Hand-some Heart

 
Photo submitted by: Denise

Cut out a heart shape.  Draw face on heart. Encourage the children to water
 color the heart.  Then using tempera paint, paint each child's hands
 and stamp next to heart to create this hand-some heart!

Sparkling Heart

Paint a large heart with red, pink or white paint. While the paint is still damp,
 sprinkle some salt over the painting. The heart will sparkle when it dries!

Valentine Fingerprint Hearts

Cut heart shapes out of white or pink construction paper.  Give the children washable
 red ink pad and let them decorate the hearts with their fingerprints or thumbprints.
  Encourage them to make pics with their thumbprints such as hearts,
 love bugs, and so on. 

Valentine Person

(Photo submitted by Shell)

Trace child's hands and feet. Cut out a big size heart and let the child make a face on it.
 Then take paper and make an accordion out of it. Use the accordion strips for arms
 and legs. Glue their hand and feet prints and you have a valentine person with their prints.

Heart Straw

Trace and cut out heart from colored paper. Use a hole pinch and make 2 hole
 in center of heart, not side by side, but one under the other, about an inch or
 two apart. Thread a drinking straw into one hole and back out the other.

Heart Rubbings

Cut out different sizes of hearts from sandpaper. Tape hearts to table and
 lay a sheet of white typing paper over them. Use side of crayon
 to lightly rub over hearts, making a pattern on paper.

Variation: 
Set out a large square of plastic lace (available where self-stick paper is sold). Cut heart
 shapes out of plain white paper.  Let the children take turns placing their hearts on top of
 the plastic lace square and rubbing across them with red crayons.  If desired, let them glue
 their lacy heart rubbings on folded sheets of red construction paper to make valentine cards.

Heart Texture Collages

Cut heart shapes of different sizes from a variety of textured materials (corduroy, flocked
 wallpaper, sandpaper, velvet, foil, etc.)  Cut heart-shaped centers out of some of the shapes,
 if desired.  Set out glue and pieces of white construction paper.  Let the children select
 the heart shapes they want and glue them all over their papers to make texture collages.

Love Bugs

Cut out a supply of pink and red construction paper hearts.  Then direct each child
 to arrange a line of hearts in a pattern  and glue them together.  Have the child
 add wiggle eyes and construction paper antennae and legs.  If desired, invite
 the child to use glitter glue pens to give the love bug a little extra sparkle.

Vinegar Hearts

Pour white vinegar into small bowls. Set out brushes, pieces of white construction
 paper and small red tissue paper hearts. Let the children brush vinegar on their
 papers. Then let them cover their papers with the tissue paper hearts.
 As it dries, the hearts will fall off leaving red heart prints.

Translucent Hearts

Cut a large heart shape for each child out of waxed paper.  Pour vegetable
 oil into shallow containers and set out cotton balls.  Let the children tear red
 tissue paper into small pieces.  Have them dip the cotton balls into the vegetable
 oil and brush it over their waxed paper hearts.  Then let them press the red tissue
 pieces all over their hearts until the shapes are completely covered.  The oil will
 help the tissue pieces stick to the hearts while making the red color translucent.

Heart Prints

Pour small amounts of red and pink tempera paint into separate shallow containers.
  Set out heart shaped cookie cutters and sponges cut in the shapes of hearts.
  Let the children make heart prints by dipping the cookie cutters and sponges
 into the paint and pressing them on sheets of white construction paper.

Tissue Heart Collages

Set out sheets of white construction paper, small bowls of liquid starch and
 brushes.  Give each child a number of heart shapes cut from red tissue paper.
  Have the children brush the starch on their papers.  Then let them
 arrange their tissue paper hearts on top of the starch to make collages.

Panda Bear Valentine

(Photo submitted by Shell)

Precut the hearts and encourage the children to glue the hearts to create a Panda pal.
(Click HERE for pattern!) 
For older children, encourage them to create a Panda without using patterns.

3-D Hearts

Have the children cut three hearts the same size and fold them in half.
 Glue the hearts together and decorate them with glitter. Use a
 hole punch to put a hole in the top and hang around the room.

