Materials

• Printables: Egypt Valentinie Box copy
• Tissue Box  (the printables fit the Kleenex brand from Costco)
• Glue
• Scissors

We always find these items useful too: 

Directions

• Print out your pieces and cut them out.  If you want your cat to be double sided, then print two of that sheet.

• Gently remove the plastic liner from your Kleenex box.

• Glue your mummy inside the box to the bottom.  This will create a fun surprise for when people open the sarcophagus door!

• Glue the four sides on.

• Fold your cat along the line. Glue the fold to the top edges of your box (as seen in the video).  We printed an additional copy to have them double sided.

• Have an adult either cut one side of of the mummy so it will open like a door (we used a craft knife and a cutting board) or cut the slit out to make a card slot. (Gently bend your sheet to make a snip and cut it out or get an adult to cut it out using a craft knife.

• Glue your mummy on top of your cat tabs.

• Print the matching cards if you like, inscribing a special message to your pals!

If you like this idea, we also have:

http://make-it-your-own.com/valentine-box-ideas-for-kids/

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Purpose

• Recognizing symbols associated with various places in time and location.
• Celebrating friendship!

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you use a tray and a smock to protect your clothing and surfaces.
• Use scissors with care and direct, adult supervision.
• A craft knife should only be used by an adult and stored in a safe spot when not in use.

*Please follow the safety protocols in your area as advised by your health district, school board and school itself regarding Valentine’s Day cards. Our kids are doing online learning this year so we are planning on putting our box on our step for neighbourhood friends and leaving the contents for the specified amount of time before touching them. As mentioned, check with your local guidelines.*

Materials

• Printables: robot valentines box
• Cardstock
• Empty tissue box (the printable fits the Kleenex brand box from Costco)
• Scissors
• Glue
• Optional: paint, paint brush

We always find these items useful too: 

Directions

• Gently remove the plastic from your tissue box.

• Print the robot that you would like onto cardstock paper.

• Cut out the different pieces and decide which ones you want to be part of your robot.

Body

• Glue on the backside, top and bottom.  The front panel will go in front of  the dispensing slot on your kleenex box.  There are 2 options: 1) Slot- To cut out the centre, gently fold it slightly before making a snip to then allow your scissors to maneuver to cut out the inside before gluing it on.  2) Door-  Again slightly bend your paper to make a snip and then cut along 3 sides of the door (the top, bottom and right hand side.  This will allow your door to open!

Head

• Paint your half cardboard tube if you like or cover it with the neck printable.  Glue your face and the back of your head onto the tube (you could attach the front and back pieces together on the top and sides of the head if you like) and then glue it to the top of your box (make sure that the face goes to the front of the box where your slot is).

Legs 

• Print the leg pieces, cut them out, glue the back and wrap it around a cardboard tube each.  Glue them to the bottom of your robot an equal distance apart to help your robot stand.

Arms 

• Cut out the two sides of each arm.  Fold them on the dotted line.  Glue them together (back to back, so you can see them from the front and back of the box) up until the fold line.  Then glue the two tabs of the fold line to the box as seen in the video.

Decorate

• You could add a few beads to the coloured dots of your robot just to add a bit of interest or any other ideas you might think of!

Cards

• Print your cards, cut them out, fold them and inscribe a message to your friends inside!

If you like this idea, we also have other creative boxes:

http://make-it-your-own.com/valentine-box-ideas-for-kids/

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Purpose

• Creating for various celebrations.

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you use a tray and a smock to protect your clothing and surfaces.
• Use scissors and a glue gun with care and direct, adult supervision.
• Beads can be a choking hazard, therefore be sure to keep them out of the reach of children ages 0-3 years of age or those that tend to put things into their mouths.

Materials

• Box
• Butterfly Template: butterfly
• Paint (or markers)
• Pom poms
• Scissors
• Circle punch (or milk jug lids and a pencil)

We always find these items useful too:

Directions

• Paint the top of your box if you like.

• Cut out your butterfly and paint or colour it.

• Punch holes in the areas where you would like your pom poms to go through on the wings.

• Trace your butterfly onto your box and the holes too.

