Every year for Valentine's Day I think that it would be nice for the kids to do something a little more creative and personal for the kids in the class, especially for special friends.
Cards come in all shapes and sizes in the store, but they all have the same basic feel to them. Here are a few card ideas that will be different than the usual store bought cards.
MAKE A SPECIAL MAIL BOX
Everyone loves getting mail. I visit the mailbox each day with expectation of what may be inside. Your kids can give their classmates the same feeling with a mailbox Valentine’s Day card.
Small craft boxes can be covered with white paper to resemble a mailbox, one for each child in the class. Kids can paste X’s and O’s and hearts to the outside. Inside the mailbox put a homemade card that says something that your child likes about each of them even if it is only the color of their shirt. Add a small treat inside the mailbox to put an even bigger smile on the children’s faces.
This isn't a quick Valentine's fix, it's a special project that your child can have some fun with, and really put their heart into Valentine's Day for their classmates.
HAVE SOME STICKER FUN
Stickers decorate cards just as well as drawings and kids love to use them, and receive them.
Using scissors that create decorative edges, cut hearts and other shapes out of cardstock paper. The shapes can be pasted on a larger piece of cardstock and given that special touch using stickers. Be sure that your child doesn’t forget to write the name of each child on the card. He or she can even make one for their teacher.
As a special touch, they could even include a few extras for the recipient to have fun with.
VALENTEDDY'S
Send each child in his class a teddy bear gram.
Small Valentine’s bears can be purchased at the dollar store. They have bears with clear plastic slots on the front for a wallet size picture. Instead of a picture slip a folded Valentine’s Day message in the pocket. In addition to the friendly message, each child gets a teddy bear to love.
WHEN I WAS A KID
Back in the day, way back, we had a lot of fun making Valentines by cutting big hearts out of red card stock and gluing a white paper doily on it. Before we glued it on, we wrote what ever we wanted on it with red pencil crayon or marker. You can add stickers as well.
Another favourite used to be to cut out a cupid.
AND THERE IS ALWAYS CHOCOLATE
All kids like to get chocolate on Valentine’s Day. Wrap several candy kisses in aluminum foil and shape it like one giant chocolate kiss. Write a note for each classmate on a long slip of paper and roll it up. Attach one end of the paper to the top of the foil kiss. If you’re short on time or your child has a large class, the messages can all be the same to remove the need to uniquely address each giant kiss. Kids can write something cute on the paper and sign their name.
Traditional cards are okay for classmates, but if your child has an imaginative mind, let them exercise it with these ideas. Or some of their own.
Make Valentine’s Day in the classroom exciting and new.
