Instruct your fourth-graders to weave a paper heart valentine. To create the card, have the students fold red card stock in half horizontally. Draw a heart on the front cover, then have the students draw parallel diagonal lines across the heart, about 1/2-inch apart. Repeat going the opposite way, to create diamond boxes on the heart. Using very sharp scissors, have the children make slits along one set of parallel lines on the heart. Cut 1/2-inch strips from white card stock and weave it over and under the parallel lines you cut. Trim and glue the excess strip ends to the inside of the card. Student can personalize the card with a special message inside.
Provided classroom food projects are permitted at your school, guide the children in creating edible Valentine's Day treats that require no baking. For instance, create Valentine's Day versions of the classic dirt pudding treat. Give each child three or four strawberry vanilla wafers in a plastic zip-top bag and have them crush them with their fists. Have the children take turns placing a scoop of vanilla pudding into an individual cup, adding a layer of crushed strawberry wafers, scooping more pudding and topping with the remaining wafers. Give each student a gummy worm to hide in the "dirt."
Help fourth-graders create decorations for the classroom or their own homes. Translucent colorful hearts to hang in windows are a way to use up old crayons. Give each child a large sheet of wax paper, folded in half. Ask them to peel back the paper from old crayons and turn them into crayon shavings using their pencil sharpeners. Sprinkle the shavings on one half of the wax paper and fold the other half over, folding over the edges to seal. Set up an iron and ironing board. Cover the wax paper with brown craft paper, then iron over it lightly several times. At your discretion, allow the students to do the ironing of their own paper with your supervision. Cut the colorful wax paper into heart shapes and attach them to strings for hanging.
Make Valentine-themed bracelets using translucent string and beads in pink, red and white. Teach your fourth-graders how to construct a haiku, then give them time to write a few Valentine versions. Decorate plain white candles with hearts made of foam.
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