Briggs was the only kid in the family that was able to take Valentine’s to school this year (much to the other kids’ chagrin.) Briggs and I walked the isles of Target looking for his special Valentines to give. He started with car erasers. And then he grabbed the bubbles. Then little stamps were added to the basket. By the time he had three options in the cart I had him make a decision. Stamps were quickly tossed out but he hemmed and hawed over the other two options. Ultimately bubbles won out without any rhyme or reason. And then he proceeded to talk about making his Valentines for the next week until we finally got around to making them!
He was so excited to go to school and ask a special girl in his class to be his Valentine. (he clearly has older siblings and I’m not sure when kids started asking kids to be their Valentine, but this year it’s a thing!) Unfortunately she was out of town and he had some serious disappointment…which was quickly suppressed with large amounts of candy from his valentines bag!
Download all the Valentine’s and even more at the resource library.
Cannon, my kindergartener, was the only one who needed a Valentine’s box this year. I’m starting to wonder if it’s always been that way and Hallie just always told me she needed to make a box – because she made one every year and my boys don’t seem to “need” one every year!
Cannon and I scrolled through pinterest for a few minutes and he quickly narrowed down his box ideas to three: A Dr. Seuss hat, a USPS mailbox or a robot. For whatever reason, the Dr. Seuss hat won out and like many year’s past the trusty oatmeal container came to the rescue. I wish I could see all the Valentine’s boxes people have come up with using an oatmeal canister. I know we have used the canister for Valentine’s at least 4 times over the years.
On the scale of difficult boxes we’ve created – this was one of the easiest. Cannon taped cardstock around the canister to create the stripes. We printed off his name and the two characters and they just had to be cut out and taped on. Tape projects are the best because you don’t have to wait for anything to dry. And he can reuse it in two weeks when they celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday at school!
Our afternoon was consumed with Valentine’s sprawled across the kitchen counter, and me telling Briggs for the 15th time to keep writing his name. (26 cards for a 3-year-old is a lot of work!)
I typically like to get these done well in advance but this year we’re getting them done just in time – but they’re done. Hunter was the last one to finish tonight (no picture yet). He’s in fifth grade and at a stage in life where he doesn’t really care enough about Valentines to put much effort into them, but at the same time has a strong opinion. There was no way he was going to use the “I Pick You” card. The dinosaurs were too kid-ish. We talked about goldfish but even that wasn’t working for him.
He finally decided to do the kool-aid packets we did a couple years back and of course, I couldn’t find them anywhere. So he landed on blow pop suckers and was only slightly embarrassed that the saying was, “I’m a sucker for you!” Can’t wait to see what he goes for next year!
Bennett couldn’t have been more excited about his card – and I created it with him in mind! It just screams third grade boy!
Every year I post new printables for kid’s Valentines – and every year I tell myself to consolidate them in one place so they’re easier to find the next year.
This year I finally made that happen. Years of Valentines with the printable downloads all in one place. You can find them all HERE. There’s been a few valentine’s cards that kids wanted to re-do but for the most part we start from scratch every year. This year is no different and when we finally get them done I’ll post them on the download page.
And because I couldn’t resist: A picture of Hunter writing his name as a preschooler on all his Valentine cards. It took him so long and we’re in the same process with Briggs right now. (Side note: We still have that sweatshirt and Briggs has started wearing it. It’s made it through 4 boys which is pretty impressive although it has a much more weathered look now!)
Only 1 out of my 4 kids giving Valentine’s this year needs a box. How is that even possible!? I’m sure most moms are singing songs of joy because this is the last thing they want to think about this week, but I’m a little bummed because I actually really enjoy making these with my kids.
Cannon already has big plans for his this year – I love the excitement of kindergarteners!