• Have an adult cut holes in the box where you traced your holes for the pom poms.  (Use a utility or craft knife to do this, exercising caution)  Make the holes bigger than those that you punched.

• If you would like the child to work on their colour matching, take a cap (like one from a milk jug) and trace around the holes on your butterfly and then colour or paint the remaining space in to correspond with the pom poms to insert.

• Glue your butterfly onto your box, making sure that that the holes on your butterfly line up with those on your box.

• Give your butterfly box to friend with the pom poms inside and a small container and watch them go!

Other Butterfly Projects might like:

• Recycled Butterfly Puppets & Writing Booklet: http://make-it-your-own.com/butterfly-puppet-and-writing-booklet/

Butterfly Magnet Maze: http://make-it-your-own.com/butterfly-magnet-maze/

Spin Art Butterflies: Find the templates here: http://make-it-your-own.com/spin-art-butterflies/

Watercolour Butterflies:  http://make-it-your-own.com/watercolour-butterflies/

Design Butterfly Wings:  http://make-it-your-own.com/design-your-own-butterfly-wings-with-loose-parts/

Butterfly Cards: http://make-it-your-own.com/butterfly-valentine-card/

Butterfly Wall Hanging: http://make-it-your-own.com/butterfly-wall-hanging/

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Purpose

• Developing one’s fine motor skills.
• Identifying colour matches.

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you use a tray and a smock to protect your clothing and surfaces.
• Use scissors with care and direct, adult supervision.
• Small items such as pom poms can be a choking hazard, therefore be sure to keep them out of the reach of children ages 0-3 years of age or those that tend to put things into their mouths.  This activity is therefore not recommended for those 3 and under.
• A utility knife, drill or craft knife should be used by an adult only!

Materials

Butterfly Booklet 

• Butterfly Booklet template: butterfly booklet
• Story Planning sheet: story planner
• Decorating materials (crayon, felts etc.)
• Scissors
• Glue or a stapler
• Pencil/ eraser

Butterfly Puppets

• Butterfly Puppet Template: butterfly 2-4
• Decorating Materials
• Scissors
• Thin, small dowel or BBQ skewers with the sharp end cut off by an adult or a wooden chopstick.

We always find these items useful too:

Directions

Butterfly Booklet 

• Print your butterfly booklet template.  If you wanted to make your book a bit more sturdy, you could print the bottom butterfly on a thicker paper such as cardstock.

• Create your cover by colouring and decorating your blank butterfly.  You could hole punched a few designs into the wings as well.  Our daughter decided to decorate her butterfly with paint stick, buttons and beads- use what you have on hand.

• Write on your lined sheets write about your butterfly’s life cycle or a story about your butterfly.  Use the planner if you like: story planner  There is also the option to print the wings with the box for illustrations and lines.  Use whatever works for your purpose, age or ability range.  You can also use the pages to draw and record your observations if you are growing and releasing butterflies.

• Once you are done, line up your butterfly pages and staple the left hand side of your wings to create a booklet.

Butterfly Puppets

• Print the butterfly puppet template on thick paper such as cardstock.  Colour your pieces and cut them out.  We decided to use recyclables to decorate ours.  We used painted coffee sleeves, old envelopes, magazines, cut up boxes, a paper gift bag etc. (Just to give you some ideas).

• Glue or tape them to your dowel or BBQ skewers with the sharp portion cut off by an adult.

• Put on a play!

Other Butterfly Projects might like:

Butterfly Magnet Maze: http://make-it-your-own.com/butterfly-magnet-maze/

Spin Art Butterflies: Find the templates here: http://make-it-your-own.com/spin-art-butterflies/

Watercolour Butterflies:  http://make-it-your-own.com/watercolour-butterflies/

Design Butterfly Wings:  http://make-it-your-own.com/design-your-own-butterfly-wings-with-loose-parts/

Butterfly Cards: http://make-it-your-own.com/butterfly-valentine-card/

Butterfly Wall Hanging: http://make-it-your-own.com/butterfly-wall-hanging/

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Purpose

• Identifying butterfly lifecycle steps.
• Creative opportunities for writing.
• Dramatic play, interactions with others and retelling information.

