Fun and Easy Valentine’s Day Activities for Toddlers
When your kids are little, it’s easy to get excited about any holiday, even Valentine’s Day! One way my toddler and I like to get in the festive spirit is to do crafts that reflect the holiday. So, because February is quickly approaching, I put together some of our favorite Valentine’s Day activities for toddlers.
One thing I love about these Valentine’s Day activities for toddlers is that they are simple to put together. And most of these Valentine’s Day crafts and activities require things you likely already have in your home!
Also, while these fun Valentine’s ideas are aimed at toddlers, kids of all ages can enjoy these simple activities.
Let’s get started!
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1. Shaving Cream Hearts
Making these shaving cream hearts is one of the Valentine’s Day activities for toddlers that my son loves the most. The fantastic thing about this craft is that you can make it as messy or tidy as you want!
What you’ll need:
- Free printable heart template, preferably printed on thicker cardstock
- Foaming shaving cream
- Red, pink, or purple food coloring or mix colors like red and blue to make purple
- Old gift or credit card
- Toothpicks or wooden skewers
- Optional: Contact paper
Instructions:
First, you’ll need to cut out the heart template. Then, you’ll want to get the shaving cream ready. We used a large plate to hold the shaving cream for this craft, but a baking sheet works well, too.
Next, spray the shaving cream around your container, ensuring you have enough to spread as wide as the heart template.
Then, you’ll want to flatten the shaving cream to make it mostly even. You can use a plastic spatula or spoon, but my toddler enjoyed using his hands to smooth out the shaving cream.
Next, place drops of your preferred food coloring on top of the shaving cream. You can use reds, pinks, and purples or mix colors like red and blue to make purple. Remember to leave plenty of room in between the drops of food coloring. Then, have your toddler gently take the toothpick or skewer and swirl the around the food coloring.
PRO MAMA TIP: If you’re worried about your kiddo getting poked by the toothpick, you can wrap the end that they hold with plastic wrap or masking tape.
When your toddler finishes swirling the coloring, take the heart template with the black border facing up, and place it on the shaving cream. Carefully press the heart down and ensure every part of the paper touches the shaving cream.
Next, peel the heart off the shaving cream, and lay it shaving cream-side up on a couple of paper towels. Then, grab the old gift card or credit card and scrape the cream off the paper. This will reveal the awesome design made from your child’s swirls!
If you want to preserve this cute craft for longer, you can cover it with contact paper. The contact paper will also make the heart appear glossy, making it look extra stunning!
2. Read Valentine’s Day Stories
One fun way to celebrate any holiday with little children is to read festive stories together. And reading Valentine’s Day stories can happen any time of the day, whether it’s after breakfast or before bedtime.
When looking for Valentine’s Day stories for toddlers, there are many options to choose from. Here are our top five Valentine’s Day board books:
- Happy Valentine’s Day, Mouse
- I Love You Like No Otter
- You’re My Little Cuddle Bug
- Snuggle Puppy!
- Little Blue Truck’s Valentine
3. Paper Tube Heart Stamping
Wait to get rid of your paper towel or toilet paper tube! Repurpose that cardboard tube into a simple heart-shaped stamp and make some adorable Valentine’s Day cards or pictures! And the great thing about this painting craft is that it’s speedy to set up.
What you’ll need:
- Paper towel or toilet paper tube
- Crayola craft paint (or finger paint)
- Painting appropriate paper
- Paper plate or paint palette
Instructions:
Start by making the heart stamp with the tube. To do so, you’ll push in the center of the tube until it makes the top indent of the heart. Then, if you want the bottom of the heart to have more of a point, you can pinch the bottom of the tube until it reaches a point.
I have found that the heart stamp we made didn’t need any help staying together because of how tight my son was holding it while stamping. But, if your heart stamp is losing its shape, you can tape the shape together with some scotch tape or tie it together with some yarn.
Next, pour a few different paint colors onto a paper plate or paint palette. Then, your child can press the cardboard stamp into the paint and onto the paper.
These cardboard stamps are perfect for making homemade Valentine’s cards or even a cute art print.
