Easy Preschool Valentine Craft (DIY Lacing Toy)
Coming up with an a preschool valentine craft that hasn't been done a million times is a bit of a challenge. But when I saw these wooden shapes online, I immediately thought of those little wooden lacing toys that are used for early childhood development. And was like 'those would make great valentines for classmates and preschool kids'.
Lacing toys are a great way to help improve fine motor skills, problem solving skills, and hand-eye coordination in young children (3 and up typically). Which makes them perfect for toddlers and preschoolers. Plus, they're cute (and easy) to put together.
Wanna make a set of these for your child's preschool class? Click through for the quick and easy tutorial.
Yield: 10 classroom valentines
Equipment
- Scissors
- drill and drill bit
Materials
- wooden shapes
- cording or rope
- painters tape
- pencil
- optional paint, crayons, markers, or wood stain
Instructions
Embellish the wooden shape.
- Decide whether you want to keep the wooden shapes completely plain or add something to them. If you want to add a more personal touch and opt not to leave the shapes as is, the first step would be to paint, draw, or stain the shapes.
- We did a combination of plain wooden hearts and painted hearts. We used paint markers, which are a lot messy than regular paint and are fast drying as well. My son was able to paint all the hearts in under 10 minutes. So it's a great valentine craft to get kids involved in making and also very easy for them to execute.
Tape a stack together.
- Next, tape a stack of 5-10 of the wooden shapes together with painters tape. Completely cover any areas that will be drilled through. This will help limit splitting of the wood.
- You can also use masking tape instead of painters tape. But I tried both and found that painters tape worked better, especially when considering the thinness of the wood.
Mark off the design.
- Mark the hole design you want to use onto the tape wrapped stack.
Drill the holes.
- Drill all of the holes with a drill, being careful not to go too fast. I would recommend using a half power setting on your drill as well, to help preserve the wood as much as possible.
Remove the tape.
- Remove the tape and any leftover wood debris.
Cut the cord.
- Cut a long length of cord or rope that will fit through the holes and tie it together in a small bundle.
- From there, you can throw everything into a small glassine bag, paper envelope, or mini drawstring bag like the ones I used as one of the party favor ideas for my son's fourth birthday party.
Add a message.
- Add a quick message that goes with the theme and they're ready to be passed out in the classroom on Valentine's Day.