Is making valentine cards with kids a project at your house? At this time of year, often kids have a chance to exchange valentine cards. Creating them is almost as much fun as getting some.
Do you know who thinks up these clever sayings for cards? In previous years we’ve done monsters with googly eyes, “I only have eyes for you,” and dinosaurs, “You are dino-mite.” This year, we’ve seen some ideas for making “Love Bugs.”
To make Love Bug cards, visit a dollar store and find a package of bugs. Each card can be a plain rectangle of any color, or maybe a heart shape. Depending on how many there are to make, instead of cutting them out, look for a heart-shaped pad of sticky notes. Some preschoolers may be able to copy out the letters for Love Bug or adults can print the words on as many papers as needed. Big or little hands can tape a bug to a card. Kids can add their name to the bottom, so friends know who to thank. This may have to be done a few at a time.
When kids share cards, they are participating in a new world, that of written communication. What a huge step for them. Some days do you feel overwhelmed with the amount of mail, memos, emails, text messages, and other print material? I certainly do. On the other hand, think of how hard it is when we don’t have access to all this. Valentines are an entry opportunity for young children into messages that are written instead of spoken. That’s worth celebrating!
Some kids may print their name left to right on one card and then backwards on the next one. This is part of the learning process. It sometimes help if we put a green dot on the left side. Green means go and that’s where to start. All the letters may not be in a line, either. Some letters may even be missing but even 1 or 2 are a start. For those kids who go to daycare or preschool, they may be able to recognize names of other kids in the group. That’s a start for reading.
Sharing cards is part of the give-and-take of relationships. Children’s friends may be quite separate from family groups so making valentine cards with kids can be an important way to recognize children’s independence. Will this be a project at your house?