Whether you’re crafting with the kids or just young at heart, share the love this month and try these 19 simple Valentine’s craft ideas for kids.

1. Cardboard roses

Image: your_atx_nanny

Sure, roses don’t last forever, but we’re pretty certain this fun Valentine’s Day craft will. Raid the recycling for an egg carton, grab some scissors, paints and get creative!

What you’ll need:

• - Egg carton

• - Poster Paint in red and pink

• - Paint brush

• - Scissors

• - Green pipe cleaners/straws or sticks
  
  

Using scissors, cut up the egg carton into segments, then add some angles on the top to look like rose petals. Continue until you have enough -- six make a nice little bouquet but you can also create a dozen. Add a splash of paint colour to the inside of the carton with paints. Once dry, pop a hole in the base of the carton and slide the green pipe cleaner/straw through it.

2. Strawberry prints

Image: lets.play.and_learn

For a cute craft that will also double as a keepsake, look no further than this idea!

These adorable strawberry handprints are fun to create with little artists and can easily be used for gifts to family too!  

What you’ll need:

• - White paper or card

• - Poster paint in red and green

• - A small paint brush

• - A black marker

• - A coloured marker (for the writing)

Pop hands in red poster paint and stamp them onto the white paper (leaving enough room for the green stalk at the top). Once the paint is dry, use a marker to add in the black seed details, then add a lovely message in markers.

3. Paper bugs

Dig into the craft box and reach for some textured paper, googly eyes and create these fun love bugs!

What you’ll need:

• - Red textured cardboard

• - Scissors

• - Pencil

• - Black card

• - Craft glue

• - Googly eyes

• - Pipe cleaners

• - Small heart stickers
  
  

Using a pencil, draw several circle shapes onto the red and black cardboard. Cut the red cardboard in half again to create semi-circles for the wings. Glue the wings to the black bug body and attach googly eyes. Cut a pipe cleaner in half for the antenna and finish by adding small hearts!

4. Heart collage

Of course we love a good heart card DIY idea, but how fun are these Keith Haring-inspired heart collages!? Make your own to create for a Valentine’s card or just have fun playing around with the idea.

What you’ll need:

• - Scissors

• - Coloured paper

• - Black cardboard

• - Craft glue

• - Coloured poster paints

• - Paint brushes

• - Black marker

Cut out a range of various coloured hearts -- if you’re making a card, fold the black card in half. Glue your heart to the black card, then cut out a range of shapes for your heart’s arms, legs, eyes and mouth, you’ll need to glue these to the card too. Once the glue’s dry you can add some fun details for eyes, noses and mouths. Then grab the paints and add some coloured strokes shining out from the heart, leave to dry and then you’re all done!

5.Popsicle stick hearts

Image: farmhouse_mama_blog

These love bug popsicle sticks are a match made in heaven! Pop them in the garden, around the home or in the home office to easily brighten up any dull corner. For this fun Valentine’s Day craft, you’ll only need a few things!

What you’ll need:

• - Scissors

• - Coloured popsicle sticks

• - Craft glue

• - Pink paper

• - Googly eyes

• - A coloured marker

• - Pipe cleaners
  
  

Cut out the two heart shapes, then add googly eyes and pipe cleaners for the antenna. Using a marker add a fun face, then attach the heart face to the popsicle stick and leave to dry. For curly antennas you can twist two pipe cleaners together, before untangling them for a tight spring.

6. Popsicle stick love bug 

Put those extra popsicle sticks to use with this simple Valentine’s craft idea for kids.

A hot glue gun is needed for this project, so it’s best to create this one alongside the little ones.

What you’ll need:

• - Regular popsicle sticks

• - Two smaller sized popsicle sticks

• - Red poster paint

• - Paint brush

• - A black and white paint pen or markers

• - Googly eyes

• - Black craft paper

• - Hot glue gun

• - Black pipe cleaner
  
  

Begin by laying out seven regular popsicle sticks with two smaller sticks to the sides, then glue to secure them together. Once dry, add a coat of red paint. Then using a black marker, add a smiley face, decorations and add two googly eyes. Cut the pipe cleaner in half, then bend to create the antenna. Cut out two hearts for the wings and glue them to the back, then add any extra details to the wings using a white marker, for more you can find the full instructions here.

7. Valentine’s wreath

Image: thegoatabode

Who said wreaths were just for Christmas? This project is fun to create with the little ones and all you need is some wire and wool!

What you’ll need:

• - Scissors

• - Coloured yarn

• - Wire in the shape of a heart

• - Cardboard
  
  

There’s a bunch of different ways to create pom poms, you can use a fork, a cardboard ring or your hand --if you’re feeling crafty. For a cardboard ring, trace around a lid jar for a circle, then cut another hole inside it like a doughnut. Then wrap your yarn around it, cut it in half and you’ll have a pom pom! Create a bunch of pom poms with different yarn colours, then hang from the wreath!