Shiny Valentine

Mix white glue with dry red tempera.  Cut a three inch square of oak tag paper.
  Cover the square with foil.  Paint a valentine picture on the foil with glue.
  Frame or glue on a large red heart.

Valentine Sticker Collage

Cut big red hearts out of construction paper. Give
 children Valentine stickers to put on the heart.

Heart Mobile

Make different sizes of hearts.
  Attach hearts to strings.

Finger Paint Fun

Set out red, white, and pink finger paint for
 the children to let their creativity run wild.

Friendship Chains

Let each child glue strips of red, pink and white paper together to make a chain.
  At one end of the chain, staple a paper heart shape with the child's name printed
 on it.  Then ask the child to name his or her friends.  As the child does so,
 print the names on the loops of his/her chain.

My Heart Is In Your Hands

Spread some love with these valentine keepsakes.  To make one,
 a child dips his hands into washable red tempera paint.  Then he
 presses them onto a sheet of white construction paper so that the
 palm prints are side by side and the thumbprints and fingerprints overlap.
  When the paint is dry, cut around the heart; then add a message,
 the child's name, and the date.

Valentine Photo Boxes

(Photo submitted by Shell)

 Some of the younger kids are not yet able to recognize written names of their classmates,
so I decided to add everyone's photo to their boxes to make it easier for everyone to deliver
their cards to their friends.  Here are more of the Valentine boxes.... the children painted them
 on Monday... on Wednesday we added tissue paper squares and Friday morning before
 the party we added the face, arms, and hands. The kids really got a kick out of these!

(Click HERE for hands and heart printable used in above activity)

Valentine Mice

Fold a paper heart in half and find the mouse.  The nose and whiskers are at the
 tapered end, draw them in.  For the tail, glue a 3" long string on the inside of the fold
 (opposite the end with the nose and whiskers), and let it hang out. Add a greeting on the inside.

Variation:
Cut a large heart shape from construction paper. Glue a small length of yarn for a tail
 at the top of the heart but let it hang off of the heart. Fold in half like a teardrop.
 Stuff with a little cotton. Glue edges of heart shut all around. Tail should be
 hanging out. Cut a small heart for his ears. Fold heart in half. Glue on rounded part
 of big heart so they form an ear on each side. Add whiskers, eyes, and a little pink nose.

Variation:
Fold a large piece of construction paper in half.  Cut out a half-heart on the fold.
  The folded paper heart is the body of the mouse.  The nose and whiskers are
 at the tapered end.  You can draw them in or add pom-poms and wiggly eyes.
   Next glue a small length of yarn at the other end of the folded heart (the
 top of the heart) Be sure to let it hang out some.   Glue on smaller hearts
 for ears. I usually fold the top of the smaller heart down towards the point
 and then glue the rounded edges onto the paper to make the ears stand
 out.  Don't forget to add whiskers.  Another cute touch is to sandwich
 the end of the mouse's tail between two hearts.  I use pink crinkle paper.
    You can stuff these critters, or open them up and add a message,
 or use them as a mailbox for valentines. 

Heart People

Cut out many small and large heart shapes.  Each child glues a small heart above a large
 heart onto a piece of paper.  The children then use markers to draw faces, arms, and legs.

Loveable Animals

Make a caterpillar, fish, bunny, and mouse with heart shaped cutouts.  Show the
 children how to trace around heart patterns.  Then let children cut them out,
 combine them into loveable animals, and paste them on white sheets of paper.

I Love You Candy Container

Have the children trace their hands on pink, white or red construction paper
 and cut them out and after sponge painting a clay pot (about 4") with little hearts,
 glue the hand to the back of the pot with the middle two fingers glued down
 (the universal hand symbol for 'I love you') Fill with little candies.

Valentine Smoosh

Trace a large heart onto white paper and have the child cut it out. Using
squeeze bottles, drizzle red and white paint on one side of the heart then
fold it over. Have the child open it up to see their creation. Then mount
the heart on red construction paper.

Heart Designs

Take a construction paper heart and let children use eye droppers to
 drop paint onto the heart, fold it in half and have them slide their hand
 over the heart to mix colors. Open it up and you have a neat design!

