While some people may think that Valentine’s Day is a cash grab for candy and card companies, for many of us, it’s a great opportunity to bond with our children over holiday-themed crafts. Whether you are helping your child design and build their own Valentine’s box for class, making cookies for relatives, or just want a hands on project to get them in the spirit, we’ve got something for you.

General Crafts

Most kids love crafts, so, to start off this round up, we’ve brought you a short list of kid-friendly projects. No matter what your child is into, they’re sure to like at least ONE of the following ideas. 

Origami Hearts

According to Gymboree, working with origami can help your children develop their fine motor skills, a sense of color, improve concentration and spatial awareness, as well as instill a sense of accomplishment. The Spruce Crafts offers a couple varieties of origami hearts, depending on your child’s skill level. There is a puffy version of an origami heart that is more dimensional, and a flat design that is better for cards and general decoration.

And, of course, if your children love paper folding, head on over to the shop and check out the Pinwheel Crafts Flower Origami Kit. It has everything you need to create a variety of different flowers in a plethora of colors and for different experience levels.

Pom Pom Valentine Monsters

For the more cheeky Valentine-loving child, consider these super cute pom pom monsters from Consumer Crafts. The designs presented in the guide are somewhat basic, but that just leaves more potential for your children to customize them to their liking. These make great Valentine box decorations, or handmade gifts for classmates.

Tissue Flower Bouquet

If you’re looking for a craft that will create a beautiful, Valentine's Day bouquet (without the clean up associated with dying flowers), this is a great alternative. Very Well Family provides a detailed walkthrough for how to create flowers in your favorite colors using tissue paper and chenille stems. Your children can make as many or as few as they like and give them to friends and family on the big day.

DIY Valentine’s Cards

If you are on a tight budget, or just have a child that loves to do everything themselves, we've gathered a short list of unique diy Valentine’s Day cards. These designs are guaranteed to be different than anything you can find at the store. 

Newsprint Valentine Cards

For families that like to upcycle and reuse refuse, these newsprint cards are a great project. All you need is some old newspapers and some basic watercolors. You Are My Fave provides all the necessary instructions to help your child create these unique, and sustainable valentine cards to share with family and classmates.

Valentine’s Heart Flower Cards

For children that like to work with paper and glue, this is a super fun project. Whether you have a paper cutting machine, buy pre-cut paper shapes, or want to help your children cut the paper out by hand, these flower cards are a simple, but cute Valentine's Day option (brought to you by Powerful Mothering). Let your children experiment with their favorite colors and make designs all their own.

Fingerprint Art Tree

Another fun art project for kids is this finger painted heart tree from Easy Peasy and Fun. You can simply make them as decorations, or create smaller versions for classroom Valentine's Day cards. Even though the instructions use traditional reds and pinks, there’s nothing stopping your children from using their favorite colors instead.

Tasty Treats

For children learning from home, a little baking project might be a more fun project to undertake. Baking is a great way to teach children to follow instructions, learn measurements, and just spend some time with their parents learning a useful life skill.

Sugar Cookies

Sugar cookies are a staple for any aspiring baker. It’s a great recipe for beginners and versatile enough for any holiday. Sally’s Baking Addiction provides a thorough recipe and guide on how to make your very own heart-shaped cookies and icing. The beauty of this recipe is that you can continue to use it for the rest of the year and simply switch up the cookie shapes and icing colors, depending on the occasion.

White Chocolate Valentine’s Day Bark Bites

Although not quite “baking,” candy bark is a super fun, super easy, and super tasty treat for any holiday. This sweet recipe from Number 2 Pencil requires some specialized kitchen tools and ingredients, but if you see it through, you won’t be disappointed.