Quick Tips

Valentine's Day Crafts for Kids

Kim Begnaud suggests gluing a heart-shaped cookie cutter with your child's picture in it to a piece of construction paper and having your child decorate the keepsake for friends and family members.
SK and her son made word-search puzzles for his classmates, using everyone's names. They printed them up on Valentine-colored paper and handed them out at his school.
Naturalsoycandles makes magnets for her older child's friends. She uses heart-shaped molds, plaster-of-paris, and paint, but you can streamline the process by hot gluing small magnets to pretty objects from your local crafts store.
Kat directed us to Kids Craft Weekly, where she found a guide to making a really cool heart-shaped sun catcher. There are plenty of other great ideas there as well!
Thinking about making something yummy? Your child's teacher might appreciate a set of chocolate-covered spoons, Kim Begnaud points out. They're easy to make, too: Dip spoons (from an antique store, a kitchen-supply store, or even plastic ones) in melted chocolate, let them dry, wrap them in plastic wrap and tie them with a bow. Perfect for that morning cup of coffee!

Here are five more ideas to get you going:

Make heart-shaped stained-glass cookies for the class. (It's even easier if you use store-bought sugar-cookie dough!)
A decorated picture frame is a sweet and calorie-free treat for teachers; most craft stores have inexpensive wooden or plaster ones that your kids can paint.
Instead of cards, have your child hand out woven heart bags made of construction paper (with a treat or two tucked inside, of course).
Older kids can make and trade beaded Valentine's Day bracelets instead of cards; younger kids can make bracelets for their friends out of strips of pretty ribbon.
Give teachers a bouquet of tissue-paper flowers (or make a single "bloom" for each classmate) along with an appreciative note.