Valentine Crown

Using paper plates, red paint, paintbrushes, scissors, white glue and conversation
 hearts candy make a Valentine Crown. Begin by cutting a slit across the middle
 of the plate, starting about an inch inside the outer rim and stopping about an inch
 from the outer rim on other side of plate. Starting at the center of plate, cut four
 more slits to create six pie shaped sections. Fold sections up to make a crown.
  Paint the plate on one side and let dry. Paint other side of plate and let dry. Decorate
 crown by gluing conversation hearts to each point. Now Crown your King or Queen.

Pom Pom Luv Bug

Using red, pink, or white pom poms (of varied sizes),foam heart shape pcs., wiggly
 eyes, and pipe cleaners,  encourage the children to create their very own luv bug. 

Smelly Valentines

Have the children cut two paper lace hearts then sew them together with yarn
 and plastic yarn needle. Leave a small opening to stuff with cotton balls that
 have been sprayed with perfume. Finish sewing and tie the ends together into
 a bow. Punch a hole at the top and attach yarn so it can be hung up. "Happy
 Valentine’s Day" can be written on it with a fine tip permanent marker.

Valentine Holder

Use two paper plates; cut one in half.  Staple the half piece onto the bottom
 of the whole paper plate.  Children can decorate them with hearts cut from
 construction paper or they can draw and color hearts on them.  Punch a hole
 in the top of the whole paper plate and attach a piece of yarn for a hanger.

Valentine Walkers

Have the kids cutout a valentine shape and add  accordion folded arms
 and legs.  The kids can be as creative as they wish with the decorating.

Valentine Tree

A decorative centerpiece may be a group project.  The tree consists of a small tree
 branch set in sand or clay.  Trim the tree with paper flowers, hearts, birds, and ribbons.

Sweet Sentiments

Here's a sweet way for youngsters to send their valentine messages.
 To make one of these imitation candy kisses, begin by crumpling and
 molding aluminum foil into the shape of a candy kiss. Then write a loving
 message onto a strip of white paper. If desired, draw seasonal designs on
 the strip or decorate it using an appropriate stamp and ink pad. Embed
 one end of the strip into the top part of the candy kiss form.

Rose Print Bouquets

Stock your art area with silk roses and shallow pans of tempera paint.
  If desired, add a few drops of rose potpourri oil or perfume to the paint.
  Invite the children to dip the roses into the paint and then press them onto
 large sheets of paper to create rose prints.  Everything is coming up roses!

Valentine Placemats

For each child cut two identical placemat ovals out of clear self stick paper.
  Remove the backing from one of the ovals and place the oval in front of the
 child, sticky side up.  Set out different sizes of red, pink and white hearts
 cut from tissue paper.  Let the children arrange the hearts on their sticky
 ovals any way they wish.  Have them add sparkle by sprinkling on gold,
 silver, and red glitter.  To complete each child's placemat, remove the
backing from the second oval.  Then carefully place the oval,
 sticky side down, over the child's decorated oval.

Marbled Heart Painting

Cut large heart shapes out of white construction paper. Place the heart into a
clothing gift box along with 1 or 2 marbles that have been dipped into red and/or
 pink paint. Close the lid and let the kids shake/tilt the box for a minute or so.
 When they open it up, they will have a heart with a "marbled" design on it.
 They look really cool and the kids love seeing what happened to the heart.

Heart Art

Here are some simple ways to teach your little ones how to draw their own hearts.  To begin,
 have each child fold a piece of paper in half.  Then have him/her place a thumb at an angle on
 the fold.  Help the child trace his/her thumb - starting and ending at the fold- to create the
outline of half a heart.  Or the child could substitute the end of a large craft stick for his/her thumb. 
 Or show the child how to draw an angled candy cane on the paper fold.  Invite the child to make
several tracings.  Then have the child cut out the outlines, unfold the cutouts, and decorate the
 heart as he/she desires.  Allow the child to glue his/her hearts onto
 a construction paper background to create a design or picture. 

Valentine Fan

Stained Glass Hearts

Bleeding Heart

Puffy Hearts

Red Valentine Collages

Give each child a large heart shape cut from red construction paper.  Let the children decorate their
 hearts by gluing on a variety of red materials such as rickrack, lace, ribbon, yarn, paper scraps, fabric pieces,
 heart stickers, and glitter. When the glue has dried, display the red valentine collages on a wall or a bulletin board.

