Before having kids, I never made a big deal out of Valentine’s Day, but now I fully embrace the opportunity to have another day to spread love. The only problem is that when preschool classes celebrate Valentine’s Day, you need a lot of little presents for a lot of little humans. I love DIY-ing easy preschool valentines, and the easier, the better–especially if I want to get my kids in on the creating part.
There are a lot of cute food-based valentines out there, especially in the candy and sweets aisle. But with food allergies and sensitivities, many classes don’t allow those kinds of treats, which I support. Hello, my family is basically the reason food can’t be exchanged in class since we are food allergy central.
So what can we do instead? A million other super cute things! Here are some DIY easy preschool valentines that don’t contain food, and won’t cost you an arm and a leg or an entire day to make!
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Homemade Crayons
These are a classic and are fantastic for little fingers to help make!
Requires: silicone molds or cupcake liners, crayons.
- Preheat the oven to 275 degrees.
- Soak broken crayon bits in water for a few minutes to make it easier to peel off the paper labels.
- Once you’ve removed the labels, put the crayons in a bag and let kids smash them to bits with a small hammer, mallet, or another tool you feel safe supervising them with and not be worried about them losing an eye or breaking a bone. You can also have them just break the crayons into small pieces with their fingers if they’ve got powerful fine muscles!
- Drop the small pieces into silicone molds or cupcake liners and get them in the oven.
- Let them melt until fully liquid, about 10-ish minutes.
- Let cool for a few hours and then pop out of the molds or liners and presto change-o, you have rainbow crayons.
Hot Tip: go to a craft store AFTER Valentine’s Day and they usually offer deep discounts on cute candy molds that are just right for this project. I love molds like this for fun crafting projects, but keep them separate from food ones.
Want another literally hot tip? Pour boiling water over the molds to loosen any wax bits that may still be stuck to them after the crayons have left the building. (You still might want to have “craft-only” molds for this one.)
2. Peg Dolls
Want the easiest easy preschool Valentine’s Day gift that is also a huge fan favorite? Give a cute peg doll friend!
Requires: Wooden peg dolls. Markers or paint optional.
You can give the peg dolls alone and brand them as something the kids can decorate themselves with markers, crayons, or paint. You can make this an even more interactive gift by tossing a peg doll and some mini markers in a bag. Or just draw a quick heart and a smiley face on it and be done. (Any kind of markers work on most wooden peg dolls.) Even better, let your kids decorate them while you sit with your feet up for a few minutes and bask in your own amazingness.
Want a really fancy-pants peg doll? Sew up little felt capes, hats, or mini bags for them to live in. Totally adorable and totally loved.
3. Lego Bags
If you want to give a gift that is sure to please, make some Lego bags and cards like the one above.
Requires: small cloth bags and assorted Legos
- You can buy small cloth bags like these and toss in a handful of loose LEGO bricks.
- Attach a card that says “I won’t LEGO of our friendship.” Because who doesn’t love a good LEGO pun?
To make them more affordable, buy bricks in bulk on eBay or Facebook Marketplace, or ask neighbors and friends to donate bricks to the cause. There is always someone around with a billion pieces they don’t mind siphoning off, or a grandparent with a LEGO collection getting dusty in a basement. These bags are always a kid-crowd-pleaser and you will be the favorite parent for sure.
4. Wool Hearts
For the crunchiest families out there, you are required to make wool hearts at least once in your lifetime. It’s how you get your first Crunchy Mama badge. My kids and I may have made these for multiple Valentine’s parties over the years because of course we did. But honestly, they are really too sweet to resist and so easy!
Requires: some random bits of wool roving (wool that has been processed but not spun into yarn), small heart-shaped cookie cutters, and warm soapy water.
- Stuff the cookie cutters with wool.
- Cover with water.
- Let your kiddos poke and poke until the wool is joined together firmly. (You’ll know they are done after the fifth time they’ve whined, “are these done yet?”)
