Doing crafts with your kids is a fun way to spend quality time with them and do something besides sit in front of a screen. Not only is crafting a fun activity, but it is also beneficial to children. Doing crafts can help them develop their fine motor skills, allow them to follow directions, stimulate their creativity, and provide many other benefits. If you are looking for fun craft ideas we have a few for you!
As Valentine’s Day approaches, what better time to do some fun themed crafts that can help you decorate your home for this lovely day? There are many fun crafts that your children will love to make and display around the home.
At Yellow Brick Road Early Childhood Development Center, we understand the benefits that crafts can provide to children. We see value in these fun activities and encourage our students to show off their creative side. While many parents may view crafts as just a simple way to get your children away from the screen and keep their attention on one thing for an hour, they can actually help with your child’s growth and development.
In this blog, we are going to talk about three Valentine’s Day crafts that can be fun to do with your kiddos! Follow these instructions to help your children create fun and unique crafts!
Love Bug Paper Plate Craft
This adorable paper plate craft allows your child to make a ladybug with functional wings! Whether they display this craft on your fridge or give it to someone special, it is a fun craft that they are sure to love.
For this project, you will need:
- Two paper plates
- Red and black acrylic paint
- Red and black adhesive foam sheets (glittery)
- Googly eyes
- Split pins
- Black pipe cleaners
- Scissors
- Glue
To begin the love bug craft, have your kiddos paint the two paper plates. One plate should be painted black and the other red. After the plates dry, take the red plate and cut it in half. These half-pieces will be the ladybug’s wings!
While you wait for the plates to dry, you can cut out the foam pieces you will need for this craft. While it is not necessary, glitter foam sheets can be a fun way to add more style to this craft, plus kids love glitter!
Use the black foam sheet to cut out small circles. You can use a ruler with circle shapes to trace your circle before you cut them out or you can trace any other circular object to create perfect circles! You will also want to cut out one large circle from the black foam to use as the head. With the red foam sheet, you will want to cut out a big heart that can fit in the center of the paper plate. If your child is old enough to use scissors, allow them to cut out all of the shapes!
Once your paper plates are dry and after you have cut the red paper plate in half, you can add your foam pieces! If you purchased adhesive foam, all you have to do is remove the paper on the back to expose the adhesive. If your foam is not adhesive, simply use glue!
Add the red foam heart to the center of the black plate. On each half of the red paper plate, stick some of the small black dots. You can choose to use how many you want, make them differ in size, or even use heart shapes instead of dots!
Now it is time to add the wings and the head to your ladybug! Help your child use the split pins to attach the wings to the body. To do this, line up the red plate over the black and stick a pin through the top corners of the plate, near where you cut it. Once the split pins are through both plates, open them up so they are held together! Now your wings can be opened and closed!
With the giant black foam circle, you can either glue it or use the split pins to attach it to the back of the black plate. You want to have your kiddo add the head at the same point where the split pins were added.
Once you have the head glued to the body, it is time to add the pipe cleaner! Take one black pipe cleaner and cut it in half. Wrap each half around the pencil to give them a cute curl. These are the antenna and should be glued to the back of the head. Take another pipe cleaner and cut it into six small pieces to use as the legs! Glue these pieces along the side of the ladybug, evenly spaced out.
Finally, add the googly eyes and the love bug is done! Have your kiddo display their love bug proudly!