Valentine's Day Activities for Preschool Children

Preschool children are little absorbent sponges and they are so eager to learn new things. Teachers of preschoolers are challenged with the responsibility of teaching basic preschool skills while instilling into the child a love for learning. Preschool children are just beginning their journey into the world of education. Their first experiences as preschoolers will set the stage for them to develop a lifelong attitude about school. If they love learning as preschoolers, they have a better chance at being successful in preschool, then in grade school, and on into their high school and college years.

Teach children the concept of large, medium, and small while making adorable butterflies. Go to the site The Lesson Plan Diva to download the pattern and see a photograph of the finished project. Print enough for your little eager learners. Instruct the children to cut out the heart shapes. Children who are challenged with cutting skills may need help. After all the hearts are cut out, help the children lay one small heart, one medium sized heart, and one large heart in front of them. Ask them to identify the small heart, the medium sized heart, and the large heart. Do this several times to assess whether or not the children understand the concept of large, medium, and small.

Provide the children with pink, purple, and red crayons. Tell the children to color each size a different color. For example, you might tell them to color the large hearts red. The children will color each large heart red. Tell them to color the medium hearts purple and the small hearts pink.

Then, instruct the children to lay the large heart down first. Tell them to glue the medium sized heart on top of the large heart so that the sharp tips line up correctly. Then, allow them to glue the small heart on top of the medium sized heart so that the sharp tips line up correctly. Each child will do this twice so that they have two sets of layered wings.

Tell the children to glue the sharp pointed end of their layered hearts to the back of a popsicle stick or a coin holder. The coin holders are really cute as shown on The Lesson Plan Diva's website. Ask the children to glue on two wiggly eyes. If you don't have wiggly eyes, you can use buttons or small circles cut from construction paper. Attach pipe cleaners for antennas.

The Lesson Plan Diva offers some free downloads, but you can also purchase entire kits from the site.

Valentine holders made from shoe boxes are adorable but there is another option. Paper Plate Valentine Holders are inexpensive and they are quick and easy for preschool children to make all by themselves. All you need are three paper plates per child, crayons, and glue (or a stapler if the teacher prefers to staple the projects for the children instead).

First, allow the children to color two paper plates. You might require Valentine colors or you might allow them to use whatever colors they like. They can color both sides of the plate if they wish.

Then, fold the paper plates as if you are folding them in half. It isn't necessary to crease the plates but it is ok if creases occur. Slide the open side of the paper plates together so that they create a heart shape. Allow the children to glue the plates together or, to save time, you might want to staple the plates together for the children. If you allow the children to glue them, you will need to allow the glue to dry before continuing with the next step.

With the third paper plate, cut around the edge so that you have an approximate one inch "handle." Attach the handle to the paper plate holder. You will need to staple the handle onto the holder. Once the child adds his or her collection of Valentine cards, the handle might not hold if you use glue. You can use ribbon or fabric strips instead of paper if you like.

With the center of the third paper plate, draw on a few heart shapes. Draw different sizes but draw them small enough so that the children can color them, cut them out, and glue them onto their paper plate holders.

If you wish, you can allow the children to add other decorations such as glitter, ribbons, buttons, or anything else you have around your home or classroom.

You will need to prepare a graph ahead of time for this activity or you can download one from 2 Teaching Mommies. Give each child a copy of the candy graph and then distribute a handful of old-fashioned Valentine Candy Hearts to each child. Tell them not to eat the candy - at least not yet. Instruct the children to place their candy pieces into corresponding rows on the graph. After all the candy pieces are placed in a graphing square, check each child for accuracy. Help them make any needed corrections. Then, allow the children to color their graphs according the coordinating color of candy. For example, each square holding a pink candy should be colored pink. Each square holding a purple candy should be colored purple, and so on. After each child has finished coloring his graph. Tell the children they can eat the candy.

While the children are enjoying the candy, discuss the graphs with them. Ask the children to hold up their graphs and explain which color they had most and the least. Discuss concepts such as more and less. You can also use the completed graphs to teach the children about long and short.

You can use similar graphs to compare M&Ms, Skittles, and almost any other bite sized candies. Graphing teaches children to identify colors, count, and compare lengths.

Cut heart shapes from construction paper so that they resemble traditional heart shaped Valentine candies. Instead of messages, write letters onto each one. Be sure to write each letter twice. If you complete the alphabet, you will end up with 52 hearts. Matching the entire alphabet might be too overwhelming for your preschool children so divide the alphabet up so that you have several sets with 5 letters in each set (10 hearts). Divide the children into groups of two or three. Turn over the hearts so that the children cannot see the letters. Allow them to flip the hearts over one at a time until they find matching letters. In order for the child to keep her letters, she must identify the letter correctly. Once a winner is declared, instruct the children to lay the "candy hearts" down and repeat the game. Repeat the game several times. Observe to assess whether or not the children are identifying the letters correctly. As the children master the skill, challenge them by adding more letters to each set. When the activity is completed, reward the children with a few real candies if you wish.

