{photo by Laura Ockel}
Is your child’s class exchanging valentines next week? Making valentine cards can be a joy or a chore (or both). As parents, we want to make it fun, let our kids do most of the work, and focus on appreciating the students that our student gets to do SLOCA life with!
If you need some last-minute, easy ideas for handmade cards that your kids can make this weekend, here are several ideas we found (and you can always modify these ideas to include SLOCA character traits in the message!):
• Baking Cup Flower Valentines by Skip to My Lou – These are cute, if you have these supplies on hand and a child old enough make them.
• Heartfelt Greetings by Krokotak – A super simple idea! Make a heart from your child’s hands, add words, and you have a sweet card.
• DIY Flower by Hearts from Mom Dot – Here’s a cut-and-tape (or glue) craft that could easily be turned into a precious card.
• Bag of Kisses from I Heart Naptime – Use this free printable and attach to a ziplock bag with a treat. Easy. Done.
• “O-Fish-Ally Be Mine” by Tammy Mitchell Designs – To make this one even simpler, you could use ziplock bags like in the above valentine, but fill it with salty fish crackers instead of a sweet snack. You could also simplify the printable by cutting square or rectangle tags instead of circles.
• “I Think You’re a Star” by It’s Always Autumn – Here’s another free printable you can use to create a cute valentine. If you don’t want to mess with potato stamps and paint, maybe you have a star stamp in your craft box? Or let your kids draw them.
• Heartbreaker Valentines by Made Everyday – All you need is this printable and a stapler, then fill these hearts with treats for your friends. This valentine would be a great candidate for handwriting your own message instead of using the printable. The message doesn't have to be about breaking or tearing… the idea is still fun!
• Constellation Cards from Kanelstrand – This one is definitely suited for older kids who like to use a needle and thread, but it’s super cool and a simple idea.
• Totally Tea-Riffic Valentine by Visual Heart – A “quick and quirky” valentine if you have extra tea bags lying around!
• Lots of Eyes by Lucy’s Cards – This idea could be simplified by gluing lots of wiggly eyes on the front of a card, in the shape of a heart. Kids could write something like, “Eye have noticed your Kindness (or Diligence, or Responsibility, etc…)
And finally, Lauren Conrad has a collection of easy, Adorable DIY Valentines that are sweet and simple, and you might even have many of the items needed laying around your house.
We will leave you with a couple of events this weekend that you might be interested in:
- Poetry Out Loud – Tonight! February 10th, 7-9 pm. Visit the link for details and come support Meg Campbell, who will be representing SLOCA at the county level of this competition!
- Valentine Movie Night – Sunday, February 12th, 7 pm at the Park Cinemas in Paso Robles. Treat your Valentine to a special night out on the town with the annual Valentine Movie Night. Click the link for more details.
Have a lovely, pre-valentine weekend with those YOU love!