8. Air dry clay coasters

Image: creativeplaytoday

These air dry clay coasters are a great way to show the love this Valentine’s Day. Whether you add names, messages, or just nice mantras, roll some clay out and have some fun with this project.

What you’ll need:

• - Air dry clay

• - Heart cookie cutter

• - Rolling pin

• - Paints and brushes
  
  

Roll some air dry clay out using a rolling pin, then add your hearts into the clay using a cookie cutter. Leave the hearts to dry (drying time will vary, but it’s typically around 24 hours). Once they’re dry, add a coat of paint to make your project pop – and it makes the clay waterproof too! Then you’re all done!

9. Sticker resist heart crafts

Image: merel.speelt.plays.gioca

This is a really simple Valentine’s craft idea for kids! In this activity, the stickers will resist the paint and leave a nice outline and it’s a great technique for creating cards.

What you’ll need:

• - Cardboard

• - Scissors

• - Heart stickers

• - Paints and brushes
  
  

To create your own sticker resist, cut a heart shape from a piece of cardboard. Then, place the stickers on the cardboard to form a heart. Next, paint the cardboard using your favourite colours. Once the paint is dry, remove the stickers to show the resist!

10. Smiley heart

Image: dadda_n_daddy

Create this smiley heart for Valentine’s Day using left over bits and bobs from the craft box and let your little artists turn it into a card or a poster for a loved one. This project was by Lucy aged 3 and we’re in love.

What you’ll need:

• - Red coloured cardstock/construction paper

• - PVA craft glue

• - Scissors

• - Black marker

• - Pipe cleaners

• - Googly eyes
  
  

Begin the project by cutting out a heart shape from red cardboard, (you might want to fold the cardboard in half first if you’re making a card), then glue the googly eyes on with PVA or craft glue and attach the pipe cleaners for arms and legs, then draw on a mouth. Once dry, you can open the card and write inside, or attach it to another piece of card for a poster.

11. Tissue paper heart

Image: bayarea.moms

Crafting can be hard with the little ones, especially if their attention spans aren’t as long as some! For a fun but quick DIY kids’ Valentine’s Day craft project, try this tissue paper heart.

What you’ll need:

• - Coloured cardstock/construction paper

• - Craft glue

• - Scissors

• - Coloured tissue paper
  
  

Cut a large heart shape out of the cardstock or construction paper, then cut a smaller shape inside, to create the frame. Begin scrunching balls of coloured tissue paper, you can cut them as large or small as you’d like. Then spread the craft glue onto the heart and begin placing the tissue paper on top, repeat until your heart is full! 

12. Heart garland

Image: origami_est

For a simple Valentine’s craft idea for kids that will last (and that you’ll actually want to keep) all year round, try this origami heart garland.

What you’ll need:

• - 10cmx10cm squares of paper (or try 20cmx20cm squares for something bigger)

• - Scissors

• - Craft glue

• - Ribbon
  
  

  You can follow along here for the instructions. Make the hearts as big or small as you like, change up the colours to match your home or desk, or hang them around the kids’ craft area.

13. Love monster puppet and gift bag

Image: the.every.box

If you’re a keen crafter with the kids, chances are there will be plenty of glue, coloured paper, paint and probably some odd googly eyes sitting around the place. Use up those left- overs and create a handmade Valentine’s gift bag or entertain the kids and turn the bag into a puppet.

What you’ll need:

• - Paper gift bags (either white or coloured)

• - Poster paint (try red and pink for a white bag or white for a pink bag) and a paint brush

• - Coloured paper

• - Googly eyes

• - Scissors

• - Black marker

• - Craft glue
  
  

For the white Valentine’s gift bag, begin by cutting five different sized hearts out from coloured paper. Then glue the hearts on both corners (top and bottom) and one in the middle for the monster’s eye. Once glued, begin painting the bag with spots, you can try a small brush, a small finger or the end of a pencil to add the dots, using different colours as you go. Then draw on a mouth with a black marker, add a googly eye and leave to dry!

For the puppet, place the paper bag upside down and begin cutting out eight different-sized hearts and glue them to the bag, you can place two on the body and two for the ears like this idea. Then cut some small triangles out for the teeth and glue them onto the bag (or paint the teeth on for a little time saving hack, or if you know the puppet will be played with a lot, plus it saves on the vacuuming), then paint some spots on with white paint before adding the googly eyes and leaving to try!

