Looking for Valentine’s Day activities for preschoolers, toddlers, or big kids in elementary? I have you covered right here – the last two are our all time favorites!! These are my top 15 Valentine’s Day Activities for Preschoolers and Big Kids! And guess what?! They’re low prep and lots of fun!
Need more February Activities?! Grab my FREE activity calendar for February here – FREE printable calendar with daily low prep activities for the whole month! This is wonderful for not only Valentine’s Day crafts, but also sensory activities and low prep activities for Black History Month!
BEST Valentine’s Day Activities for Preschoolers, Toddlers, and Big Kids:
- Magic Painting
First draw pictures, letters, or messages in white crayon (be sure to press firmly). Then paint with watercolors for a low lift (EASY!) process art activity! Finally, the watercolors won’t stick to the crayon when you paint. This reveals the images like magic!
Sensory Bins
2. Play Dough Tray
Step one is to gather some loose parts (like beads, pompoms, pipe cleaners, or feathers). Next, you put the pieces out in a muffin tin with some play dough for your child to tinker with and explore!
Easy peasy!
3. Make a Sensory Bin Kit
Gather up festive loose parts (like gems and foam hearts) – let your child tinker and explore in a sensory bin!
This is great for not only fine motor development, but also for STEM exploration and encouraging independent play!
Messy Valentine’s Day Sensory Bins!
4. Letter Match Sensory Bin
First, write letters on the magnetic tiles in dry erase marker – it wipes clean no problem. Then fill a bin with rice and letters. Finally, Let your child explore and match the letters to their magnetic tiles.
5. Pompom Melt and Thaw
First, freeze pompoms in an ice tray. Once this is ready, invite your child to melt and thaw the ice to release the pompoms. Tweezers and squirt bottles of warm water make for lots of fun with this one!
When your child is finished playing, scoop the pompoms out with the colander. Finally, squeeze to remove excess water. You can lay them flat to dry, or place them in a laundry bag in the dryer.
6. Valentine’s Day Shaving Cream Paint!
Mix pink and purple food coloring with shaving cream in a muffin tin – use it to paint the shower!
Valentine’s Day Art Projects
7. Pipe cleaners + beads!
String beads onto pipe cleaners – make patterns, jewelry, or bend to create shapes. It may look like fun craft, but meanwhile your child is learning a coping strategy! Yep! Making bead art is a great calming tool, especially because it provides the calming repetition of stringing beads!
9. DIY Cookie Cutter Wrapping Paper
First thing to remember here: tape paper to the table with painters tape (you can use butcher paper or a paper grocery bag cut open!)! I tape paper down, because it will be much less messy and easier to clean up! Then stamp with a heart cookie cutter, let dry, and use as wrapping paper.
Valentine’s Day Water Activities
8. Valentine’s Day LEGO Bath
Toss pink and red LEGOs into the bathtub – let them dry on a towel when you’re done!
10. EASY Valentine Soup
Dye water and add loose parts for kids to explore! Finally, add spoons and scoops for kids to mix, stir, and transfer the water and materials.
For the most part, my kids love to dump, scoop, and pour! In addition to that, they also usually end up in some kind of pretend play whenever this is set up!
Valentine’s Day Sensory Crafts and Puzzles
11. Textured Painted Bean Hearts
Before the kids dive in, cut hearts out of cardboard for your little ones. Then, hot glue beans on the cardboard hearts. Last, invite children to paint the creations! It’s fun to paint on a new surface.
It’s important to realize that this type of fun and open ended creating, serves many benefits!
12. Sensory Puzzle with Rice
Use dyed rice to explore with a puzzle. Scoop and dump the rice to fill in the shapes of the puzzle. In addition to exploring shapes, your child can also work on gross motor skills as they dump and pour.
Pretend Play for Valentine’s Day
13. Valentine Snack Shop Pretend Play
Firstly, set up pink, red, and sweet treat play food to create a make believe sweet shop. Secondly, add tongs, bags, and a cash register. Thirdly, your kids launch into pretend play. Super fun and easy!
Preschool Math for Valentine’s Day
14. Heart Counting Ten Frame
Lay painters tape to create a ten frame – a ten frame is a 2×5 rectangle used to help children build number sense and understand numbers within ten. Now that you’ve set up a ten frame, it makes it easier for kids to SEE how combinations of numbers make ten.
Lastly, have your child roll a die and build the number in the ten frame – or have fun exploring and counting together as you fill in the frame with hearts.
Tinker Trays
15. Valentine Making Tray
Round up festive supplies and set them out on a serving tray. Anything goes! As a result, this is an easy activity to do using ANY materials you have!! We used tape, glue, markers, paper, scissors, and stickers for our tray. You can set up the materials on whatever you have! I love this tray, because it keeps things organized.
16. Pink Rice Tinker Tray
Set out a variety of materials in a cupcake tray along with a tray of rice.
Invite your child to scoop, dump, and explore the materials. Altogether, this is fine motor development in all its glory!! We love tinker trays, because kids are having fun AND developing all the tiny muscles that will be needed for letter formation and writing in the years to come!
Valentine’s Day Fine Motor Activities
17. DIY Coloring Page
This is easy peasy! To get started, tape down giant paper. Then, draw simple Valentine’s Day themed images in black marker. Afterwards, set out materials for your kids to color it in.
Dollar Tree carries the 3 section trays! We use it all the time for setting out art materials in an inviting way! Regardless of age, your kids will love this one!!
Valentine’s Day Activities for Preschoolers – giant coloring page DIY
18. Hair Gel Sensory Bag
Firstly, fill a gallon bag with hair gel, and add pink, purple or red food coloring. Secondly, tape down to the table with thick tape (we like the wide painters tape). Then, invite your child to write letters, draw shapes, or explore with the sensory bag. Finally, pompoms to move around in the bag – this is extra fun!!
19. Flower Cutting Tray
Start by offering flowers, scissors, and tweezers. Next you will let your little one explore the flowers by cutting them apart! Also, pulling and tearing are great options if you don’t want to give scissors!
Paint Chip Valentine’s Day DIY
20. Paint Chip Color Sorting
Paint Chip Color Sorting!
1) In order to get started, get paint chips at a hardware store (they’re free).
2) Then, punch holes in the corners.
3) At this point, attach with a binder ring.
4) Finally, invite kids to sort stickers by color.
21. DIY Puffy Paint
Firstly, mix 1:1 ratio shaving cream and glue. Then, add food coloring to dye the DIY puffy paint any color.
We made pink and white to make circus animal cookies. This dries totally solid! Similarly, this can be used to make “frosting” for cupcakes, ice cream cones, and even puffy paint heart!
Valentine’s Day Lunch Activity
22. Festive Muffin Tin Lunch!
Your kids will absolutely LOVE this easy Valentine themed lunch!
Summing things up, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy these Valentine’s Day activities for preschoolers with your own kids or students!
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