Print out several heart shapes on white paper. Above the heart, write color words. Cut out a square or triangle around the heart and color words so that you can assemble a book from the pages. Give each child a set of color pages. Discuss color words with your preschool children to help them begin to recognize color words. Some preschool children will learn the words more easily than others. I work with two and three year old children so I chose to hand each child one page at a time and I gave each child only one crayon - the color that matched the color word. This helps very young preschool children understand that the word means something. It isn't just a word on a page. They will learn that the word on the page represents the color of the crayon. When the child finishes coloring one page, hand them the next page with the corresponding crayon. When all the pages are completed, attach them together with a staple or a ring. My preschool children were proud of their color books.

You can download or order Valentine Kits with pages completed for you, but if you are working with a limited budget, you can make your own materials. Cut out basic shapes from white or colored construction paper. Paste a cut out of a candy heart in the middle of the shape to create a Valentine theme. You can opt to paste an actual candy heart into the middle of the shape if you wish. Paste the shape decorated with the candy heart onto a white sheet of paper. You won't need to do this if you opted to cut the shapes from white paper. Above the shape, write the shape word so that children learn to recognize the word and the shape. Again, this helps children understand that words have meaning. Gather the children into a circle and discuss the various shapes. If you opted to cut the shapes from colored paper, you can use this same set of materials to reinforce the concept of color recognition. Write the color word on the back. After asking children to identify the color, flip it over so they can see the word.

Preschool children will love making heart shaped bird feeders. To prevent injury, use pipe cleaners instead of wire. Wire can become unintentional weapons in the hands of four year olds. Help the children shape the pipe cleaners into heart shapes. Allow them to string regular Cheerios (or a more economical store brand variety) onto the pipe-cleaners until the pipe cleaners are completely hidden. After the children are finished stringing the cereal, you might have to help them reshape their bird feeders back into a heart shape.

You can loop several heart shaped bird feeders together for more elaborate feeders and you can add ribbons if you wish. You can make these feeders as fancy or as simple as you like. Either way, they are adorable.

Then, take the kids outside and let them hang their feeders onto a tree or plant stand. If possible, hang the feeders near a window so that they can watch as birds come by to visit and have a snack. Take a few photos and hang them around your home or classroom so that the children can see their successful projects in use.

Go to Under the Table and Dreaming for a great photograph of this finished project.

Cut out ten small triangles from white paper. Across the top of one piece of paper, draw a candy heart. Below the candy heart drawing, write the number "1." Then, across the top of a second piece of paper, draw two candy hearts. Below the drawing, write the number "2." Continue until you have represented all numbers 0 - 10. If you wish to make this activity a little more interesting, paste real candy hearts onto the paper instead of drawing the candy. You might want to use an index card for sturdiness. Gather the children together and discuss the numbers. Instruct the children to count the hearts and explain that the number written on the card represents the number of hearts on the paper. Write the number word on the back of the paper or card. After the children count the hearts and identify the number, flip over the card and read the number word.

Cut out several hearts in at least five sizes. You can use more sizes for older children. Arrange the heart shapes in no particular pattern in the middle of a table. Ask the children to work together to arrange the hearts in order from largest to smallest. Then, ask them to arrange the hearts in order from smallest to largest. Make several sets using different colors. Make at least one set in one color, preferably all white, so that children who find this activity challenging will not find the colors distracting. They need to focus only on the sizes of the heart shapes. Make a set so that each shape is cut from a separate color. Write the color words on the back of the heart shapes so the children can practice recognizing color words. Make a set so that at least two heart shapes are cut from the same color. You can use that set to practice grouping colors together.

Print out photographs of your children or students. Use individual photographs or use photographs of the children working together in groups. Make sure you have parental permission to use their child's photographs for school related activities. You can also use magazine images or go online and locate free images. Paste the photographs or images onto heavy duty card-stock. After the glue dries, cut the images into heart shapes. Then cut the heart shaped images into smaller pieces to create a puzzle. Allow the children time to practice putting the puzzles together. If possible, make enough for each child. After Valentine's Day, allow the children to take their puzzles home.

Welcome your children into your home or your classroom with a hand-print Valentine Wreath. Place each child's hand onto construction paper, using different Valentine colors. Trace around each hand, and then cut out the hand print. Label the hand-print if you like. Obtain a Styrofoam wreath from a craft store or simple cut out a circle from cardboard. Place the hand-prints around the Styrofoam or cardboard, overlapping the hand-prints so that no Styrofoam or cardboard shows through. If you have more time, you can allow the children to decorate their hand-prints before you attach them to the wreath backing. Allow them to use glitter, buttons, markers, paint, or anything else that sparks their little imaginations.

Hang the Hand-print Valentine Wreath on your door.