows, use an empty cereal box.

Your child can make a Valentine’s Day box for each child to hold their precious cards. The boxes can be purchased at a dollar store. If the boxes are not already decorated for the occasion, kids can use markers or paint to add hearts to the box. Write each child’s name on the outside of the box. A piece or candy can be added to the box so that the kids don’t open it and find it empty.

Valentine’s Day is fun for kids. They get to have a good time making crafts for others and enjoying gifts given to them.

Thanksgiving Craft Activities For Kids - Dinner Table Decorations

Thanksgiving Craft Activities For Kids: Kids love making a mess and being creative. What better way to keep them busy while they are waiting for Thanksgiving dinner, then to create some one-of-a-kind decorations for the dinner table? Provide the kids with some paper, glue, scissors, crayons, and other craft supplies, such as feathers, pine cones and artificial leaves.

Placemats are easy for children to make. Start with a rectangle of construction paper and let the children decorate them. If they are provided with pictures of food and other Thanksgiving things to cut out from magazines, they could make a collage. They could use stickers, simple silhouettes or leaf shapes to add to their placemats as well. Another thing fun for kids, especially the younger ones, is to trace around their hands to make turkeys. If you want to preserve the placemats for later years, simply cover them in clear contact paper once the children are finished.

Napkin rings are a nice touch for each place setting. The rings could be made from strips of construction paper, card stock or toilet paper roll tubes. Feathers alone could turn them into Indian headdresses. A simple turkey body and feet with a few feathers will create a cute turkey. A pilgrim's hat could be made easily by adding a black brim around the bottom of the ring and pasting on a paper buckle.

The children could also make pinecone turkeys as favors for each place setting. Feathers could be made from construction paper, pipe cleaners or simply use craft feathers. Glue them to the wider end of the cone, and then attach a head to the smaller end. Add some feet to help stabilize it, to keep the turkey from rolling.

Centerpieces are also a wonderful addition to the Thanksgiving table. A cornucopia is fairly easy to put together. Once a nicely shaped wicker horn is selected, the children can arrange fruits, vegetables and leaves in and around it. Depending on how long the decorations will be out, you will have to decide between fresh and artificial produce.

A turkey centerpiece can be made a few days ahead from paper mache'. Use a balloon for the base, using a standard paste recipe. Once it is dry, paint the body brown. Adding bright fall colored feathers, a body and feet will create a turkey centerpiece that will look too good to eat.

Another interesting craft the kids can make to help with the decorations is a table runner. Find a strip of fabric about a foot wide and about four feet longer than the table, to allow it to drape at either end. Using pinking sheers, a surger, or hem it, to finish off the edges so it doesn't ravel. Then let the children use fabric permanent markers to draw the first Thanksgiving scene, complete with Indians, Pilgrims and turkeys.

The decorations the children create are sure to become family treasures enjoyed for many years to come.