The simple Valentine’s Day craft is one of my favorite valentine activities for preschoolers. The oil pastel heart art the perfect way to give the kids a creative outlet around the holiday, while still keeping it simple!
Are you following Fun-A-Day’s Valentine’s Day Pinterest board?
When I recently talked with my friend Ann of My Nearest and Dearest, I said I wanted to write a little more about the super simple activities we do in preschool. She encouraged me to do just that and pointed out that it’s a nice peek into all aspects of my classroom. Based on her encouragement, I’m sharing an incredibly simple Valentine’s Day craft for kids to make.
open-ended Valentine’s Day craft for kids
I may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.
Materials
Black construction paper
Oil pastels – we used pink, white, red, and purple
Tissue paper scraps – I cut out heart shapes on the die-cut machine (for another project) and these were leftover
*If you don’t have a die-cut machine, plain scraps would work, as would hand cutting the heart outlines.*
My goal for this craft
On our art center table, I set out the construction paper, oil pastels, and tissue paper. I hoped the items would draw the children and get their creative thoughts flowing. I love process art with the kids, and I think open-ended craft invitations like this fit right in.
In addition to letting the kiddos use their imagination, I also wanted them to explore different art material combinations. Oil pastels are so fun to work with, but young children don’t often create with them. I happen to have a ton on-hand, so I like pulling them out when possible.
What the kids did
I had absolutely no expectations for this little Valentine’s Day craft, and I loved seeing the kids’ creations. A few of the children used all of the materials – they glued the tissue paper to the construction paper, then created all kinds of designs with the pastels.
Others used the heart-shape as a stencil, coloring the shape in but not keeping the tissue paper on the final product.
Still others just weren’t into it at all and never approached the art table. I had this little invitation out for a couple of days, so interest varied. And that’s okay! Every child isn’t going to be excited about every single activity in the preschool classroom. 🙂
What do you think? Do you have an easy Valentine’s Day craft invitation to share? Or any other ideas you think I should try out? I’d love to hear about them in the comments below!
Preschool Lesson Plans for Valentine’s Day
Save time and get right to the playful learning with our printable lesson plan sets. Each set includes book suggestions, printable plans, over 30 learning activities (both whole group and centers) related to the theme, and corresponding printables.
Grab the Hearts Preschool Lesson Plans and the Valentine’s Day Preschool Lesson Plans
You can also find us on Teachers Pay Teachers
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