Classroom valentines: start them now!

My most useful Valentine's Day tip, especially for kids who pass out classroom valentines, is to start early! Homemade valentines are easy to make; the problem is usually the lack of time.

Starting today, gather the supplies. You've probably already got them lying around.

• Card stock (old manila file folders work well) or construction paper
• Red, pink and black markers and/or crayons
• Stickers, stamps, doilies, and bits of glitter
• Glue, glue sticks, tape
• If you like, small candies
• The classroom roster, including the names of your kids' teachers

This weekend, sit down with the kids and figure out what kinds of valentines they want to make (and if they want to make special valentines for their teachers). Keep them simple! Cutting out folded hearts takes minutes. If everyone's in the mood, start decorating!.

Next week, have the kids sign 1-2 valentines per day. The signing takes longer than you think, especially for beginning writers. Break this repetitive task into bits to keep it fun.

Before you know it, the valentines will be done, the kids will have had a fun art project with a bonus lesson in relationship-building.

More: Looking for ideas? Check out Best of Parent Hacks: Valentine's Day

Comments

[Gil]

My girls love everything Disney and you can get some great printables from their Family Disney site. Just print them out, cut them up and have your kids sign them (over the course of a couple weeks, a couple a day) and then you have fairly professional and fun character valentines for your family.

[Asha Dornfest]

Perfect! Printables are good, as are hearts cut out from old magazine pages or wrapping paper....almost anything goes.

[Gina]

Sitting down to sign a couple cards each night is the best tip for parents doing this the first time! We did that last year and it made it so manageable for a kindergartner to sign 24 cards.

[Melanie]

Thank you so much for the reminder! I typically forget until a couple of days before. I think I will pay a visit to the crafts store today . . . :)

[Rachel]

I just stumbled upon a site with lots of great Valentine's crafts and ideas. http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/valentine/ Now my son's dinosaur Valentines will be MUCH easier to manage!