I don’t know if I am the only one who goes into a state of depression once Christmas is over or not. The hype, the constant preparation, and then BAM! It’s over and we are left picking up tiny pieces of wrapping paper, fake pine tree needles, and rouge Barbie shoes like nothing every happened. Luckily, here we go on to the next holiday….Valentine’s Day!

Craft #1: Valentine Holders: I find that this is the easiest holiday to think up inexpensive crafts for, simply because every year, I have the kids decorate their own white craft bag as their valentine holder. All you need are white craft bags like these from Oriental Trading, Michaels or Hobby Lobby, alongside some markers or crayons, and some festive stickers (usually found at the dollar spot at Target.)

Craft #2: Make a valentine for their parents. This is yet again another craft you can do using mainly supplies already in the classroom. And then bring in either foam hearts, stickers, or heart doilies, and the kids have all they need to make a valentine for mom or dad.

Craft #3: Valentine Cookie Foam magnets. I got these from Oriental Trading. But truly, you can buy foam hearts at Michael’s or Hobby Lobby as well as magnets and stickers and have the same desired outcome.

Craft #4: Valentine’s Day Headbands: Take poster board and cut into 2″strips. (If you cut horizontally, you’ll fit 11 headbands on one piece of poster board.) Have the kids decorate them with stickers then help them staple the ends of the strips together so they fit around their head. Then, use a couple pieces of pipe cleaner and have the kids twirl them around their fingers. They can then tape or staple these pipe cleaner “antennas” to the headband. The finished product will look like this:

Craft #5: Valentine’s Day hand print craft: Pre-print poems that say the following: This is my hand. My hand will do a thousand things for you. And you will remember when I am tall, that once my hand was this small. Happy Valentine’s Day!” Have the kids paint their hands with washable paint and place them on a sheet of construction paper. Then have them glue the poem on top.

Craft #6: Decorate your own sugar cookie. For this you need to make a batch of sugar cookies, cut out in the shape of hearts the day before the party. Then, make a large batch of icing, buy some sprinkles, and let the kids have at it decorating their own cookies. A great royal icing recipe is this one: In a large bowl stir together 1-3/4 cups powdered sugar, 4-1/2 teaspoons meringue powder, and 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar. Add 1/4 cup warm water and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until combined. Beat on high speed for 7 to 10 minutes or until mixture is very stiff. You can make this the day before and just keep in an air-tight container until you’re ready to frost the cookies.

Or you can do a simple powdered sugar icing (mix 1 cup powdered sugar, 1/4 tsp vanilla, and a Tablespoon of milk), but be warned it is much more runny and may make more of a mess than the royal icing. Or say “fuck it” and just buy a container of icing…so long as you’re okay with it tasting like ass. (The beauty of kids though, is that they won’t care!)

Games #1: Valentine Darts Game. The name is deceiving on this game because they aren’t darts! That’d be a fucking disaster. I got it here.

Game #2: Bingo: Another easy and cheap one is always Bingo. Here is a set from Oriental Trading Company but you can find free printable ones online too. Bonus points for using candy conversation hearts as the markers!

Game #3: Valentine Candy Relay. This game is especially good for preschoolers as it helps them with fine motor skills. Simply have some bowls of candy like red hots or conversation hearts on a table. About 5-10 feet away, place empty bowls on a second table. Have the kids start at the end with the full bowls of candy, fill their spoons with the candy, and race to the empty bowl to drop in the candy. Whoever fills up their bowl first wins!

Game #4: Conversation Heart Twister. Another win from OTC – you can buy this game here.

Game #5: Ring Toss. You can get it here. 🙂 I like games like these because you can re-use them year after year!

Game #6: Cupid’s Arrow game. All you need is one straw per kid, and a bunch of Q-tips. Place a large bowl on the floor about 5 feet or so away from where your small group of kids are standing. Have them put a Q-tip in the straw and blow it out, with the goal being they get the Q-tip in the bowl. Don’t use this game for super young kids if you fear they may accidentally swallow a Q-tip though.

Snack #1: Valentine Love Bug fruit cups. I just bought fruit cup and this handy set from Amazon! Then I assembled them with my handy glue gun.

Snack #2: Conversation Cuties. Grab a bag of clementines, some markers or gel pens, and draw hearts or write things like “xoxo” on to the oranges. It’s a super easy and a healthy snack!

Snack #3: Chocolate Dipped wafers. Buy wafer cookies and white chocolate chips. Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second increments, dip just the bottom half of he wafer cookie in the melted chocolate, then sprinkle some festive sprinkles on top of the chocolate. Let sit on wax paper until dry.

Snack #4: Valentine Pretzel Hugs. This only takes 3 ingredients, a bag of pretzels, a bag of Hershey’s kisses or hugs (I prefer the look of the Hugs better) and a bag of Valentine M&M’s. Preheat oven to 170 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set pretzels on top of parchment paper and then put one Hug or Hershey Kiss on top of each pretzel. Bake 4-6 minutes until the Hug/Kiss is soft but not fully melted. Remove from oven and press one M&M on top of each half-melted hug/kiss. Let harden and serve.

Snack #5: Juice box bugs. Every snack needs a drink to accompany it. Take a juice box and wrap it in either pink or red crepe paper (or use printed Valentine’s day craft paper.) Then glue on google eyes. Then, cut a pipe cleaner in half and wrap each half around your finger to “curl” it. Glue the pipe cleaner onto the juice box so it has antennas and glue google eyes to the front of it. (Much like the fruit cup love bugs!)

Snack #6: Heart cut-out veggies and cheese. Simply use a heart-shaped cookie cutter for these fuckers. Peel then slice a cucumber into 1/4″ thick round slices and then use the cookie cutter to shape them into hearts. Do the same thing with sliced cheeses, breads, whatever you fancy! These ones are cute and come in a variety of sizes.

Treat bags: I always like to make each kid a treat bag as room mom. Below are some photos of what I included in my daughters’ treat bags. I got the stuffed animals off Oriental Trading, but they are already sold out so here are some similar ones. Then I also tossed in heart slime, stamps, pencils, and assorted candy. Toss it all in a cellophane bag and you’re ready to rock. Happy Valentine’s Day!