How to Make Creative Valentine's with your Kids!

For the last couple of weeks my boys and I have been making Valentine's to send to friends and family. I'm all for experimenting and teaching my kids new art techniques and Valentine's day is a great subject to experiment with. Here are three different Valentine "projects" using three different techniques we have been working on.

For this I just wanted my boys to think outside the box and use hearts for something other than Valentine's. We tried making different animals out of hearts. Here is Yip's version of a lion. Pretty creative I thought!


I love to paint and here is an effect that is fun to play with especially with kids. Use watercolor paint or watered down tempera to paint in the heart then sprinkle salt over the paint. We used Kosher salt but table salt would work too. Just experiment with amounts of paint and salt. Allow the salt and paint to dry, or gently use a hair dryer to speed up the process, then brush off the salt for a starburst effect.

Here's a close up of the starburst effect created by the salt. You may need to experiment with amount of paint and salt to use. We found it helped to lay them both on pretty thick.

This last technique we used is my favorite. It is a wax resist. First you color your Valentine's with crayons. It is best to press hard with the crayons and encourage the kids to go over it a couple times to create more contrast. After they are done coloring then use watercolors to paint over the crayons. The wax will resist the paint and create a bright contrast of color with the painted background. White crayons are a great effect to use as well. It's almost like magic when the child applies the paint and the invisible white crayon suddenly appears.


This is Yap's and....


here is Yip's.

Enjoy Valentine's Day and I'd love to hear your ideas for new techniques!