The children can create Valentine jewelry out of colored craft foam hearts and beads. Children can punch holes into the hearts and string them onto yarn to create necklaces and onto pipe cleaners to create rings. They can string the beads onto the yarn, in addition to the hearts, as an added decorative accent for the necklaces, or they can glue beads on top of the hearts if they are creating rings. To seal rings, form pipe cleaners into circles and twist the ends together. To seal the necklaces, tie the two ends of the yarn together.
Instead of making the traditional Valentine mailbox, have children create a card carrier from brown paper lunch bags. Offer children three to five brown paper lunch bags and instruct them to lay the bags on top of one another so that the bottoms of the bags are lying on top of each other. Have children punch two holes in the bottom of the pile of bags, one on top of the other. Cut a length of ribbon for each child and have them string the ribbon through the holes and tie it in a knot or a bow, affixing the bags together. Have children decorate the surfaces of the bags that are showing with crayons, markers, stickers, stamps and glitter glue. Children can insert Valentine cards into the openings of the bags.
Transform paper plates into Valentine wreaths. Provide children with paper plates and instruct them to cut the centers out of the plates. Offer them red, pink, purple and white construction paper and encourage them to cut different sized hearts out of the paper. Instruct them to glue the hearts around the perimeter of the paper plate. If they'd like, they can use glitter glue to add a bit of sparkle to their wreaths. Cut lengths of decorative ribbon, string them through the center of the paper plates and tie the ends together, forming a loop to hang the wreaths on. Use these wreaths to decorate your classroom, or children can use them to decorate their homes.
Flowers are a quintessential Valentine gift. Instead of giving clipped blooms that only last a short period of time, through this art activity, children can give long-lasting flowers. Provide students with terracotta flower pots and different colors of tempera paint. Encourage them to use the paint to decorate their flowerpots any way they wish. Once the paint dries, have children fill their pots with soil and flower seeds. Their Valentines will be delighted to watch the seeds grow and will have a long-lasting keepsake.