Tot School: Valentines

After Christmas passes and I finally get the tree and decorations put away, I immediately look forward to decking my house out in all things pink and glittery.  Any excuse to be super girly is totally my JAM. Being a girl mom also means that I can go all out with pink and sparkly fun for our Valentine themed Tot School, so brace yourself!

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  Here were our plans for Valentines Week:

And here are the details of each activity:

Our favorite valentine books for the week were: There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Rose by Lucille Colandro Love, Splat by Rob Scotton Happy Valentine’s Day, Mouse by Laura Numeroff Llama Llama I Love You by Anna Dewdney Kiss Kiss Pout Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen

  Roll and Fill Heart:

  I don’t know why I feel the need to buy 7,000 conversation hearts every year, but I seem to have so many laying around. I wanted to find a way to use them with Madelynn so we played this roll and fill heart game.  This game incorporates so many different skills. First roll the die and identify the number, then count out the hearts with one to one correspondence to fill the heart cookie cutter. I added the tongs to incorporate a fine motor strength challenge as well.

 Heart Stamp & Paint:

  For this art project we started with a tp tube bent into a heart shape to create a stamp. After Madelynn filled her page with hearts, I gave her pom poms clipped with clothespins to paint the hearts.

Valentines Necklaces:

    Did you know that paper straws make awesome beads? Just cut a few fun themed paper straws into small pieces then thread them onto lacing string and create a fun themed necklace.

  Stained Glass Heart:

  I LOVE making stained glass art crafts because they are so easy to prep & make, and they always turn out gorgeous!  First I cut 2 identical hearts from black construction paper and placed one heart onto a piece of contact paper. With the sticky side up, Madelynn added tissue paper squares to fill the heart. After she was finished she glued the second heart cut out on top along with another sheet of contact paper.  I cut the excess paper from the outside and taped it to the window. So pretty!

   Tear Paper Heart Tree:

  To make this tree I gave Madelynn a large sheet of brown construction paper and let her cut and tear large and small strips. Then she glued each piece together to create branches on a tree.  Finally she added foam heart stickers for a pretty Valentine themed tree.

Musical Hearts ABC: 

  This was a big hit with Madelynn.  I wrote the letters A-Z on paper hearts that I cut out, then laid them out in a circle.  I put on some music and had her dance around the circle.  Then I stopped the music and had her pick up a letter and try to name it.  She has been doing really well with uppercase letters so it is definitely time to move on to using more lowercase letters in our activities. 

 Heart Scavenger Hunt {Letters}:

We love a  scavenger hunt over here, so I took the paper hearts from our musical heart game and hid them all over the first floor of our house. Then we hunted for each letter and brought them back to this large paper mat I made to match them. 

Musical Hearts Numbers: 

  This was exactly the same as the musical hearts activity we did with letters.  I wrote the numbers 0-10 on paper hearts that I cut out, then laid them out in a circle.  I put on some music and had her dance around the circle.  Then I stopped the music and had her pick up a number and try to name it. 

Heart Scavenger Hunt {Numbers}:

  Because we love our scavenger hunts, I took the paper hearts from our musical heart game and hid them all over the first floor of our house. Then we hunted for each number and brought them back to this large paper mat I made to match them.

Valentines Snacks:

Strawberry Swirl Crescents: These hearts were pretty easy to make and super yummy like little danishes! I started with a tube of Pillsbury crescent rounds. I rolled the whole tube out and had Madelynn spread cream cheese over them.  Then she placed small cut up strawberries on top.  I rolled both ends of the rounds towards the center to form hearts and then baked them according to the package directions.  

Veggie Hearts: Using tiny heart cookie cutters I cut out shapes from cucumber, crinkled carrots, and tomatoes to make these colorful healthy Valentines treats.    Heart Eyes Crackers: I’m loving this emoji inspired valentine snack. We spread peanut butter on ritz crackers. Then added raisins and strawberries (cut with a tiny heart cookie cutter) to make a face.     Valentine Parfait: To make this parfait we layered granola, strawberry yogurt, strawberries, and vanilla pudding.

Fruit Heart Skewer: Use a heart cookie cutter to cut shapes from strawberries and bananas. Alternate fruits on a skewer for a fun heart pattern.

Valentine Sensory Bin #1:

  In this sensory bin: pipe cleaners, pom poms, satin hearts, foam hearts, ribbon, heart slinkies, and buttons

Valentine Sensory Bin #2:

  In this sensory bin: water beads, mini heart boxes, heart buttons, and scoops

Valentine Play Dough Cookies:

On this play dough tray: red, pink, and purple play dough, heart stamps, heart gems, heart buttons, heart cookie cutters, and rolling pins

 Valentine Sensory Bin #3: 

In this sensory bin: red rice, valentine mini erasers, mailbox, tongs

Valentine Sensory Bin #4: 

In this sensory bin: red dyed water, heart sponges, heart gems, mini heart boxes, mini cups, scoops, and eye droppers.

Want all of this week’s Valentines activities for tot school?  You can grab them here:
On my site : Valentines Plans & Printables On TpT: Valentines Plans & Printables

Or you can grab our entire year of themes and plans:
On my site here: Tot School Bundle On TpT here: Tot School Bundle

Then check out the rest of our 35+ themes on the Tot School Curriculum Main Page.