Valentines Day FREE Printables
Love is definitely in the air at the moment and celebrating Valentines Day is not only for adults.
Relationships give children so much more than we think! Do you know that relationships greatly impact our children's learning and development? Yes, research shows that children who form loving, secure and trusting relationships perform better academically, are able to manage their own emotions better, have less behavioural problems and have a strong mental health being better equipped to deal with stress in later life. Read more about relationships and child development
There are so many ways to help your child feel extra loved and you are probably doing these all already, but if you are looking for ways to boost your child's confidence and resilience as well as making them feel special then there are some great tips in this article to give us the daily reminders we need as busy parents, it's called 'special time' and I love that My Creative Box has given so many families the opportunity to share some special time together while exploring, learning and creating. Read more about 'special time' here and how it will boost your child's mental health
FREE Printables
Valentines Day Dot Marker Printables
Get three seperate learning printables. Just download and print to use with our super popular Dabber Dot Markers or use them with stickers, finger paints or colour them in with art supplies.
Valentines Day Hearts Tic-Tac-Toe Game
Print out this fun game and cut out the hearts for some special one-on-one time. Games are a great way for children to build resilience and learn to wait turns and follow instructions.
Valentines Day Heart Size and Number Sort
Print these templates out in colour and encourage your child to cut around the squares if they have established good cutting skills. Then sort the hearts into size order and count them out to match the numbers. You can practise writing and counting out different numbers too for lots of early learning maths fun!
Help build those fine motor skills with this great pre-writing activity Tracing Hearts Encourage your child to join the dots of the different sized hearts together. Talk about the shape, size and patterns of the different hearts and try to spot which ones are the same and which ones are different. Talk to your child about the movement their hands are making and remember to encourage them to hold their pencil correctly. Find out more about developing a pencil grip through The Royal Children's Hospital.
Make a card for someone you love with this I Love You Card All you need to do is print it out, make sure to preset your printer to double sided printing! Then your child can use some paint to stamp their finger prints in and around the heart on the front of the card. You might also like to tear strips of paper to make some paper pieces to stick onto the card for a cute Valentine's Day craft activity or even any other craft items you have!
Still looking for some easy and fun activities to do?
Squishing paint between your fingers in a paint sensory bag is so much fun. Simply grab a snap lock bag, draw a heart on the surface with marker pen and then add some left over paint from your My Creative Box to the bag. Then move the paint around the bag to colour the heart. You can encourage your child to keep the paint within the heart border or you could even add two colours to introduce some colour mixing science.
Rose Petal Scented “No Cook” Play Dough
Make some beautifully scented rose petal play dough for a natural sensory play activity and a lovely way to practise fine motor skills and strengthen the muscles in little fingers. We love to use this no cook play dough recipe as a base, and then add food colouring and a few tablespoons of rose petals that have been broken into small pieces. If you do not have access to rose petals, you might like to try lavender petals or replace some of the water in the mixture with a natural rosewater flavouring essence from your supermarket.
Use some of your left over paints from your My Creative Box to make a beautiful Valentine’s Day heart print. Fold a cardboard tube as shown and secure with an elastic band. Pour some of your paint onto a paper plate or a recycled piece of card, and then dip the tube in to the paint. Press the tube onto a piece of paper to make the heart shape. Once the paint has dried, you may like to colour inside the hearts with contrasting coloured paints or marker pens.
Handprint activities make lovely keepsakes! For this activity trace your child’s hands onto a piece of paper and cut out. Ask your child to write their name on one of the hands (or write it for them). Next, cut a strip of paper and fold back and forth to make a concertina shape. Write the words “this much” on the strip of paper. Finally attach the folded paper to the hand prints. You may even like to include the date somewhere on the hands, so you can keep this gift for years to come.
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