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you use a tray and a smock to protect your clothing and surfaces.
• Use scissors with care and direct, adult supervision.
• Cord, yarn etc. can be a strangulation hazard, therefore be sure to use with direct supervision and for its intended purpose.
• Beads can be a choking hazard, therefore be sure to keep them out of the reach of children ages 0-3 years of age or those that tend to put things into their mouths.

Our playdates with the neighbours and other pals often happen at the playground/ splash park in the summer, the skating rink or school hill for sledding in the winter or at places in our city (the science centre, nature centre and museum all have well-loved play areas), but they also happen at our home.  Here are a few things that we have found to be helpful:

1) We know the children and their parents/ caregivers that are coming over so the kids are already comfortable with us.  Some kids come over with their parents (great to have a cup of tea together and chat) and sometimes they come on their own. 

2) We usually stick to about a 1 and half hour playdate unless the kids are really close friends and gel easily with their pal.  This gives enough time to play, create and snack and then finish just at that sweet spot. 

3) Go with the children’s energy, but provide some options of activities if they would like.  Let the children guide the flow of the playdate.  We have a large playroom which is where most of the play date takes place.  In addition we set up a specific creating opportunity and a play opportunity as an option.  Below we show you an example of the creating opportunity.  One thing we love is blank wooden items that the kids can decorate with items you might already have and it makes a lovely project for them to take home!  A play opportunity might be some water in the sensory bin/ table and some sea creatures etc. or a small world such as fairy land or dinosaurs.  The kids pre-set this up to look inviting and something that might draw their guests in!  You could have additional items ready if the kids have a shorter attention span.

4) If the parents are comfortable with it, we have a snack- usually watermelon or a fruit salad and a homemade treat (cookies etc.).  You could also have a veggie plate or other types of finger foods.  We find that a muffin tin meal is often a hit as you can pop lots of different options in the tray for the kids to chose from if they are coming for lunch.  Set these up in advance to make it easier.  We have also done cookie decorating which the kids enjoy too!  (Especially if they make a plate of them to take home as well for their family).

Special thanks to our pal R. for coming over- definitely our sons’s special mate!  Her wonderful mom is a professional designer and hand-letterer whose beautiful work you can find here: https://justinema.ca/

PLAY DATE INVITATION TO CREATE

Materials

• Blank Wooden Items (plaques) . Our favourite place to get these is: https://woodpeckerscrafts.com/wood-valentines-day-cutouts/ (They have tonnes of seasonal ones)

*Use what you have at home, here are a few low maintenance options:

• Paint Sticks (We like the Kwik Stix brand)
• Paint Pens (We like the Posca Brand)
• Beads, buttons etc. (Decorating items)
• Glue

We always find these items useful too:

Directions

• Pre-organzie your supplies.  Our kids love to do this- putting the items into trays that are easy for all the kids to reach, setting up all the potential things kids might need (such as the glue for each tray), providing a few options and then making sure each child has a work space.  We use craft trays for this to keep those beads and supplies contained!

• Decorate your heart, eggs etc. as you like.  The kids used paint sticks and then applied beads or used the paint sticks.  They wrote an inscription on the back of the project too.  We have found that the kids not only like to keep the projects for themselves, but they also like to make a surprise for their parents (which I pop into a re-useable gift bag and then they give it to them on Valentine’s Day for example)!  It is always good to have a few extra pieces on hand in case the child wants to make a few!

They wanted to do the eggs as well so I offered them a different material/medium:

For our older kids, this activity was a play date hit:

* Our daughter and her cousin literally worked on these for hours one day and they were great when we used them in a children’s program*

We’d love to hear your play date tips and ideas in the comment section!

Purpose

• Developing friendships.
• Creating with different materials in a cooperative setting.
• Developing language and interaction skills.

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you use a tray and a smock to protect your clothing and surfaces.
• Use art supplies with care (following product directions)  and direct, adult supervision.
• Beads can be a choking hazard, therefore be sure to keep them out of the reach of children ages 0-3 years of age or those that tend to put things into their mouths.

