Making Valentines With a Preschooler

Carlo is having a Valentine's Day party at his preschool next week.  I remember how exciting Valentine's Day parties were when I was a kid.  There were arts and crafts, food, cards being passed out, and I would sit and eat and look at all the Valentines lined up in my hand crafted envelope.  There was always that one silly boy who would confess his love to the pretty girl in class, while the rest of us giggled and gobbled up our chocolates. 

In high school, it was candy grams that were sent through the student council or the Sing-A-Grams.  The Sing-A-Grams were my favorite; the chorus would surround a student and sing Lean On Me at the top of their lungs while we all watched instead of dissecting another Edgar Allen Poe poem. 

 I got my first kiss around Valentine's Day.  I think I was sick too. I also asked my first boyfriend to TOLO, the girl ask boy dance, on Valentine's Day by decorating his car with balloons and streamers and putting paint all over the windows. A friend of mine got secret class passes, as I recall, so I felt extra crazy sneaky getting out of class.  As you can tell, I was quite the rebel in my youth.  All in all, I pretty much like the holiday.

So, it was really fun to sit down with Carlo this evening and make Valentine's day cards with him.  No, I didn't run to the store and buy a box of cards this year. (I may next year though, so just for the record, I don't have anything against that.)  And no, the Valentine's Day cards that we made are not the sort that you will find on Pinterest or other fabulously cute websites.  However, they were done entirely by my three and a half year old and we had a great time making them.  Also, on the educational side, it helped with his fine motor skills.  Who can tell I am a teacher here?

Check out the pictures below to see our Valentine's Day extravaganza. 

Here are the supplies you will need to make Valentine's Day cards with your three year old: paper, pens, stickers, candy, tape, and caffeine. Note: I thought about glitter for a split second and then the teacher got the best of me.

 

 

Here are the labels with Carlo's name on them that he is coloring because he does not know how to write his name yet.

Eli was yelling at the top of his lungs from behind his "gate" aka- the love seat, because he wanted to join in on the action.  Here he is eating a yellow marker and then repeatedly dropping it on the floor.

Mom has now taken away yellow marker, and Eli has decided to try dropping his truck instead.

This is the red marker on Carlo's lip after vigorously smelling the Mr. Sketch marker.

Ta da! See the final product here, complete with candy and mixer sticker.  It is ready to be delivered!

Happy Valentine's Day!