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14 Days of Love Notes

OneMommy — Thu, 14 Jan 2021 15:00:58 +0000

February is quickly approaching.

Every year my kids look forward to celebrating 14 days of love, a tradition I started years ago.

Family traditions are so important. They help make memories that last a lifetime, and they also strengthen family bonds.

Giving your child 14 Days of Love Notes is a super simple Valentine’s Day tradition that kids love and will remember years later.

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Every February we have lots of fun making heart-shaped crafts and doing other Valentine’s Day crafts to decorate the windows and doors around our house.

But our favorite activity each year is when we start with these notes of love. It’s a tradition my kids look forward to every February.

While I try to tell them I love them every day, this heart activity lets me focus on what makes each of them special.

14 Days of Love Notes

We’re all busy, right? But this is a super simple Valentine’s Day activity that doesn’t take a lot of time, but brings a HUGE amount of joy.

To make it even easier, you can prepare all the messages ahead of time.

Spouses and grandparents also love receiving this small notes.

In recent years I’ve started including my husband in my daily notes. He has kept them in a small box.

This year the kids plan on sending hearts through the mail to their grandparents as well. We will probably send all 14 at once to save on postage, with each one marked to be read on different days. It’s a simple way to remind them that we are thinking of them and can’t wait to see them again.

Valentine Notes for Kids

To make sure you don’t miss any days, you may want to prepare all your notes ahead of time.

Start by cutting out plenty of hearts.

Use very thick construction paper or colorful card stock to keep your hearts looking nice over time. This way the person receiving them can keep them to look back on long after February is past.

Cut the hearts from different colored paper. You may even want to use fancy scissors for some of them. Make them as fancy or simple as you wish.

If you are writing notes of love for multiple people it will be helpful to have separate envelopes to organize all the hearts.

Once you have plenty of hearts and envelopes to place them in, it’s time to write your notes.

It may be tempting to write your notes as you go each day, but writing them all now means you won’t forget a day!

Use a fine tip permanent marker or an ink pen to write a short love note or poem on each heart. Pencil could smudge or fade away over time.

Try to be specific when you write your hearts. Think about what makes the person special and unique.

For my husband I like to write about all the simple things he does that I sometimes take for granted, like making pancakes on the weekends and baking the world’s best brownies from scratch.

Ideas for Love Notes for Kids

Need some inspiration?

Try starting with a few of the ideas below and filling in the blanks to make the notes more personal.

I love listening to you _______________(sing, tell stories, laugh…).
I love when you _______________.
I appreciate it when you ______________.
You are so _____________! (creative, funny, smart, generous…)
You are so talented at __________________.
You were very brave when you _____________________.

Check out the video above for even more inspiration.

14 Days of Valentines Love Notes

Starting on February 1, surprise your loved one with one of your love notes.

I like to tape the heart notes, one a day, on each of my kid’s bedroom doors. They love to find them first thing in the morning and watch their door fill up with love.

If you’re writing notes for a spouse, you can tuck it in their laptop, stick it on the steering wheel of the car, or shower them with all the love notes in one location you know they’ll see them, like taping them to the vanity mirror in the bathroom.

It will be one of the first things they see each morning.

As a mom it is easy to get lost in the daily monotony of dishes, laundry, and taking care of kids. Sometimes we miss out on telling those we care for most just how much they mean to us.

Writing 14 Days of Love Notes is the perfect way to let them know just how special they really are.

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Originally published on January 29, 2016.

The post 14 Days of Love Notes first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

Beautiful DIY Rainbow Heart Garland

OneMommy — Sat, 25 Jan 2020 15:21:07 +0000

February is perfect for decorating with fancy heart wreaths, garland, and pink and red Valentine’s Day decorations.

If you spend a lot of time on Pinterest you’ll find lots of DIY ideas that leave you feeling a bit untalented. (At least that’s how I felt.)

Then my daughter and I came up with this beautiful rainbow heart garland.

This simple Valentine’s Day craft for kids looks gorgeous hanging from the windows. And, it’s easy enough for kids to make.

This simple heart craft is perfect for doing together as a family.

