Valentines Day is just around the corner and this weekend we are focussing on some heart activities which are suitable for doing as a family. First up is our Family Heart Art. I am a sucker for making art as a family and love things that we can display seasonally that mean things to all of us, just take a look at our family art christmas tree to see what I mean.
Family Fingerprint Heart Art
Materials
- Canvass (I love the hard board ones for little fingers as they can press as hard as they like without damaging the tension)
- Paint – We used red and white acrylic, but any paint works
- Paper
- Low tack tape
Method
- I drew a heart on to a piece of paper and cut it out the size I wanted our fingerprint heart to be. If you want something more precise then print out a heart and cut it out.
- Fasten the stencil to the canvas with low tack tape.
- Place some red and white paint on to a paper plate or palate
- Take turns in dipping finger in and making fingerprints on the canvass.
- Allow to dry before removing stencil
- Date the canvass
There are some great heart art out there, this valentine heart mosaic is great for younger children who love glueing and sticking as it encourages them to try and keep in the lines or print out this fab activity printable for using in the car if you have to travel. You could brighten up your windows with this lovely heart window collage and use up any heart cut outs you have with this amazing heart window collage at Hands on as we grow.
For those of you with preschoolers here is a great collection of valentine sensory activities and why not improve cutting skills with these broken hearts.
Look for hearts in Nature
This activity was inspired by Dansom Lane who went on a shape walk in their local forest. We are planning on going on a beach walk to see if we can find heart shaped stones to decorate and also look in our local woodland for heart shaped leaves. If the weather is bad, why not take a look round your own home for heart shapes or look and see if you can see heart shaped clouds in the sky.
Acts of Kindness
Why not use this time of year to discuss acts of kindness and the fact that being kind is something that we should all do as much as we can. It makes me think of the song “Love is like a magic penny” which I learned as school. By giving it away you get much, much more in return. Maggie from Red Ted Art has a fab 31 days of love series at the moment, so if you have time why not make something from it to gift to someone.
The boys are taking lollipop flowers in to school for their friends next week. and we have been making heart bookmarks (for their teachers) with our craft pack we received as part of our Bostic Craft Club membership. See more on this tomorrow!
Whist talking about kindness, I adore this hug jar, perfect for moment when we all need a little pick me up. and we will certainly be making a valentines heart happy wall. I am also going to do a heart map with the boys too (and one for myself). A “I love you more than…..” picture would be perfect for loved ones this valentines day too.
Kids Books about love
One of our most favorite books is all about unconditional love. No Matter What
I hope your weekend is filled with family,. love and laughter and do let me know what short of things you would like to see featured. Make sure you are following our facebook page, Google + page or on Pinterest for lots of heart crafts and activities over the coming weeks.
I love the fingerprint heart – such a lovely keepsake.
I love the fingerprint heart idea – even my youngest could do that. The Hug book is one of my favourite books too.
Finger painting is always great fun, the funished picture looks brilliant 🙂
I just love the fingerprints heart idea! What an absolutely brilliant idea I would happily steal from you 🙂
Thank you so much for including our shape walk. There are some fantastic suggestions here and I love the idea of the fingerprint heart. Thanks again x
Great ideas lovely x x
I love that idea of the finger print heart card! Would be lovely for my girls to do for their daddy 🙂 x
The simplicity of the fingerprint heart is a huge part of it’s charm and appeal, it also makes it brilliantly easy for children to do. A very clever idea!
Love the finger print heart – and the fact you all got involved as a family is lovely. I’ve been inspired by Kirsty’s shape walk too – definitely going to do that myself!
I love the heart canvas! What a beautiful thing which can bring all family together to work on lovely piece of unique art!
Thank you so much for sharing it.
We love Debi Gliori’s books, especially No Matter What. She lives locally and some of her illustrations are based on places we enjoy walking. Hug is a lovely book too.
You have some lovely activity ideas…….I don’t normally do much for valentines day but maybe I should think about it this year! Juliex
Aww! Lovely ideas….
I love the fingerprint heart…So sweet x
The finger print heart is great, I have pinned 🙂
I love the idea of celebrating acts of kindness. Just going out of your way to be kind to someone will make you feel good as well as cheering them up too.
Lollipop flowers = fab ! Making those for sure!
I love the finger print heart that is so lovely and what a fantastic idea. x
I love the fingerprint idea Jenny – it’s perfect for Poppy too as she received some finger painting kits for Christmas which she absolutely loves. Great post 🙂
Fantastic ideas – I love the finger painting heart. We are going to get our craft on at the weekend with a heart theme – and I am so blessed to have been given so many great ideas from others blogs 🙂
OMG in love with hug jar idea. Fab round up Jen
The fingerprint heart looks amazing, I reckon I might be able to persuade my son to give that a go.
these are so sweet! can’t wait until W is old enough to do crafts like this! x
I adore the fingerprint heart card!
I love the finger print art-am going to have to try it. So simple but beautiful.
Iona@redpeffer » I love simple crafts
Lovely idea – nice and simple and a great result. Pinned!