4. Handprint Flowers
If you’re looking for Valentine’s Day activities for toddlers that are also sweet keepsakes, try these handprint flowers! While this craft is a little messier, your kids will love getting their hands dirty.
What you’ll need:
- Crayola craft paint (or finger paint)
- Paintbrushes
- Small canvas or painting paper
- Paper towels or baby wipes for a quick hand clean-up before heading to the sink
Instructions:
First, start by getting all of your supplies ready. You’ll want to pour your preferred paint colors onto a paper plate or paint palette and have a cup of water for cleaning the paintbrush between paint colors.
Now, time for painting! You’ll start by painting one of your child’s hands for the first flower. If your child is a younger toddler, it can be easiest to paint the palm of their hand for them. Once their hand is covered with paint, have them press their hand down onto the canvas or paper. You can also press lightly on their hand to ensure all the paint transfers to the canvas.
Repeat the step above for however many flowers you want on your picture!
Once the handprint flowers are on your picture, you can let them dry while you wash up your child’s hands. Then, you or your toddler can paint some stems and leaves onto the flowers, as shown in the picture above.
ALTERNATE CRAFT: If you don’t have paint or want to get messy, you can make this handprint craft with construction paper!
You’ll help your child trace their handprint on some colored paper, cut them out, and glue them onto some white paper. Then, you can make leaves and stems out of green construction paper and glue them under the flowers. You’ll still have a cute picture with half of the mess!
5. Coffee Filter Hearts
This cute coffee filter heart craft is one of the most budget-friendly Valentine’s Day activities for toddlers, and it’s so simple! Plus, you most likely have everything you need already in your home.
What you’ll need:
Instructions:
First, you’ll start by cutting the coffee filters into heart shapes. You can cut however many filters your toddler wants to decorate.
Next, you’ll grab some markers in some festive Valentine’s Day colors. We used red, pink, and purple markers in the picture above. Now, it’s time for your child to decorate!
When decorating the coffee filter hearts, your child can have at it and make whatever designs they want! Or, if they want more guidance, suggest that they scribble some outlines around the heart in each color or make polka dots all over the hearts.
Once the hearts are colored in, place the coffee filter on a dinner plate. Then, your toddler can take the water bottle and squirt the coffee filter with a misting spray. Then you can watch all the colors blend to make a fantastic tie-dye-like design!
Once the coffee filter has been sprayed with water, you can lay it on paper towels to dry. After the filter has dried, you can tape them to a window or hang them on the fridge!
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6. Dot Marker Art Hearts
If you’ve never seen Do-A-Dot markers before, they are similar to Bingo stampers. They are essentially round marker stamps. Dot markers are great for many different crafts and activities, but they are especially great for making this fun heart craft.
What you’ll need:
- Dot markers
- Blank white paper or this free heart printable
Instructions:
You can make the dot marker heart craft in several different ways. For younger toddlers, you can use the free printable above and have them stamp the dots inside the heart.
Or, if you have an older toddler, you can have them draw a heart on a piece of blank paper, either with a regular marker or some dot markers. Once they have their heart outline, they can fill the heart in with the dot markers, making fun patterns and designs.
7. Bubble Wrap Art Prints
Bubble wrap art prints are one of my favorite painting crafts to do with toddlers. They are simple to do, they look so fun in the end, and you don’t need that many supplies!
What you’ll need:
- Crayola craft paint (or finger paint)
- Paintbrushes
- Bubble wrap
- Small canvas or painting paper
Instructions:
You’ll start by cutting out some heart shapes in the bubble wrap. You can make these hearts as big as you want, but ensure they will fit on your canvas or paper. Then, add a few paint colors to a paper plate. In the picture above, we used red, pink, and purple.
Next, your child will put the paint on the bubble wrap, ensuring there is paint on the whole shape. There are two main ways you can do this; first, you can use a paintbrush and paint the colors on the bubble wrap. Or, you can spread the paint out on the paper plate, and your child can press the bubble wrap into the paint.
Once the bubble wrap is covered in paint, your child will press the bubble wrap, paint side down, onto the canvas or paper. Make sure they smooth out the bubble wrap, so the whole heart design gets transferred onto the canvas.