Why not create one of these for each window in your home? It would be a fun activity to do with the kids to celebrate 14 days of love.

How to Make Paper Heart Garland

Materials needed:

- - Thick Construction Paper (We used red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.)
  - Clear Tape
  - Hole Punch
  - Yarn
  - Small Bell or Large Bead (optional)

Cut a 1 inch thick strip from the length of each color of paper. Be sure to use a thick construction paper or card stock for this craft. Very thin paper will collapse in on itself once your heart garland is hanging.

Fold each strip in half.

Then bend the edges of the strip in towards each other to form a heart.

Use clear tape to hold the edges together. You will need to put the tape up about and inch from the edge to keep the heart shape. You can also use glue, but then you will have to wait for it to dry before the next step.

Once all the hearts are formed, arrange them so the points of each heart alternate back and forth, from left to right, as shown in the picture below.

Use the hole punch to make two holes in each paper heart, diagonal from each other.

One hole should be at the top of the heart. The other hold should be at the bottom, near the paper heart’s point.

Rainbow Heart Garland

To create the rainbow affect, make one heart from each color of the rainbow and put them in order before punching your holes.

Tie a loop at the top of the yarn to hang your DIY Valentines decoration.

Then thread your yarn through the holes in the rainbow-colored hearts.

To secure it, you can tie a small bell or large bead at the bottom of the strand. Or, you can just tie a large knot to keep the hearts from slipping off.

When finished, hang your rainbow heart garland from the curtain rod or a wall hook to enjoy.

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Originally published January 21, 2016.

The post Beautiful DIY Rainbow Heart Garland first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

Heart Crafts for Kids

OneMommy — Mon, 21 Jan 2019 19:33:32 +0000

February is the month to celebrate love and friendship.

When it comes to fun Valentine’s Day crafts for kids, hearts rule!

There are so many awesome heart crafts for kids. I picked out some of the very best from around the internet to share with you in this post.

If you love hearts you will also want to check out my post with gift ideas, cards, and tasty treats, all with a heart theme.

Looking for something specific?

The crafts have been separated by categories for your convenience!

Heart Crafts for Elementary Kids
Preschool Heart Crafts
Heart Suncatchers
Homemade Heart Decorations

Heart Crafts for Kids

Older children will have fun creating this String Canvas.
Kids of all ages will have fun making these silly paper Heart Creatures.
I love how pretty these Woven Hearts turn out.
Sit down with the kids and learn more about each other when you make your own Things I Love Collage.
This Map of Your Heart activity is both a craft and writing project!
Chalk Stencil Hearts make a unique craft to hang up on the doors.
Here’s an “ExStraw” Special Valentine Craft to make!
These Yarn Wrapped Hearts are colorful and fun to make.
Love dream catchers? This Paper Plate Dream Catcher has a fun Valentine’s twist.
Try this Marbled Painting activity. It turns out beautiful.
Love penguins? Make this adorable paper heart penguin.

Heart Crafts for Preschool

Hand print crafts are always fun, and this Love Tree Craft is adorable.
This simple Fingerprint Painting would look cute in a frame.
This Footprint Canvas is a perfect keepsake to make with little ones.
Even the birds will love this Heart-Shaped Bird Feeder.
Mix crafting with sensory exploration in this Frozen Ice Painting.
Gather up some colorful tissue paper and make this Tissue Bleed Craft.
Want to give it an extra spin? Try this version: Crayon Resist Tissue Bleed.
Remember doing pasta crafts as a kid? Bring a bit of nostalgia and help the kids create Pasta Hearts.
Little ones will love layering yarn in this Yarn Heart craft.
This Heart Stamping craft can be used as wrapping paper or turned into envelopes for Valentines!
Kids love to crinkle tissue paper, and this Tissue Paper Collage will let them create beautiful artwork, too!
This Button Heart craft not only turns out cute, but it allows kids to work on fine motor skills, too!
Cut a variety of hearts and let the kids make some cute Heart-Shaped Animals.
These paper Layered Hearts are easy to make and look gorgeous on the door.

