I don’t care if you do store-bought or handmade cards. Even when the 3-year-old kid was clearly uninvolved in the making of the cards, I’m at the point where I just assume the parent really loves doing crafts.
However, I like including my kids in handmade cards on the years they want to make them. The cards that we create are easy and pretty much any age can do it as long as they can put stickers down or move a crayon. The craft is versatile enough that you can do it every year as your kids gets closer to perfectly outline a square with ribbon then curl it.
Sometimes they look amazing and sometimes only a mother could love them.
Supplies:
- Square Card Stock: 1 for each card needed plus 2-3 extras for mistakes, rips, miscounting
- Dark thin marker for writing (exact color depends on card stock)
- Stickers (or handmade cutouts)
- Stamps and ink (optional)
- Additional decor like ribbons (optional)
First and foremost:
Count how many kids in the class plus teachers and any family members. Get supplies at least a week in advance especially if the number is over 10. Even kids who love stickers and drawing get bored after doing it 10 times in a row.
Honestly assess your kids’ limits. If stickers are frustrating, have them use a crayon to color. Remember though, they may have to repeat the process 35 times so asking them to draw a meaningful picture on each card is ridiculous (and why I use stickers with my kids when they were ages 3 and 6).
Buy card stock.
I’ve bought card stock with pretty red and pink and orange patterns, but I also think white would work great. It really depends on what your kids what to make on them and I buy the ones on sale. If your kid is young or will get bored halfway through you should chose a busy pattern so they can do less work. Also, if you chose stamps over or with stickers, stamps need light-colored paper, that isn’t busy, to show up well.
I also buy just squares so there is only one surface to design and write on (or you can write on the back if the kids go crazy with stickers).
Decide who is going to write “Happy Valentine’s Day” and their name:
If your kid can’t or won’t write, one alternative is a stamp with “Happy Valentine’s Day” on it although for young kids it will be difficult to not blur the image. You can also find stickers, which have those words, and place them front and center.
The name part is easier because it’s less words and one of the first things kids learn to write. However, don’t expect your kid to write it thirty-times in one day. That’s not fun or reasonable. If your kid isn’t writing their name yet or often, but you still want them involved, try a stamp. We own initial stamps so when my daughter couldn’t write her name yet, she stamped “N” and I filled out the rest. These little stamps have gotten more use than any other stamp in our collection.
I always do the words last so no one accidentally covers up their name in a sticker frenzy. You can also do all the words on the back of the card. In that case, do the words first because stickers and ribbons make the card uneven for writing.
Buy stickers:
I buy a few valentine themed ones like hearts, but mostly I let the kids chose their themes — dogs or airplanes or cupcakes. Most craft stores have tons of stickers about almost anything, and if you have busier paper, you can even do only a few stickers per card to save money. I usually let me kids go crazy with stickers because I adore stickers making my ability to resist is very, very low.
An alternative to stickers can be cutting out shapes like hearts and cats and dogs. Many places online have stencils to copy, and you would just outline and cut them out prior to starting this project. I personally wouldn’t add that as part of the project with the kids since the curves of animals or superheroes is complicated even with adult scissors and you need multiple ones for each card.
Buy or use stamps and ink:
I have a huge stamp collection from when my son was young — he loved stamping while I cooked dinner — so I only need to buy ink. However, if you do this project every year, some holiday stamps are a great investment because they don’t go bad. Ink will probably need to be purchased each year though. Chose your colors based on the background of the card stock and remember ink is messy so buy washable ink and maybe be okay with your kids having ink-stained hands on Valentine’s Day.
Additional fun:
Glue on ribbons, glitter (especially good if you hate the other parents in your classroom), hearts cut out of construction paper, gems or anything! Just don’t make the project so complicated that the kids won’t doing it anymore or have to be constantly redirected to not “mess it up.”
Envelopes:
In our school, we don’t put individual names on each card so envelopes are unnecessary. Yay! If you need them, there a few ideas. You can usually find envelopes near card stock and just buy some. Alternatively, you can write the other kids’ names wherever you write yours or on the back of the card. If you use the back, you can even add a triangle to the other side to make the back look like an envelope, and on the front, you “open it” by lifting the triangle piece. (That’s probably your job rather than the kids.)
The most important part of the card-making is for the kids to have fun, which is why I recommend stickers. But if one card has three stickers and one has eight, WHO CARES? Kids’ crafts aren’t supposed to look good. They’re supposed to foster creativity, motor skills, visual skills, and FUN.
Want more Valentine’s Day themed craft ideas?
Here’s a great way to use up old crayons
Check out these creative DIY Valentines