I Love To...Pictures

Using crayons or markers, children draw pictures of all the things they love to do.

Valentine Alphabet Book

Help the children make a class alphabet book with old valentines.  Collect as many different
 valentines as possible.  Put all of the valentines out on a table for the children to see.  Have
 them find one valentine to glue on a page for each letter of the alphabet.  For example,
a valentine with an airplane or animals might be glued on the "A" page, valentines with baby,
 balloons, or bunnies could be glued on the "B" page, and so on.  Encourage the children to
 use their imaginations!  Use extra valentines to make a wonderful border for an alphabet
bulletin board or as a border to display work children have completed while working on the letter V.

Patchwork Heart

Cut an extra large heart shape out of pink construction paper or butcher paper. 
Cut the heart into sections (one for each child).  Mark the back side of each section
 with a pencil.  Let the children use red crayons or felt tip markers to decorate the front
 sides of their sections any way they wish.  When they have finished, help them
 put their patchwork heart together like a puzzle and glue it to a piece
 of white butcher paper.  Then hang the heart on the wall or bulletin board.  

Valentine Decorations

Cut small heart shapes from red and pink construction paper, wrapping paper, foil, tissue boxes, etc.
  Use a hole punch to punch out "dots" from the same materials and cut paper lace into small pieces. 
 Give each child a small paper doily.  Let the children brush glue on their doilies and place the heart
shapes, dots and paper lace pieces on top of the glue.  Allow the glue to dry.  Then attach
 loops of yarn to the backs of the decorated doilies and hang them around the room.

Valentine Clown

Combine different sizes of red and white valentines to make a happy clown.  You draw the hearts,
 then let the children cut them out and paste them together.  You may also show the children how to
 fold a paper in half, draw half a heart, then cut the folded paper to get a heart the same shape on both sides.

Valentine Totes

Place a 12" x 18" sheet of clear Con-Tact paper on a table, adhesive side up.  Have a child place tissue
 paper heart shapes on the adhesive side of the Con-Tact paper.  Next, cut an 11" x 18" sheet of Con-Tact
 paper.  Center it over the first sheet of Con-Tact paper and then place it on the paper adhesive side down.
  Next, fold the Con-Tact paper in half to 12" x 9" and pinch the sides to seal the edges.  If desired,
 staple each side for added reinforcement.  Punch holes at the top of the tote
and then thread a length of yarn or ribbon through the holes to create a handle.

King and Queen of Hearts

For the figure of the king, use a toweling roll covered with construction paper and crowned with little
 paper hearts.  A piece of paper rolled into a cone shape forms the queen's body.
  Make a tiny slit at the top to hold a heart-shaped head, with paper lace for the crown. 
Royal robes may be made of paper or cloth, trimmed in sequins, hearts, metallic foil, or paper lace.

Valentine Bunny

Fill baby food jar with cotton balls. Cut out 1 large heart, which is just a little taller and wider than
 the front of the jar. Cut out a medium size heart, which is about 1 inch larger than the base of the
 jar. Cut out 2 small hearts (about the size of a penny or dime). Glue large heart to the face of the
 jar so that the top of the heart extends beyond the top of the jar (gives the appearance of ears).
Glue medium heart to the base of the jar so that the top of the heart extends beyond the bottom
 of the jar (top of heart sticking out from the base will look like feet). Glue small hearts on the sides
 of the jar in the middle (looks like hands). Glue a cotton ball to the back of the jar
 (looks like a cottontail). Have kids draw the face on the large heart before gluing.

Heart Flowers

Use a green crayon to draw stems on pieces of white construction paper.  Let the children glue smal
l yellow construction paper circles at the tops of their stems for flower centers.  Give them heart shapes
 cut from different colors of construction paper to glue around their flower centers for petals.
  Then let them glue on larger heart shapes cut from green construction paper for leaves.

Potato Print Valentines

Cut a potato in half and cut a heart shape on one end of the cut ends. Paint the heart
shape red and press it onto white paper. Allow the children to make any pictures they wish. 

