Valentine’s day is right around the corner! Here’s some craft ideas to wash those winter blues away and add some colorful decorations to your house, all while working on those love-ly fine motor skills!

Heart Card

Great activity for children to work on hand strength, visual-motor skills including scissors and lacing.

Materials:

1. 2 different colors of construction paper (white, red, pink, purple – whichever you have), scissors, markers, hole punch, yarn, glue
2. Fold the paper in half. Starting at the crease, draw half of the heart.
3. Keeping the paper folded, have the child cut out the heart. Repeat steps 2-3 with a different colored paper, making the heart slightly smaller than the first.
4. Glue smaller heart onto larger heart.
5. Use hole punch to punch holes along the outside edge of the larger heart.
6. Tie a knot at one end of the yarn and string yarn through the holes.
7. Decorate the heart with stickers, markers, glitter glue, etc!

Yarn Heart

Simple, fun activity for children to work on using both hands together.

Materials: 

1. Cardboard cut out in the shape of a heart, ball of yarn
   1. Optional: Cut out little slits in the cardboard heart
2. If completing with 2 children, have one child hold the ball of yarn and the other child hold the cardboard. Or, the adult can hold the yarn to help with tangling and the child can wrap it around the heart.
3. Wrap the yarn around the cardboard heart until the heart is covered in the yarn.
4. Hang it from the ceiling or on the wall for some dangling hearts around the house!

Celery Heart

Stamped Valentines

Materials:

1. Celery (can use individual stalk or a bunch), washable paint, construction paper
2. Either have the child draw and cut out a heart or have the heart-shaped paper ready to go.
3. Using the celery ends, dip the celery into the paint and then ‘stamp’ the celery on the heart. You can use one piece of celery at a time or use a bunch together!

Now that you have some new ideas, it’s time to get crafting. Remember, it’s ok to get messy, be creative, and have fun!  See?! Fine motor and sensory motor can be fun, creative and enriching all at the same time!  For more help with these fine motor tasks, contact our creative pediatric occupational therapists for guidance and help at (773) 780-3003!  Happy Valentine’s Day!