Once your child gets the hang of the process, they can keep stamping the bubble wrap hearts around the canvas until they reach the design they want.
8. Make Some Pink Slime
Making slime is such an easy activity to do with toddlers, and it’s so interesting to play with! If you haven’t made slime before, this is a great, detailed recipe to use.
Also, add some heart confetti or red and pink glitter to make your Valentine’s slime extra festive!
9. Have a Festive Breakfast
Waking up to a fun, holiday-themed breakfast is a fantastic way to start the day. And I’m sure your kids will be excited to see a memorable meal!
The great thing about having a Valentine’s Day-themed breakfast is that you can make it however extravagant you want. You can go simple and make easy heart-shaped pancakes, or you can do a quick Pinterest search and find many cute but more involved ideas.
10. Pompom Heart Fine Motor Activity
The pompom heart activity is simple, but it will keep your toddler entertained for a while! Plus, this fine motor activity has many benefits, like developing hand-eye coordination and concentration and strengthening your toddler’s pincer grasp!
What you’ll need:
Instructions:
First, you’ll want to print out the heart template above. Now, if you’d like this activity to last longer, you can use contact paper or a laminator to help protect the printable and make it more durable.
Next, you’ll want to grab the pompoms and fine motor tools. Start by showing your toddler how to put one pompom inside each circle using their hands. As they get the hang of it, your child can experiment with tweezers or scoopers, and they can decide which tool works the best for them!
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11. Love Potion Science Experiment
If you’re looking for an easy science experiment for your toddler, this bubbling love potion is the perfect activity! This experiment is so simple for toddlers, but it will certainly hold their attention, and it’s pretty exciting, too.
What you’ll need:
- Baking soda
- A small cup of vinegar
- Red, blue, or purple food coloring
- Potion container (but any shallow container will work)
- Water dropper
- Recommended: A baking pan or large plate to contain the mess
Instructions:
First, pour a layer of baking soda into the bottom of your potion container. Make sure your containers are on a baking pan to contain any mess that will happen. Then, you’ll want to pour some vinegar into another small cup or bowl.
Next, drop a few drops of food coloring into the middle of the baking soda. You can choose whatever potion colors you like. We tried one with red food coloring (which is pictured above) and one with red and blue coloring mixed together.
Once the setup is done, your child can fill the water dropper with vinegar and squirt it into the container. The vinegar will react with the colored baking soda, resulting in colorful bubbles spilling out of the container!
12. Tissue Paper Hearts
The tissue paper heart is one of our favorite Valentine’s Day activities for toddlers. It’s such an easy craft that makes an excellent decoration when finished. Plus, it involves tearing paper. What toddler doesn’t love to rip up paper?!
What you’ll need:
- Free printable heart template
- Scissors or Exacto knife
- Contact paper
- Pink, red, and purple tissue paper – Using different shades of tissue paper.
Instructions:
First, you’ll need to print the heart template and cut out the black border. Since you have to cut out the white inside of the heart, it can be easier to use an Exacto knife if you have one. But, I used scissors in the picture above.
With some scissors, cut out a pile of small squares from the tissue paper. For our hearts, we used red and white tissue paper.
Next, you’ll want to cut out two squares of contact paper that are large enough to fit the heart. Then, peel the back off one square of contact paper and carfefully press the heart outline onto it.
Now, your toddler can start placing the tissue paper squares inside the heart border. You might need to help guide your toddler so that too many squares don’t end up outside the border.
When your child has finished filling the heart with tissue paper squares, you can attach the other piece of contact paper on top to seal everything together.
Once the heart is sealed, you can cut out the shape, leaving about ¼” space from the border. After the heart is complete, you can use scotch tape to attach it to a window, which will look similar to stained glass when the sun is out!
13. Candy Heart Sorting
Sorting is a great activity for toddlers that teaches them to notice similarities and differences among objects. It can also help work their fine motor muscles and encourage problem-solving.
For this candy heart sorting activity, you’ll need some little cups, bowls, or a muffin pan, and a box or two of candy hearts. Now, if your child is too young to be trusted with candy hearts, you can always use larger objects that aren’t a choking hazard.
Once you have all your supplies, you can mix the candy hearts in a bowl and then explain how to sort them by color to your toddler.