Heart Suncatcher Crafts

Put those old crayons to good use with this Wax Paper Sun Catcher.
Decorate the windows with this Paper Plate Valentine’s Day Sun Catcher.
This Rainbow Sun Catcher turns out so beautiful.
I also love this take on a Heart Sun Catcher!
You’d never guess this Stained-Glass Heart was made from a recycled milk bottle!
Coloring and getting to use the spray bottle will make this Coffee Filter Heart Art a hit with all kids.
You just have to see this beautiful Glue and Beads Heart Sun Catcher.
This Tissue Paper Stained-Glass Heart is a great use for tissue paper scraps.
I absolutely love how the colors pop in this Paper Towel Stained-Glass Heart!
Instead of buying them, make your own Window Clings for Valentine’s Day with the kids.
Use the leftover paper from cutting out all those paper hearts for this Sticky Heart Collage Window Decoration.

Homemade Heart Decorations

This Cardboard Roll Wreath would make an awesome Valentine’s Day wreath for the door!
This Antiqued Wooden Heart would look great on the front door!
The kids will love seeing their artwork hanging from the ceiling with this Valentine’s Mobile.
Decorate the curtains with this Homemade Valentine’s Day Garland.
This String of Hearts makes a beautiful decoration.
This Garland looks lovely hanging down from a window!
We had so much fun making this beautiful rainbow heart garland.
I love this simple Paper Hearts Chain Garland.
This White Clay Bunting decoration will add a bit of charm to any home.

Heart Collage Craft for Kids

OneMommy — Fri, 18 Jan 2019 15:57:37 +0000

Heart crafts abound when it February comes around.

This week the kids and I talked about the things we love: family, friends, favorite hobbies…

Then we incorporated all those things into this heart collage craft.

It’s perfect as a kids Valentine’s Day craft or as a craft to learn about each other.

This things I love craft is fun for crafting with kids of a variety of ages.

They are perfect for displaying at home or in the classroom.

Love all things hearts? Check out these 50+ Heart Crafts for more Valentine’s Day ideas.

Heart Collage Craft

Affiliate links have been provided below. See my full disclosure for more information.

Materials Needed:

Construction Paper
Scissors
Glue Stick
Black Permanent Marker
Ruler
Markers or Crayons
Stickers and/or Magazines to Cut From

Start by cutting out large hearts from construction paper. We used scrap-booking scissors to cut our heart shapes so the hearts have fancy edges.

Then use a black permanent marker to divide each heart into sections. I used a ruler and made nice straight lines to divide our hearts into lots of sections.

For younger children you may want to make fewer sections. Older children can divide the heart on their own in as many spaces as they’d like.

After that, it is time to get crafty!

Have your child decorate each section of the heart with something they love.

They can use stickers, markers, or pictures from magazines.

Older kids may chose to write words in some of the spaces.

Each heart is a beautiful reflection of the individual who creates it.

Things I Love Heart

For her collage of things I like, my daughter included family, cats and dogs, writing, flowers….

And my son drew a scene of us taking a walk together, a campfire, and a pencil for drawing.

You may want to write the year on the back of the heart collage and keep them to look back on when your child is older.

This Things I Love Craft is a fun heart craft to do with a variety of ages.

Valentine’s Day Science: Melt the Frozen Heart

OneMommy — Sat, 29 Dec 2018 17:51:16 +0000

If you open my freezer on any given day, you will probably find some type of toy frozen in a block of ice. Hot Wheels, princess dolls, and Legos have been trapped in plastic containers the kids have filled with water and frozen.

I’m not sure what the fascination is, but the kids will bring them out, place them in the sink to thaw, and then start the whole process over again.

This love of melting ice is what inspired one of our favorite Valentine’s Day STEM activities.

Our Valentine’s Day Science: Melt the Frozen Heart was a huge hit and I couldn’t wait to share it with you.

Frozen activities for preschoolers are always fun.

This super simple science activity is a fun Valentines activity for kids. It also would be a huge hit with Disney’s Frozen fans.

Melting Frozen Hearts

Materials Needed:

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Ice Cube Tray
Eye Dropper (Pipette)
Small Plastic Hearts (We used these.)
Small bowl or tray (to contain the mess)
Small container for water

Fill the spots of your ice cube tray half way with water and freeze.