You can do cheaper and easier versions of these by cutting hearts out of old, moth-bitten wool sweaters and just whip-stitching the edges. (Whip stitching is also a Crunchy Family requirement.)
You can make these as big or small as you (or your wallet) want, and they can become ornaments, bracelets, or a pillow for a fairy. Hashtag crunchy for life.
5. Heart-Shaped Suncatchers
Requires: contact paper, tissue paper, and a small child that loves sticky things.
- Cut hearts out of the contact paper, tape them to a tray, and peel off the backing.
- Have your kiddo rip up the tissue paper into small bits to decorate the heart.
- Cover with a second contact paper heart.
- Poke a hole in the top and run a string through to hang, or just give as is, they can be taped to a window easily and it’s one less step for you.
Use some scraps of contact paper to help you pick up all the tissue paper bits your child will abandon all over the floor. You’re welcome.
6. Playdough Jars
I am low-key obsessed with those mini quilted jars, like these 4 oz Ball Jars, and anything I can find to go in them just warms my heart.
Requires: jars and dough ingredients (1 cup flour {gluten-free flour works}, 1/2 cup salt, 1/2 cup water, 2 TBS. oil, and 1 TBS. cream of tartar.)
Try this easy no-bake play dough! Make a double batch and then stuff some in each jar with a cute card. Something like “you’re won-DOUGH-ful” maybe? Done and done.
7. Seed Start Hearts
You can make your own or just buy some if you want to make your life easier. Either way, these are cute and thoughtful, and they make fantastic teacher appreciation gifts so make sure to keep some handy for May. (But don’t be like me and forget where you put them.)
8. Heart Monster Craft Kit
Requires: assorted crafts to assemble a paper bag puppet. Ideas include googly eyes, stickers, pipe cleaners, a strip of tin foil, pompoms, or whatever old craft supplies you have lying around.
Put all your kit together inside the paper bag and print out easy instructions, if you’d like. Besides being incredibly easy, other families will thank you because this little craft kit might keep their kid busy for a few minutes so they can eat some Valentine’s chocolates in peace. Winner, winner, candy dinner.
9. Heart Stamps
Requires: card stock, sponge, scissors, and paint.
- Get a regular ol’ dish sponge.
- Cut some heart shapes out of it.
- Dip in paint and use them as a stamp on some cardstock.
These make really pretty cards and are a go-to in my house for thank you’s, valentines, or just notes to say hello to someone we love! You can wash the sponge and keep it to use over and over. Look at you being ready for next year ahead of time. Way to go! *High Five*
10. You Are All Write Pencil Hearts
Requires: cute pencils and cardstock.
- Cut out hearts from the cardstock.
- Poke the pencils through the cardstock hearts.
For some reason, most kids love pencils and this is such a fun way to deliver them! You could also do this with markers or crayons.
Now onto the teachers. Want to show them some love too? Sweet cards always make a teacher’s day, especially if they are filled with puns and sweetness! Make a card to let your child’s teacher know how much they are loved and have your kiddo say something nice about them that you can add to the card. Like, why do they love their teacher? What do they love to do with their teacher at school? If you want, couple the card with one of these easy preschool Valentine’s Day ideas for teachers:
- A heart-stamped bookmark using that heart sponge and some string
- Paper flower bouquet
- A personalized pencil case
- An engraved or painted rock
- A jar filled with sweet affirmations and positive notes
- A You Are The Bee’s Knees card with some Burt’s Bees Lip Balm
- These super cool plantable pencils
If your child’s school doesn’t celebrate Valentine’s Day, you can still make these crafts as a family, or give them out on Random Acts of Kindness Day which is on February 17th.
I am loving that there is another day to spread kindness… and another chance to create some of these easy preschool Valentine’s treats! You can also make some of these and give them throughout the year to your kids, use them as gift tags for birthday gifts, stocking stuffers, teacher appreciation, a Galentine’s Day brunch, or whenever you want to brighten someone’s day. So go ahead, get your DIY on, and spread the love!
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