Valentine's Activities with a Toddler

**UPDATE** I've moved to ladybugsandlattes.com
You can find this post and more here

Whoa, whoa, whoa. It's the middle of February?

The last few weeks have really flown by. I must have been keeping busy because I. am. so. tired.

Amidst all of the cray-cray that has been my life lately, Cady and I have managed to do a few cute Valentine projects. Mostly, we made Valentines for grandparents.

Fortunately, we have heart shaped cookie cutters in various sizes, which made this project much easier for me (and much cuter for everyone else because my free-hand hearts would not have been so precise). Cady loved that she had the freedom of holding and using the glue stick all by herself! I just showed her where to glue and she went to town. And then when it was time to press the paper together, she used every muscle in her hand and arm (and made large groans to prove to me that she was pushing them together as hard as she could). What a good little worker bee.

Homemade Monkey Valentine

Homemade Valentines

We made a dog, lion, owl, elephant, penguin, bumble bee...and this morning, we made a monkey valentine for Cady's aunt in New York.

Heart Stencils

 On my lazier days, I use theme-based cookie cutters as stencils and let her color over them.

Heart Prints

 On slightly less lazy days, I let her dip the same cookie cutters in paint and make prints on paper. First, she explored independently with the cookie cutters, paint, and a paint brush. Then when she was about done, I helped her make a few heart prints on top of the rest of her painting.

Pipe Cleaner Heart Ring

It's Valentine's Day. Every girl needs a little jewelry on Valentine's Day, right? I made this out of a pipe cleaner. Check out that lopsided heart. That's why I use stencils whenever possible.











And don't forget the chocolate...Girls must have chocolate on Valentine's Day! :)