*EACH YEAR WE WILL BE ADDING MORE, SO PLEASE CHECK BACK FOR NEW IDEAS*

1) Llama Valentine Box

This is definitely our most popular Valentine box!  It comes with free printables with several variations.  Add some pom poms or cotton balls and you have a fluffy llama craft that you can now decorate to “make it your own”:

Find the printables here: http://make-it-your-own.com/llama-valentines-day-box/

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2) Rainbow Valentine Box

This 3-D box allows kids to create with the light weight model magic clay to create a colourful rainbow and clouds!  (We have heard that people have also used the idea to make a leprechaun home or trap too)

Find all the details and tips here: http://make-it-your-own.com/rainbow-valentine-box-card/

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3) Flower Garden Valentine Box & Card 

This Valentine box comes with free flower printables or you can create your own florals.  We show you how to make some easy flower stems that stick into your Valentine box to give it the 3D effect of flowers growing!

Find the printables here: http://make-it-your-own.com/flower-garden-valentine-box/

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4) LEGO Valentine Box & Card

Kids just building blocks and we provide you with a free card printable card that folds into a LEGO brick for you to give some real ones to your classmates.  Again we use a tissue box to create a simple box to match the card!

Find the printables here: https://www.redtedart.com/lego-valentines-box-card/

5) Baby Yoda Valentine Box

This is definitely one of the kids’ favourite characters in the Star Wars series and they wanted to create some fan art in the form of a Valentine box.  My daughter’s teacher dressed up as Princess Leia and so she thought this would make a good Valentine box for her!

Find the printable here: http://make-it-your-own.com/baby-yoda-valentine-box/

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6) Robot Valentine’s Box

This is an adorable idea that you could use for all types of learning afterwards!

Find the printable here: http://make-it-your-own.com/robot-valentine-box-and-cards/

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6) Ancient Egypt Valentine’s Box

When I was a teacher the kids LOVED learning about Ancient Egypt and this fun Valentine Box is sure to inspire further learning!

Find the printable here: http://make-it-your-own.com/ancient-egyptian-valentines-day-box/

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Materials

• Rainbow Card Printable: valentine Rainbow
• Kleenex box
• Model Magic
• Toothpicks
• Paint brush
• Paint
• Rolling pin
• Butter knife or clay tool

We always find these items useful too:

Directions

• Remove the plastic liner from your kleenex box carefully.

• Paint your tissue box with a few thin layers of paint, allowing drying in between.

• Chose your rainbow colours.  Roll the model magic into balls and then roll it into “snakes” as the kids call them (tubes).  The outer colours will have to be the bigger of the balls.

• Lay your snakes one within the others, gently pushing them together to form a rainbow.  Trim the edges and insert about half way into your toothpicks.  This will help your rainbow to stand.

• Roll out your cloud colour like dough and cut out your clouds.  Insert your toothpicks into these too.

• Allow your rainbow and clouds to dry.  (Remember to flip them to allow for even drying)

• Have an adult insert your clouds and rainbows into your box.  *Once inserted, trim off the sharp ends in the box!  We also suggest removing your clouds and rainbows prior to taking out your cards to avoid any accidental pokes*

• Print off the rainbow cards, address them and cut them out.  Attach them to a package of crayons, a paint palette or any other rainbow-y item that you might like!  Give them to your classmates!

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Check out some of our other Valentine Box ideas

• Llama Valentine Box

• Find LEGO boxes, baby Yoda, a flower garden and lots of printable card ideas here:  http://make-it-your-own.com/?s=valentine

Purpose

• Recognizing various traditions associated with celebrations.

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you use a tray and a smock to protect your clothing and surfaces.
• Use a knife/ clay tool with care and direct, adult supervision.
• Toothpicks can be sharp.  Use caution with them and an ADULT should insert them into the box!

Join us on RED TED ART for this idea and the printables: https://www.redtedart.com/lego-valentines-box-card/

If you aren’t familiar with Maggy’s site, she is the queen of crafty projects of all sorts and has a huge bank of ideas.  She is a lovely person, sharing her guidance with others and I think you will enjoy her creations!

Materials

• Flower box printable: FLOWERS
• Flower card  printable: flower valentine card
• Kleenex box
• Paint
• Craft sticks (popsicle, tongue depressors etc.)
• Craft knife (to be used by an adult)
• Glue gun/ glue or craft glue

We always find these items useful too:

Directions

• Remove the plastic liner from your kleenex box carefully.

