Valentine's Day Activity: Lacing Hearts

Materials:

• any sized red heart of a thicker consistency than construction paper (you can make your own out of Bristol Board)
• pink yarn
• hole puncher
• masking tape

Instructions:

1. Punch holes all around the outside of the heart, between 1/2 an inch and 1 inch apart, and 1/4 of an inch from the edge.
2. Cut a piece of yarn that measures the outline the heart 1and 1/2 times.
3. Tie one end of the yarn to the bottom hole of the heart.
4. Tear off a small piece of masking tape and wrap it tightly around the other end of the yarn, to make it easy for little hands to manage.
5. Show the kids how to lace the heart, by threading the taped end of the yarn through a hole, pulling it all the way through, and then moving onto the next hole. It's okay if they don't thread the holes in order, or thread one hole on one side of the heart, and then move to the other side of the heart. My daycare kids did that (see the picture below) and still really enjoyed it!

* We taped a smaller foam heart in the middle of the big red heart, on each side, and made it into a valentine

    by writing a message on one of the sides.

* You could also modify the activity by using a pink heart and red yarn, or any combination of red, pink and  

    purple.