Once it is frozen, add a plastic heart to each ice cube space. Finish filling with water and freeze again. This will ensure your heart is in the middle of each ice cube and not right on the top or bottom.

Once frozen, get out one frozen heart for your child to experiment with at a time.

Fill your small container with room temperature water and allow your child to use the eye dropper to drip water on the frozen heart.

Set a timer to see how long it takes before the ice melts enough to remove the heart. Use a chart to record the time.

Will hot water make the ice melt faster?

Have your child estimate how quickly they think the heart will melt using hot water.

Then set the timer and let them experiment, using the eye dropper to drip hot water onto the ice cube. Record the time on your chart and compare it to the time from using room temperature water.

(Related Post: 20 Ways to Play with Ice)

Younger children may be happy with just these two activities. They may even want to try it again and again.

Not only are they learning about how different water temperatures affect the ice, they are also building fine motor skills and hand muscles by using the eye dropper.

For older children you may want to continue the Valentine’s Day experiment with some of the following ideas.

How long will it take to melt on its own? Place one of the frozen hearts in a shallow bowl and set it aside. Set a timer and check the ice cube every 5-10 minutes to check its progress. (Ours took over an hour!) Record your findings.
How else can you get the ice to melt faster? Have your child shake salt all over the ice. What happens? Check the ice cube every few minutes. Record how long it takes to melt enough to remove the heart.
What other ideas does your child have? Let them experiment, making only one change at a time. Time and record the results on your chart. (My daughter decided to try shaking the frozen heart in a baggie after adding salt to see if it would melt faster than with just salt. It did!)

Will this activity put a stop to the endless toys found in the freezer? Probably not.

But this Valentine’s Day science activity is a fun way to encourage thinking skills and foster a love of science.

Dissolving Candy Hearts Valentines Science

OneMommy — Fri, 03 Feb 2017 02:46:01 +0000

Those little pink boxes of candy hearts are once again adorning store shelves everywhere. I’m going to admit it, I really don’t like them. But the kids do. And every year we buy a few boxes, having fun with some simple candy heart activities, like this candy heart science experiment, before they gobble them all up.

(Related Post: Dissolving Candy Experiment)

Candy Heart Science Experiment

To conduct your Valentine’s Day science experiment you will need several clear glasses or small jars. You can use plastic, too, if they are clear and easy to see through.

You will also need plenty of candy hearts (conversation hearts). If your kids are anything like mine you will need at least one full box because they seem to disappear, leaving no evidence of where they went except for a couple giggling kids.

Now comes the fun part. Give each child one candy heart and ask them to put it in their mouths for a minute or two, without chewing it. What happens to it?

Your child will probably notice that the words disappear from the candy, and it gets smaller. They may have other observations to make, too.

Ask your child what they think will happen to a candy heart when put in a glass of water. (Over time it will dissolve.)

What affect would hot water have? Would it dissolve faster?

For younger children this may be enough to experiment with. Place one candy heart in each of two cups. Fill one cup part way with room temperature water and one with hot water and observes what happens. (It will take a few minutes, which is perfect for snuggling up with a favorite book.)

Older children may want to test the affects of other liquids on the candy.

My kids opted to try vinegar (they love using vinegar in experiments) and some apple cider we had. Your child might want to try soda pop or a fruit juice.

Label the glasses with each liquid and be sure to put the candy hearts in at the same time so you can see which one dissolves first. Want to take it further? Use a timer and record how long it takes for each candy heart to dissolve.

Encourage your child to jot down observations during the candy experiment.

One thing we noticed was that the clear liquids turned the color of the candy heart. Also, when we sniffed the containers the two with water smelled like the candy — the yellow especially did, smelling a bit lemony.

We were surprised to find the hot water dissolved the candy much faster than the vinegar. And even more surprised that the apple cider took the longest. (Which may be because it was cold. We have a whole new hypothesis to test.)

Even though I am not a big fan of the tiny candy hearts, we always have fun with them each February. This simple candy heart science experiment is one of our favorite candy heart activities so far.