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For all the crafty Moms out there, I’ve seen a million adorable crafts for Valentine’s Day on Pinterest (so many that I made a new board full of them!)
I am actually pretty awful at crafts and art projects in general. But I do make one special, simple craft for my kids each Valentine’s Day. The idea came from wanting to make my kids feel loved on this holiday, instead of turning it into yet another gift-giving occasion.
On Valentine’s Day, my children wake up to find a special Valentine from Mom and Dad on their bedroom door. It has their name on a big heart in the center, and positive affirmations about them on little hearts all around.
My children love these so much, they read them over and over again. Last year, Elle asked us to read them out loud to her each night before bed. All of the kids kept them on their doors long past Valentine’s Day, until the paper started to get crumpled and ripped.
To me that just illustrated how much our kids need to hear positive messages about themselves.
Remember to include not only your child’s obvious strengths, but also ones they are working on or just starting to develop. This will promote the positive behaviors you want to see more of from your child. For example, my two middle children typically clash and don’t get along. Recently though, Zari has started being more helpful with Elle by helping her carry her bags in from the car or reaching things that are high up for her. On Zari’s Valentine, I wrote “We love how you’re a helpful big brother” to encourage him to see himself as a helpful big brother and continue the kind behavior.
Add ons
A new idea I had for this year is to continue adding hearts when I catch them being good throughout the month of February. When they’ve done something kind or helpful, they’ll be surprised with a new heart on their door affirming their good choice. By the end of the month, they will each have a positive affirmation Valentine with extra hearts “dripping” down their door.
You can also develop kindness by having your children write what they love about each other and add it to their sibling’s door. This small gesture will make both children feel good and help give their relationship a positive boost.
Materials
All I needed to make these were:
- A set of stencils- because I’m really THAT bad at art and can barely make a heart
- Colored paper- I used neon paper because there were lots of different shades of pink, red, and purple
- Scissors
- Markers
- Glue stick
A feel-good gift
If you want to encourage positive behavior and boost your child’s self-esteem, try this simple Valentine’s Day craft this year instead of gifts or candy. Feeling good about themselves will feel even better than eating chocolate 😊
8 comments
This is such a lovely craft to do for Valentine’s Day. My kids love it when they get little treats or notes. I like that this one is meaningful for the recipient.
Thanks Marysa! I do also get my kids a book and something sweet for Valentine’s Day, but this one is the most meaningful and they constantly go back to it.
I love this idea, Caitlin! Especially the add-ons. I’m totally going to do this!
Yours will come out so much prettier than mine haha!
This is such a beautiful and sweet idea — imagine your kids having a bad day as an adult and pulling out years of these cards from Mom and Dad to give them a boost <3
That just gave me the sweetest little mental picture 🙂
I love this idea, especially including areas they are developing and working on. A great way to encourage your child and also show your love and affection to me.
This is SO perfect! I might have my Son make one affirmation heart for his Preschool too💌