There's nothing nicer than mailing Valentine's Day cards to family and friends who are far away. Here are five fun and easy ideas that kids of all ages can do to create perfectly love-ly cards:
Special Delivery Hug
Have your child make hand prints on construction paper, than cut-out the right and left hands separately. Attach the hands with a length of ribbon, and write on the back of the hand prints "Sending You a Long Distance Hug!" (Full instructions at Tons of Fun.) (Shown from our Valentine's Day Pinterest board.)
Thumb-body Loves You
First, make the card by folding a sheet of construction paper in half. Then, have each child in the family add her thumbprint and write her name underneath. And last, write the message "(Thumb)body loves you!" For added decoration—as long as the kids' thumbs are already messy—make heart thumbprints, too by having your child put her thumbs together in a heart shape.You can see the full Thumb-body Valentine project at Brown Paper Packages, and directions for making the heart thumbprints are at Parents.com.
My Art Belongs to You
My Art Belongs to YouHave your child draw an abstract picture (toddler scribbles work perfectly) and then cut her artwork into a heart. Tape the heart to a construction paper card with the message "My Art Belongs to You." Feeling extra crafty? Fold a piece of construction paper in half and have your child draw directly on the right-hand inside side. Then cut a heart out of the other side of the paper so that the design can be viewed through the heart cut-out. Full directions at The Write Start. (Photo from Anna.)
You Mean the World to Me
Cut out part of an old map into a heart shape and add the message "You mean the world to me." Extra points if you incorporate where you live and where the far-away relative lives as well.
The Photo Valentine
Nothing makes long-distance relatives happier than a good, old-fashioned photograph. Send a photo of the kids holding a big Happy Valentine's Day! heart, or dressed in matching I love Grandma and I love Grandpa tees. For inspiration, search through all the great ideas on Shutterfly and Tiny Prints.
We'll be sharing lots of fun ideas for homemade classroom valentines in the next day or two!