Optional: This idea has added pipe cleaners too but make yours your own and be as detailed or as brief as you’d like.  

14. Clay n paint

 Image: brushstrokespottery

If you’re looking for something out of the box to try with the kids, give clay a go. You can create a heart dish using polymer clay or air dry clay like one of these projects, or jazz up your own heart trinket dish by adding a lick of paint.

What you’ll need:

• - Polymer clay or air-dry clay

• - Coloured acrylic paint for the dish

• - Pink acrylic paint for the heart designs

• - Small and medium paint brush

• - Black paint marker or fine liner
  
  

 If you’re looking to create a trinket dish, you can follow along with our lesson and make yours into a heart shape. Or if you’re using your own, add two coats of acrylic paint to your dish and let it dry overnight (depending on the type of surface, you may have to use a primer first or add another coat of acrylic). Once dry, using a smaller brush, add some hearts around your dish. Leave it to dry before adding some little smiley faces, like this idea, with a paint marker.

15. Love birds

 
Image: makinglifeblissful

For a simple Valentine’s craft idea for kids that’s cute enough to chirp about, check out these little love birds. These birdies will make for a great Valentine’s Day card or for seasonal wall décor.

 
What you’ll need:

• - Cupcake liners

• - Googly eyes

• - A glue stick or craft glue

• - Yellow paper/ foam cut into triangles

• - Heart shapes/ stickers

• - Sheet of plain paper

• - Brown pipe cleaners (optional)

• - 3 Plastic flowers (optional)
  
  

You can find the instructions to create your very own love birds here. Be as detailed as you like, but most of all, just have fun creating alongside the kiddies.

16. Mason jar of hearts

Here’s a simple Valentine’s craft idea for kid’s project that you can use throughout the year. Turn some old jam jars into a nice little Valentine’s keepsake and feel that warm fuzzy feeling, knowing you’re upcycling too.

What you’ll need:

• - Old jam jars or mason jars

• - Red tissue paper

• - PVA glue

• - Scissors

• - LED tea light (LEDS are safer for kiddies)
  
  

After cleaning up the jam jars with a little wash, cut some paper hearts out from the tissue paper. Then stick them around the outside of the jar using watered-down PVA (water it down slightly to make sure the hearts stick clearly to the jar). Once dry, pop in your LED tealight and you’re done.

17. Heart wreath

Give this simple Valentine’s craft idea for kids a go. Create your own paper heart wreath and hang it throughout the month of February (or all year, we’re not judging).

What you’ll need:

• - Paper (cardstock, printed scrapbook paper, glitter paper)

• - Cardboard for the wreath

• - Ribbon

• - Scissors

• - Craft glue

For this project, cut out paper hearts of the same size, from different coloured paper and from the printed thick paper. Once you have your hearts, cut out the ring shape for your wreath from another piece of carboard – these will be for the hearts to sit on. Then glue the hearts to the cardboard, take some time to arrange them as you’d like with overlapping and different placement, before gluing down to secure. Then finish the project by adding a ribbon to hang.

18. Recycled cardboard card

Image: learningwithmymummy

We love this simple Valentine’s craft idea for kids, not only because it’s super colourful but also because it’s made from recycled cardboard. Turn some left overs into a cute keepsake, making a handmade Valentine’s gift that grandparents or family will treasure.

What you’ll need:

• - Left over cardboard

• - Coloured poster paint and brushes

• - Scissors or hobby knife

• - Craft glue

• - Ribbon

• - Marker
  
  

Draw a heart using cardboard and cut the outline out, you can use scissors or a hobby knife (depending how thick the cardboard is, but best left to the adults for that step). Then use this as a template to create larger hearts, (cut out four more so there are five in total). Then let the kids go crazy and paint each heart a different colour, or let them experiment with their own designs and patterns, then leave to dry.

Use a craft glue to attach each heart together and then once dry, make two small holes in the top using scissors or a knife and thread the ribbon through. Then finish the project by writing on the back of the card! A pretty simple DIY kids’ Valentine’s Day craft project, if we do say so, ourselves.

19. Post box

This simple Valentine’s craft idea for kids project isn’t just adorable, it can also be a fun way for kids to learn motor skills and give them a handy toy to play with.

What you’ll need:

• - Cardboard box

• - Red paint

• - Scissors

• - Craft glue

• - Paper

• - Pen

Follow along for the tutorial video here, this is a great way to craft alongside the kids and this mail box idea can be easily converted into Santa’s mailbox when Christmas rolls around!

Try your own handmade Valentine’s gifts this Valentine’s Day and show us how you go. #montmarteart or tag us @montmarteart on Instagram or Facebook, we’d love to see what you create.

Need some supplies? Check out our craft section here.