14. Bake and Decorate Valentine’s Cookies
One activity that my son and I love to do together is baking and cooking. That’s why baking cookies to decorate is one of our favorite Valentine’s Day activities for toddlers!
While you can bake any kind of cookie, making sugar cookies is one of the best choices if you want to decorate them. Once you have a recipe you enjoy, you can use fun cookie cutters and festive sprinkles to make them perfect for the holiday.
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15. Have a Red Scavenger Hunt
Next on this list of Valentine’s Day activities for toddlers is a red scavenger hunt. For this activity, you’ll need to grab a piece of paper and head decide if you want to go outside or stay inside with your kiddo.
Once you decide where to have the scavenger hunt, have your child try to find as many red things as possible and write them down on the paper.
Depending on where you do the hunt, there might be a lot of red items to find, or it might be challenging.
If you have an older toddler, drawing each object they find can be fun. They can draw these items as they find them or sit down to draw them once they’re finished looking.
16. Valentine’s Sensory Bin
Sensory bins are excellent activities for toddlers. They allow your child to explore different textures and objects while engaging their imagination and creativity.
What you’ll need:
- A Tupperware bin
- Filler – Like rice, dried lentils, or dried beans
- Scoops and small cups
- Small festive toys like plastic hearts or candy hearts – The dollar store can be excellent for finding small holiday toys!
Instructions:
Start by adding your desired filler to the bottom of the container. Then, add in the holiday objects and toys that you’ve collected. You can spread the toys around or add them in little cups around the bin for your toddler to add in and mix up. Finally, add some scoopers, and your child is ready to play!
17. Heart Symmetry Painting
Symmetry painting is another great craft that gets your child’s creativity flowing and includes a little math! And, if your child is like mine, they will love using a lot of paint and squishing it around to make art.
What you’ll need:
Instructions:
First, you’ll cut a heart shape out of painting paper. You can use regular printer paper, but it might turn out more wrinkly when it dries. To ensure the heart is symmetrical, fold the piece of paper in half to cut the heart shape out. Then, pour a bit of each paint color your child wants onto a paper plate or paint palette.
Once everything is ready, show your child how the heart is split in half. You’ll want to guide them only to paint one side of the heart.
When painting half of the heart, you’ll also want to show your child how to load quite a bit of paint onto their paintbrush. The more paint that gets onto the paper, the better the transfer will be when they fold the heart over.
Once your child is finished painting, help them fold the heart in half using the same fold you used when cutting the heart out. Then, have them press firmly and smooth the two halves together.
After your child has squished the heart together, have them peel it open to reveal its symmetrical design!
18. Make a Valentine’s Mailbox
Making a Valentine’s mailbox is a great craft for toddlers, whether they have a Valentine’s exchange or not. If your child doesn’t have a Valentine’s exchange with a playgroup or daycare, you can always put little goodies in it for them on Valentine’s Day!
The easiest way to make a Valentine’s mailbox is to cover a cardboard box, like a shoe box, with colored construction paper. Then, your child can decorate it with stickers, markers, and even glitter if you’re feeling adventurous!
19. Heart Number Matching
If your toddler is at the age where they are starting to learn numbers and how to count, then this number-matching activity will be perfect for them!
You can print out this free printable for this activity or draw something similar on paper. Then, cut out the hearts, and cut the hearts in half down the middle.
Once you have all the pieces cut out, you can mix them up, and your toddler can start putting the halves back together! If your child is beginning to learn numbers, this is still a great activity you can do together.
I hope you enjoyed this list of Valentine’s Day activities for toddlers! Remember that if you do some of these activities with younger toddlers, it’s likely that they’ll need more help than older toddlers. In the end, have fun with your child, and remember that perfection is not crucial!
Before you go, check out these related articles:
- Simple St. Patricks Day Activities for Toddlers
- The Best Birthday Traditions To Start With Your Kids
- Fun Mess-Free Finger Painting Craft For Toddlers
- Relaxing and Easy Hobbies for Busy Moms
- Must-Have Art Supplies for Toddlers
What were your favorite Valentine’s Day activities for toddlers? Let me know in the comments below!
