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Valentine’s Day Activities for Kids- 3 Low Prep Busy Bags

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This year my daughter is four and my son is two, so I think we will have a lot of fun with Valentine's Day Activities. Today I have 3 super simple, low-prep ideas that are perfect for the Valentine's Day Busy Bag Blog Hop!

Valentine's Day Activities for Kids

Both of my kids do a lot of fine motor activities each week. A lot of them are great independent, quiet time activities, but others are fun to do together. I think these three ideas could be done either way. It really just depends on the ages and skill levels of your kids.

Quick note, affiliate links are used in this post. Okay, time for the fun!

Loom Band Cross My Heart Activity

3 Simple Valentines Day Activities for Kids - Loom Band Cross My Heart Busy Bag
Loom Band Cross My Heart Busy Bag

I have older nieces and nephews who went through a huge Loom bands phase. I was playing around with them one day and really liked the specific size and elasticity of them. Obviously they are for older kids because the way you need to weave and manipulate them is a little more complex.

This simple activity takes advantage of the pretty colors the loom bands come in and makes it a preschooler-friendly activity! Of course, be careful of setting out loom bands if you have babies or toddlers who still put things in their mouths.

I list corrugated cardboard in the materials below. Paper, cardstock or even single-layer cardboard are too flimsy and would buckle under the pressure of the elastic loom bands.

Materials:

Red Loom Bands
Corrugated Cardboard (white if possible)
Strong Scissors or Kitchen Shears

Prep:

Loom band hearts on Lalymom.com
How to cut loom band hearts

Cut out a few hearts from the corrugated cardboard, roughly 2 inches by 2 inches, making the right angle of the cardboard into the bottom point of the heart. Snip tiny cuts all the way around the heart for the loom bands to catch on.

Place the hearts and loom bands into your busy bag, and you are all set. You may or may not choose to place a loom band or two onto one of the hearts to show what to do.

Play:

3 Fun Valentine Themed Busy Bags - Loom Bands Fine Motor Hearts




Your child can now design his or her own loom band heart!

Heart Doily Garland Busy Bags

Valentines Day Heart Doily Garland - simple kid-made decoration that can be used as a Valentine themed busy bag
Simple doily heart garland busy bag.

My preschooler loves to decorate for holidays. As soon as one is mentioned around our house, she will ask pretty often if we can make decorations (or MORE decorations) for that holiday. I really have enjoyed finding simple, low prep ways to engage her interests. This one was a no-brainer! She loved the idea of making a garland and knowing that we would hang it up made it all the more special. If some of the hearts were crooked or upside down or only attached by one hole, so be it. We both loved the finished results!

3 Simple Valentines Day Activities for Kids - perfect for busy bags or class parties
Kid-made Valentine's Day Garland, a perfect quiet time activity too!

Materials:

Paper Heart Doilies (We bought ours from Dollar Tree but there are some available on Amazon as well. These Adorable Multicolored 3 Inch Paper Doily Hearts, for example, are half as small as ours but very cute!)
Red Satin 1/8 inch Ribbon

Prep:

Cut a long length of ribbon – long enough to span a window, large mirror or archway in your house. Place that and a stack of paper doilies into your busy bag.

Play: 

Show your child how to thread the ribbon down one hole and back up on the opposite side and slide the hearts down the ribbon. Be sure to hang up the results when the garland is finished!

Heart Doily Lacing Cards

3 Simple Busy Bags for Valentine's Day - Doily and ribbon - how simple is this!
Doily Heart as a Lacing Card

Ever since we did our Halloween Sewing Activity my daughter will occasionally ask if we can make something by using a needle and putting it up and down. I love that she is interested in doing things like that! We were having a crafty day this week and she asked if we could make something with a needle.

We still had the paper heart doilies out from the garland. I thought it would be fun to try using a needle with that! It works fine without the needle as you see in the garland, but if she wanted to work with a needle I was going to let her! I showed her how to thread it up and down and to pull the ribbon, but not too tight. She really liked this more than the Halloween Sewing Activity, I think because there was no pressure to make an exact design. It was going realllllly well until little brother came over and tried to snatch it get in on the action. He grabbed it, she pulled and the ribbon ripped through the doily. We kept them handy for the next time little brother was napping. 😉

Materials:

Paper Heart Doilies (We bought ours from Dollar Tree but there are some available on Amazon as well. These Adorable Multicolored 3 Inch Paper Doily Hearts, for example, are half as small as ours but very cute!)
Red Satin 1/8 inch Ribbon Plastic Needles
Doily alternatives: Craft foam hearts or cardboard hearts with holes punches around the edges.

Prep:

Cut a length of ribbon about twice the length of your arm, or longer. If desired, thread the ribbon onto the needle and tie a knot in the very ends to keep the ribbon on the needle. If possible, take a few of the paper doilies from the stack that are still stuck together, this will make it more sturdy. Place the ribbon, needle and doilies into the busy bag and it's all set!

Play:

If needed, show your child how to thread the needle up and down through the holes and pull the slack carefully. That's it for our busy bags, but stick around below to see all the ones from the Busy Bag Blog Hop! If you like this post, please do pin it and check out my other Valentine's Day Activities!

3 Low Prep Ideas for Valentines Day Busy Bags on Lalymom
Pin me please!

More Valentine's Day Activities Busy Bags

It's time again for the Busy Bag Blog Hop! This month's theme, as if you couldn't tell, is Valentine's Day activities! Check out the other fun ideas from our co-hosts below!

15 Must-Try Valentine Busy Bags

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT

Arrow Addition Matching Game // Mama.Papa.Bubba.
Felt Heart Garden // Powerful Mothering
LEGO Valentine's Day Puzzle // Lemon Lime Adventures
Letter Match Memory Game // The Educators' Spin On It
DIY Valentine Dominoes // Mommy Needs a Coffee Break
Printable Valentine's Day Mix and Match Puzzles // Itsy Bitsy Fun
Printable Conversation Heart Number Book // Playdough to Plato
Conversation Heart Color Match // Preschool Inspirations
Valentine's Day Math Busy Bag // Still Playing School
3 Low Prep Busy Bags // Lalymom
Plant Heart Garden // Best Toys 4 Toddlers
Tic Tac Toe // Frogs Snails and Puppy Dog Tails
Threading Love Hearts // Adventures of Adam
Valentine's Day Color Sort // Sugar Aunts
Valentine's Day Number Matching // Coffee Cups and Crayons

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