Valentine Craft for Preschoolers

Crafting with my son is the best! I am always looking out for new things to try. I was at Target and saw a tub of air dry clay and thought it would be perfect for us. Read on to see my Valentine craft for preschoolers.

My son’s friend gave him some very sweet salt dough ornaments for Christmas and that inspired this project. You can use these hearts as hanging decorations or gift tags.

Since air-dry clay comes ready to use, this project is easy and quick.

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Valentine craft for preschoolers

Gather your supplies.

As I said above, I found the air dry clay at Target in their craft supply aisle. The cookie cutters also came from there! We started to mix the clay on the table, but it was too sticky. I grabbed some of our scrap wood (pays to be a hoarder sometimes ha ha).

Supplies for Valentine Craft for Preschoolers

1. Dough scrapper
2. Air dry clay
3. Cookie cutters
4. Rolling pin/canned food
5. 1 cup water
6. Towel to wipe hands and any spills
7. Cutting board or other surface to roll dough
8. Paints and paintbrushes
9. Paper to lay down for painting

The wood was perfect. I grabbed a dough scraper and rolling pin from the kitchen. I’ve seen people use canned food as a rolling pin substitute! Lastly, I had a cup of water to help soften the clay and an old towel to wipe our hands.

Roll out the clay.

First, roll out a small amount of the clay.

My little guy is 4 years old and he does great with the rolling pin. He has helped make pizza dough and other doughs, so he already had the general idea. You wouldn’t want to have a shape too thin or too thick.

Press a cookie cutter on the dough.

Then, press your cookie cutter firmly into the dough.

Here you can see my little guy has his heart shaped cookie cutter in place. He is dipping his hands in water to soften the shape a bit.

Poke a hole in the hearts for your string.

Next, pierce holes at the top of your clay hearts. You can use a pencil like I do, or a toothpick. Make sure to twist very well to get the hole big enough for string to fit through.

My son had so much fun getting messy with the clay and water! While that kept him occupied, I created holes in the hearts with the tip of an old mechanical pencil. My plan was to tie string to give to people as a hanging valentine, instead of a card. Or to use them as gift tags.

Paint your dried hearts.

After a few days drying, (package states to dry for one to two days) it is safe to paint. I had some paints left over from fall and Christmas that worked perfect.

Acrylic paints work well as do spray paints.

Make sure to cover your surfaces before painting!

Lay down paper and let your littles get creative with paint!

My son chose the colors he liked most. He mixed some colors together and had fun seeing what the results would be.

Use your hearts for gifting!

After the paint dried, I tied string through the hearts. I had bought a couple plants to gift to neighbors and used the hearts as gift tags. We will leave these on neighbor’s doorsteps to spread a little cheer.

This is a great rainy day activity that is pretty perfect for a preschool aged child. Of course adults can get creative and make vases, trinket dishes, ornaments with delicately carved designs. Next up we will have to try some salt dough!

Have you tried air dry clay or salt dough? Do you have a preference? Leave me a note in comments. I love to hear feedback. Thanks for reading!

Look at all these cute V-day finds!

Valentine’s day reminds me of my mom. She loves heart print everything! Growing up, she would always have a card with a small gift waiting for me in the morning of the holiday. Sometimes stickers, one year earrings, another year would be socks. I picked items that would make great gifts to give or keep. Click on the items below to shop.

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Don’t leave just yet!

I’ve gathered some more Valentine inspiration. Take a look at these great ideas.

How to make heart tassel earrings.

Simple Valentine’s Day crafts.

DIY Dollar Tree candy favors.

Handmade Valentine cards.

A Valentine yarn heart garland.

Repurposing Christmas decor for Valentine’s.

DIY heart using buttons.

DIY heart explosion card.

Resin metal glitter heart DIY.

A Valentine cocktail.

Heart pillow with vintage buttons.

Love sheet music wreath.

Valentine dipped pretzel rods.

Grapevine heart wreath DIY.

A whole slew of ideas!

DIY block scribble art.

4 easy Valentine DIY’s.

Simple wooden dough bowl DIY.

Free printable Valentine cards.

A Valentine’s Day love sign.

Shell trinket dish with heart doodles.