Make your own Valentine's Day card for loads of fun!

For Valentine’s Day my son and I usually break out the scissors, doilies, glue, and glitter.  This year we designed a card to give his friends at Preschool that’s a little more boyish with a cheesy joke that most preschoolers will appreciate.  My mother had bought him a hole punch in the shape of a dump truck so we dug it out of the scrapbooking supplies and put it to good use.  You could use the same design and change up the hole punch for a different shape that suits your child’s personality and interests.  Help your child come up with a joke or rhyme to go with the shape. 

Tips: If you don’t want to handwrite the words on every card, type it up in an easy to read font and print it in a fun color.  Remember to give yourself plenty of time to get the job done.  This is supposed to be a fun activity, so break it up over a few days so the task doesn’t become frustrating to you or your preschooler.  For example, punch the holes and cut out the hearts one day, glue on the words and hearts the next, and finish with signing and sealing the cards during the last crafting session.  

Your child will look forward to giving out valentines that they helped make.  We hope our card inspires you to get creative with your kid!

Supplies:

Cardstock – cut in half to make two 5 ½” x 8 ½” rectangles and folded
Shaped hole punch
Colored construction paper
Child safety scissors
Glue stick
Markers
Valentine’s Day themed stickers

1. Prepare the cards by cutting an 8 ½” x 11” piece of heavy cardstock into two 5 ½” x 8 ½” rectangles and fold in half.  You will get two cards out of each piece of cardstock.

2. Punch out three dump trucks across the top (folded side) of the card.

3. Fold construction paper the long way and trace the heart template onto the colored paper with the center of the heart lined up with the fold.  Let your child cut out the heart.  This is good hand eye coordination and practice for cutting with scissors.

4. Using the gluestick, glue the hearts in place on the inside of each card covering the punched shaped holes on the back side of the card so that the color shows through the front of the card when closed. 

5. At the bottom of the heart write:    Happy Valentine’s Day!  from,  
(leaving room for your child to write his name.)

6. On the front write:                     Friends like you
are loads of fun!

7. With the card closed flip it over and have your child write their classmate’s name or write it with pencil and have them trace the pencil lines with marker.

8. Seal the card with a Valentine’s Day themed sticker and your child is ready for his or her valentine exchange!

Heart Template