5 Valentine’s Day Activities For Toddlers
Heart Thumbprint Craft
This activity is super easy and doesn’t need much preparation. To paint the paper, they can use their fingers, paint brushes, sponges or other various tools to improve their fine motor skills. Children could also learn about the colour pink before painting: tell them how we make pink (mixing white with red) and this could be one of the main intentions of this activity. Idea is from A dab of glue will do.
Materials you need:
- Papers
- Scissors
- Masking tape
- White, red and pink if you have
EYFS: Expressive Arts and Design – Exploring and using media and materials
22-36 months:
- Experiments with blocks, colours and marks.
30-50 months:
- Explores colour and how colours can be changed.
Salt Dough Candle Holders
These beautiful candle holders are very easy and safe to make. Let your children explore and mix the ingredients of the salt dough and after drying they can decorate the hearts as they wish. This activity is by Life as mom.
Materials you need:
- one recipe salt dough
- heart-shaped cookie cutter, about 4-inches wide
- tealight candles
- baking sheet
- metal spatula
- craft paint, glitter, or other decorating supplies
EYFS: Communication and Language – Understanding
22-36 months:
- Understands more complex sentences, e.g. ‘Put your toys away and then we’ll read a book.’
30-50 months:
- Responds to simple instructions, e.g. to get or put away an object.
Valentine Matching Games
“Need a fun activity for a Valentine’s day party? A super easy and fun preschool valentine matching game is perfect! This whips together quickly and gets antsy kids up and moving around while problem solving, showing shape recognition and color matching! Perfect for preschool age!” – Cheryl from That’s what Che said
Materials you need:
- Craft foam sheets
- Scissors
- Pen or marker
- Scrap piece of paper
EYFS: Mathematics – Shape, space and measure
16-26 months:
- Attempts, sometimes successfully, to fit shapes into spaces on inset boards or jigsaw puzzles.
22-36 months:
- Beginning to categorise objects according to properties such as shape or size.
30-50 months
- Uses shapes appropriately for tasks.
Number Heart Lacing Activity
“As a form of practice, I made this Valentine’s Day themed Numbers Heart Lacing Activity. I love how it is not only number practice, but also incorporates working on fine motor skills with the lacing aspect of it.” – I heart crafty things
Materials you need:
- heavy cardstock papers
- 1/4-inch hole punch
- red yarn
- masking tape
or washi tape
- scissors
EYFS: Mathematics – Numbers
16-26 months:
- Says some counting words randomly.
22-36 months:
- Recites some number names in sequence
30-50 months
- Uses some number names accurately in play.
Pink Foam Sensory Play
“Of course, this activity can be geared towards any theme you like, just by changing up the colours, but with Valentine’s Day coming up, it was the perfect excuse to go pink! Blues and greens would make a great ocean, a tub of white foam would be perfect for a snowy small world, and red and green foam would make a great Christmas sensory tub!! But of course, if you don’t have a specific theme, you could always make a rainbow by whipping up a batch of every colour!” – The Paige diaries
Materials you need:
- 2 Tbsp of dish soap/washing up liquid
- 1/4 cup water
- a mixer
- food colouring
“In a bowl, add 2 Tbsp of dish soap and 1/4 cup of water. Add food colouring to the mix if desired. Mix on the highest possible setting for 1-2 minutes. Your foam should be able to form stiff peaks that hold their shape. Scoop it out into your container and repeat as necessary until you have the desired amount of foam!” – Fun at home with kids
EYFS: Expressive Arts and Design – Exploring and using media and materials
22-36 months:
- Experiments with blocks, colours and marks.
30-50 months
- Beginning to be interested in and describe the texture of things.
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