I am constantly looking for activities to do with my toddler to keep things interesting since we're cooped up at home most of the time. So, when a holiday comes along, the possibilities seem endless!
In this post, I'll share with you some toddler-friendly Valentine's Day activities that you can do together. I'll feature a variety of activities, including something academic, something to eat, and a craft. And you'll probably already have most of the items needed at home!
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Valentine's Day Letter Matching
My son hasn't started school yet, but I've been working with him on letter identification, and this heart-themed activity was a fun way for him to practice this skill.
What You'll Need:
Blank paper
Construction paper in varying colors
Gluestick
Marker
Heart-shaped die-cutter or scissors
I started by writing the alphabet randomly across the paper. My son has gotten really good at naming letters in order, so the randomness made him have to think harder. Next, I cut hearts out of construction paper and wrote a letter on each. The cutting didn't take as long as I anticipated, however, I would recommend using a heart-shaped die-cutter to save time.
Once my prep work was done, I had my son identify the letters in the order I had them written and find the matching heart letter to glue on top. This worked his fine-motor skills as well as his hand-eye coordination. The whole thing took maybe ten minutes, but we both had a lot of fun!
Tips: I chose to use all upper case letters for this activity because my son is just starting out with letter identification. If your child is a bit older, you may choose to have them match the lower case letter to the upper case letter. In that case, on the blank paper, you could write upper case letters, and on the hearts, you could write the matching lower case letters or vice versa.
Dot Paint Heart Craft
This is a fun, easy, and virtually mess-free craft that can be adapted for different occasions. Toddlers can practice their independance with only minimal guidance from parents.
What You'll Need:
Blank paper
Construction paper cut into the shape of a heart
Painter's tape or masking tape
Newspaper or something to protect the table
The prep for this one was even easier than the last! Lay down newspaper, cut a heart from a piece of construction paper, tape it to the blank piece of paper, and get to decorating!
The only real instruction I gave my son was to follow the outline of the heart with his dot paint so that when we peeled it off, it would leave behind the shape of a heart. Otherwise, I let him go to town. This is a great way for kids to express their creativity. Let them choose their colors. Let them decide how they want to decorate the space around the heart.
Tips: The nice thing about dot paint is that it's usually washable, so if your child does get it somewhere, it'll come up without a problem. As for taping the construction paper heart, I used painter's tape, and as you can see from the finished product, it did rip a bit of the paper off. Next time, I'm going to try masking tape to see if that makes a difference. But whatever tape you choose to use, make sure the adhesive isn't super sticky since it's not meant to be permanent.
Jello Jiggler Hearts
I'll be honest: this one was more difficult than it first appeared. Apparently, Jello Jigglers require a slightly different recipe than regular Jello. Let me repeat that so you don't make the same mistake I did. Jello Jiggers aren't made the same way as regular Jello. You can find the recipe here.
What You'll Need:
1-2 boxes of red or pink Jello (we used cherry flavored)
Boiling water (see recipe for quantaties)
1-2 glass baking dishes or cookie sheets
Spatula
Because I messed up the first time, I only had one box of Jello left. The recipe suggests two, which I would also suggest. One box only yielded seven jigglers, and two of the hearts met an untimely end as I tried to get them out. I would make two separate batches in two separate pans, though.
After making the Jello with the correct recipe, I left it in the fridge overnight. However, you could technically start working with it after 3-4 hours. The recipe suggests submerging the bottom of the pan into warm water to make it easier to get the shapes out. I just took the pan out of the fridge about 20 minutes before we were ready to cut out the hearts. That seemed to work fine.
My son cut the hearts into the Jello with the cookie cutters, which was really about all he could do to "help" in this exercise until we got to the eating part. Extracting the hearts was a bit tricky, so I would suggest doing that part yourself to avoid broken hearts and tears.
Eating them was super fun, though! My son enjoyed the fact that they jiggled and didn't mind that it got a bit messy.
Tips: I used two different kinds of cookie cutters, one plastic and one metal. The metal one worked far better in terms of getting a cleaner cut. Next time, I wouldn't cut the shapes so close to each other because it made getting them out a bit more difficult. Making two batches and spacing out the shapes will yield more jigglers and also make it easier to lift out the hearts.
I'd love to hear your favorite Valentine's Day activities! Let me know if you try any of the ones in this post to celebrate Valentine's Day 2021.
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