• Paint your tissue box with a few thin layers of paint, allowing drying in between.

• Paint your stems (craft sticks) and allow them to dry.

• Create your flowers- either drawing your own or using the printable.  You could paint or colour your flowers, print them on bright paper or cut them out.

• Glue your flowers onto your craft sticks, along with your leaves.

• Have an adult carefully cut slits in your tissue box to insert your flowers into your box.

• You can make a matching card that opens for your classmates to go along with your box (see the printable).  Wouldn’t it be cute to attach them to a package of seeds!?

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Other Valentine Box Ideas

Find the printables here: http://make-it-your-own.com/llama-valentines-day-box/

Find the printable here: http://make-it-your-own.com/baby-yoda-valentine-box/

Other Printable Valentine Cards

Find the pritables here: http://make-it-your-own.com/printable-valentine-cards/

Purpose

• Recognizing symbols and traditions associated with different celebrations.
• Reimagining recyclables.

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you use a tray and a smock to protect your clothing and surfaces.
• Use scissors and a glue gun with care and direct, adult supervision.
• A craft knife should only be used by an ADULT.

Materials

• Tissue box
• Template YODA
• Cheese wheel cardboard (ours was 12.5 cm/ 5 inches.  You can find these on Brie, Cambazola etc.)
• Dowel (you can find these at dollar, craft and hardware stores)
• Model Magic
• Buttons (one large brownish set and one smaller black one)
• Glue gun/ glue (you could try white glue as well)
• Felt or construction paper
• Fabric scissors
• Hole punch
• Cardstock
• Tongue depressor

We always find these items useful too:

Directions

• Gently remove the plastic liner from your tissue box.

• Trace around the smaller ends of your tissue box onto felt or construction paper.  Cut out the rectangles and glue them on the ends.  Allow them to dry.

• Punch two holes across from each other on the rim of your cheese wheel so that the dowel goes through them.  (This will stabilize your ears).

• Glue your smaller button onto your larger one and then glue it onto your cheese wheel cardboard.

• Use your model magic and sculpt around your button eyes and create baby Yoda’s face.  You could include eye lids, eye brows, cheeks, a nose etc.  Look up photos online with an adult for reference. (We included a photo in the templates that might assist you and some illustrations to help with placement of the features)

• Print the ear template out on cardstock.  Cover it with model magic by spreading or rolling it into a thin layer.  You can add an upper ridge and a shadow like our daughter did.

• Insert your dowel into your punched holes and glue your ears onto your dowel.  Allow to dry overnight.

• Glue Yoda’s head to one end of the box.  We used a glue gun to make sure it was secure.   Make sure the face is on the side of the opening of the Kleenex box.  You may need to add a popsicle stick or tongue depressor like we did to stabilize baby Yoda’s head.

• Fold your felt sheet in half long wise (to look like a hot dog bun rather than hamburger one) and glue it around the lower portion of Yoda’s head.

• Glue your felt sheets around the box to look like Yoda’s blanket/robe, making sure not to cover your opening.

• Set up Yoda on your desk to receive your cards.  May the Force of Kindness be with you this Valentine’s Day!

Llama Valentine Box

Find the templates here: http://make-it-your-own.com/llama-valentines-day-box/

LEGO Valentine Box

Find the details here: https://www.redtedart.com/lego-valentines-box-card/

Looking for a Yoda Card?

Our friends at Hello, Wonderful have this cute card to go with the box: https://www.hellowonderful.co/post/diy-baby-yoda-paper-card/

Love Baby Yoda and want more ideas?

Maggy from Red Ted Art has this great collection of ideas: https://www.redtedart.com/baby-yoda-crafts-diys/

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Purpose

• Repurposing items from the recycling bin.
• Recognizing various traditions from celebrations such as exchanging Valentine’s Day cards.

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you use a tray and a smock to protect your clothing and surfaces.
• Use scissors and glue gun with care and direct, adult supervision.
• Buttons can be a choking hazard, therefore be sure to keep them out of the reach of children ages 0-3 years of age or those that tend to put things into their mouths.