Heart Fold-Overs

For each child cut a large heart shape out of white construction paper and fold it in half. 
 Set out squeeze bottles filled with red, pink, and lavendar tempera paint.  Have the children
 lay their heart shapes out flat.  Let them squeeze drops of paint on one half of their hearts,
 fold their shapes closed and gently rub across them with their hands. 
Then have them open their heart shapes to reveal the designs they created.

Candy Hearts Photo Frame

To make the frame, cut a piece of cardboard into a rectangular shape...then cut another rectangle
 inside it (large enough for a photo to fit inside).  Let children glue on conversation hearts around
the frame. Then you lacquer them and let dry. Then slip a picture of the child into the frame. 

Valentine Confetti Collage

Provide a variety of Valentine confetti for the children to glue
 onto a construction paper heart to make a confetti collage.

Heart Bears

For each child cut from construction paper one bear shape, five small heart shapes to glue on the bear's
 paws and nose, and one large heart shape to glue on its chest.  Let the children glue their hearts on
their bears.  When the glue has dried, let the children add eyes and other details with felt tip markers.
  On the back of each child's bear, print "A Beary Happy Valentine's Day!" and help the child sign his or her name.

Lovely Creatures

Set out glue and different sizes and colors of construction paper hearts.  Let the children glue
 the hearts together any way they wish to create "lovely creatures."  Have them add details with
 crayons or felt tip markers, if desired.  Display the children's creations on a wall or bulletin board.

Love Puzzles

Draw a large hearts.  Have the children decorate them.  On the back draw lines to create a jigsaw
 type puzzle.  Make sure you explain to the children that you will be cutting their decorated heart into
smaller pieces...they may not want you to do this to their work.  Cut along the lines to make the puzzle.

Valentine Mailbox

Teacher glues red construction paper on the shoe boxes ahead of time. The children decorate their
shoe box any way they want to with stickers, paper scraps, or whatever is available. The mailboxes
 are for putting in the Valentines each child receives. Teachers can put treats in as well.

String Painting

Cut a heart shape and fold it in half. Open the fold and use valentine colors to string paint.
When the painting is complete fold the heart in half and press together, then open
up to see the beautiful designs.  Attach strings to clothes pins for easier handling.

Valentine Candles

Use  a 3" heart on poster board as candle base. Center  a small york mint patty onto heart.
Stick on with double stick tape. Then,  place a small piece of tape on one end of a lifesaver roll, attach to mint.
Place tape on flat end of a hershey kiss or hug and attach to top of lifesaver roll. It should now look like a candle. 

Hershey Kisses Rosebuds

Take two Hershey kisses, still in foil, place flat ends together. Take a 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" piece of cellophane.
Place the kisses in the middle, bring the cellophane down around a point and twist tightly, this is your
"rosebud". Holding the twisted end next to a floral pick with wire attached (6") and starting right at the
 base of the kisses, wrap the wire tightly around the twisted end of the "rosebud". Wrap green floral tape
 tightly around the wire and cellophane. While wrapping with tape add an artificial leaf up next to the bud.

Tips:  You can go a bit smaller on your square size but it is trickier. Might want to have it a little
 big until you get the hang of making them.  If you start too far down on the twisted cellophane
 the bud will be floppy.  The tighter you can twist the cellophane and the tighter you wrap the
 wire the better your stem looks, not too bumpy. · After a few tries you will get the hang of it.
You may also choose to use other colors of cellophane, yellow, blue or purple.
 A mixture of all the colors makes a great bouquet.

Valentine Finger Puppets

Copy one large heart onto red or pink construction paper, one medium heart, and two small hearts. 
 Cut two 6" strips of pink or red paper for each child.  Invite each child in a small group to make a
finger puppet.  To make one, cut out all the hearts.  Punch two holes at the top of the large heart
(side by side from each other). Then cut four tiny slits around the holes to make larger openings. 
Draw heart shaped facial features on the medium cutout.  Then glue the face onto the point of
the large heart.  Next, accordion fold each paper strip.  To make arms for the puppet, glue a small
heart to one end of each paper strip; then glue the other end of each strip to the large heart. 
To give the puppets legs, poke your index and middle fingers through the holes in the large heart.  

