Valentine's Day Tot School and Preschool Corner

M is almost 4 years old

R is 26 months old

Printables

Heart Tanagram Printable from Making Learning Fun
We use the pieces from our Melissa & Doug Puzzles

Which One is Different & Beginning Letter Sounds
from Over the Big Moon

Pre-writing Sheets from Homeschool Creations

Montessori Style Trays

Heart Sticks in a Parmesan Cheese Container
Source: Playing House

Pouring Erasers
Saw this on multiple blogs

Transferring Heart Toothpicks to Ice Tray
M used tweezers (we are still working on correct grip)
R used his fingers

Open and Close Tray
They opened the hearts and put the correct color buttons inside,
then opened them again to remove the buttons.

Pinning Tray
M tried to pin rose petals to the edge of a yogurt container w/ small clips.
This was a bit too hard for her, so it's a skill we'll work on.  For now, I
let her just attach the clips to the petals and not use the yogurt container.
Source: Adapted from Hands on as we Grow

Cutting Hearts
This was a bit difficult for M too.  She's left handed and I'm having a hard time
teaching her how to cut.  We managed to get several done with me guiding her along,
but we definitely need more cutting practice!

Art

Toilet Paper Heart Stamping
I made hearts out of toilet paper rolls and the kids used paint to stamp the hearts all over the paper.
Source: TP Craft

Valentine Stencils
I found these cupcake stencils in the dollar bins at Target.
I taped them to paper and had the kids paint or dot marker over them.

Tape Stencils
I taped hearts to a piece of paper and the kids painted or dot markered over them
Source: Adapted from Playing House

We used the various art projects above (plus the hearts M cut from the Montessori Tray) to make Valentine's Cards for family members.

And for the kids' friends that they would be handing out at our MOMS Club Valentine's Day party.

The kids made little foam heart puppets.
This was one of the goodies they found in their mailboxes (see below).

Activities

Bird Valentines
The kids threaded heart shaped cereal onto pipe cleaners to make Valentines
for the birds.
Source: Under the Table and Dreaming

Heart Window Tracing
M decided to add a face to her heart
Source: Mama to 4 Blessings

Meanwhile R just enjoyed the opportunity to scribble with the window markers!

Field Trip

We went to a fun Valentine's Day party put on by my MOMS Club.
The food was super yummy and the kids had a blast!

Life

Valentine Mailboxes
I put out little mailboxes a few days before Valentine's Day and the kids enjoyed finding a new surprise in there every morning.  It was usually homemade items like a homemade sticker book, or a little strawberry & nutella heart snack.

I made a yummy heart pancake breakfast for the kids on Valentine's Day.
Source: Random Thoughts of a Supermom

Toddler Valentine Snack Mix
My contribution to the MOMS Club party.
It has Quaker heart cereal, Strawberry Shredded Wheat, cranberries, Chocolate Graham Goldfish and White Chocolate Chips
Source: Inspired by One Little Step at a Time

We've also been spending a lot of snuggly time with the kiddos!  My due date is today and we have an induction scheduled for tomorrow, so we are trying to squeeze in tons of extra lovin' before the baby gets here!

Books


Pinterest
Are you on Pinterest? I always have so many more ideas than what I actually use, so check out my Valentine's Day Theme and Valentine's Day Pinterest boards if you are looking for more ideas or for the original sources for many of our activities.

Past Unit
Make sure to check out our Valentine's Day posts from last year.  Here is our general post and our post about books.

That's all for this week! To see what other toddlers and preschoolers are learning this week, check out the official Preschool Corner website and Tot School Website!

We are also participating in: