Inspired to Play

Here is a round up of our favourite Valentine’s Activities just in time Love Day!

Magic Love Notes

These are a great way to show your kids how loved they are! I wrote these affirmations on cue cards using white oil pastel (crayon works too, just push hard) and gave them to my daughter with some watercolor paints. Then she painted each one and read the message with a big smile!

Here is another version of oil pastel/crayon resist art with watercolours!

Painted Charms

I found these wooden hearts and knew they were the perfect size for painting. When they were dry we added some string and some beads and made super cute charm necklaces!

Love Monster playdough tray!

We love using loose parts with playdough, I am always amazed by the creations my kids come up with! For the playdough we added a couple drops of cinnamon bark essential oil and it smells exactly like the classic cinnamon heart candies!

Heart Suncatchers

These turned out to be so beautiful hanging in our window! All you need is contact paper, a black piece of construction paper and tissue paper! I folded the black paper in half and cut out the heart shape (you could get the kids to cut the heart too!), then placed it on a piece of contact paper the same size and the kids added the tissue paper squares!

Erupting Hearts!

My kids are always excited about a good ol’ baking soda and vinegar eruption! I used this silicone tray with heart shapes for a festive twist. I place a drop of dish soap and some baking soda in each space, then coloured some vinegar red and let the kids add it to the tray using pipettes then sat back and watched the delight on their faces as they watched the reaction!

Absorbing Hearts

This is one of our most loved activities! We used hearts cut from wax paper and paper towel paired with liquid watercolours, you could add other materials too such as coffee filters, tin foil, printer paper etc. Use a pipette or a paintbrush to add colours and watch how they absorb or repel on different materials!

Heart Resist Painting

I always love the way these turn out! I cut out a heart shaped paper and used painters tape to hold it onto the bottom paper. Then we used sponges to dab paint all over, then removed the paper heart to reveal the design.

Monochromatic Collage

Sometimes a fun way to explore colours is to use all different shades the same colour! I mixed a little red food colouring and glitter into the glue along with paint and other red items and let the kids get creative!

Lavender Playdough

Who doesn’t love flowers for Valentine’s Day! Not only is Lavender an incredibly calming scent, but it is perfect paired with some fake flowers and loose parts too!