Valentine Crayons

To begin, gather several small, single-serving pie tins.  Mold each tin into the shape of a heart. 
 (Be careful not to crack the tin.)  Then invite the children to gather broken red, pink, and purple,
 crayons.  Have them peel the paper off the crayons.  Then ask youngsters to break the crayons
 into small pieces.  Have them sort the crayons by color, filling each tin almost to the rim. 
Then the teacher heats the crayon filled tins in a 250 degree oven until the crayons melt into soft,
 but not watery, substance (about 5 to 10 minutes).  When the crayon hearts cool, remove them
 from the tins.  Then provide youngsters with heart cutouts from different materials such as
sandpaper, plastic canvas, and textured wallpaper samples.  Invite each child to use
the special valentine crayons and cutouts to make heart rubbings on a sheet of paper.

Tabletop Hearts

To make these cute place markers for your Valentine Party table, begin by making the base. 
Cut a two inch section from a paper towel tube.  Then cut two parallel slits halfway down the tube. 
 Provide each child with heart stickers and invite them to decorate their base.  Next, use glitter
glue to write the child's name on a four-inch heart cutout.  Invite each child to decorate the hearts
 with sequins, stickers, or stamps.  Then have the children place their hearts in the slits of
 the bases.  On the day of you Valentine party, set each child's place marker
 at the table and then challenge your youngsters to find their seats.

Dot-to-Dot

Shape and letter recognition will shape up with these easy-to-make dot cards.  To prepare,
program several index cards with different shapes and letters.  Next squeeze dots of colored
glue on the letters and shapes.  When the glue is dry, place the cards at the table along with
 crayons and paper.  Encourage a child to place a piece of paper over a card and use the side
 of a crayon to rub across the paper until dots appear.  Then the child removes
 the card and connects the dots to reveal the shape or letter. 

Gift of Love Jar

Take an empty, clean mayonnaise jar and fill it with sweet memories of the person you are making
 it for.  It could be your husband, mom, child, family member or dear friend. Write them on pieces
 of heart shaped paper. Get one of those little glass votive holder to sit in the top with a pretty red candle.
 Tie a pretty ribbon around it and maybe paint Happy Valentines Day on the front of the glass.

Valentine Gift Idea

Materials Needed:
plastic spoon
piece of tulle
Chocolate kisses
ribbon
Make a little tag

Put some kisses in the spoon, wrap with a piece of tulle or cellophane wrap. Tie it off tightly with a piece
of ribbon around the base of the handle, make a bow and attach your little tag with the following saying:

A spoonful of love
And a couple of kisses
I give to you as
My Valentine Wishes!

Candy Kisses Card

Here are some kisses from me to you
Because I love you and all that you do!

You could then cover a big construction paper heart with candy kisses with the
verse in the middle.  And have the children decorate them as they like ...if you wish.
Or paint them prior to putting on the candy kisses.

Valentine Card Box

Children usually give valentines to other students and their teachers. Usually each child decorates
 some kind of container, and the valentines are delivered and deposited in each "mailbox." You can help
save landfill space and natural resources by recycling a discarded tissue box to make a valentine card container.

Valentine Hanging Decor

You can make a  hanging decoration by cutting out small scraps (I  use 
squares) of pink, red and white shades of construction paper, then gluing
them onto a large heart made out of poster board, card stock or even
construction paper. Punch a hole in the top and put narrow satin  ribbon  to
hang (you may want to apply hole reinforcements also).

Homemade Heart Stencils

Using clean styrofoam meat trays (donated from the grocery
store), cut out different sized heart stencils, one on each tray.  The
meat trays with the hearts cut out are used for this project.  I put the
cut out hearts in the stencil box for the children to use in the art center.

Easel Painting

Easel painting on a big heart shape using red. Use a red maker to
outline the heart shape, so it is easier to see the shape.

Shiny Valentine Box

Wrap kleenex boxes with aluminum foil, cut a slit in the middle where the tissues
 used to come out of and then we let the children glue different size,
red, pink and purple hearts on them. When they are through
 they fill each of them with their valentines.

Pre-K Fun Theme Pages are for educational reference only! 
No copyright infringement is intended.
I do not claim any of these as my own ideas.  
They are shared from friends and fellow group members.  
Thanks for sharing all your great ideas!