Be Mine, Valentine!

Valentine's Day is coming up, obvs., and I've noticed I enjoy holidays a lot more now that I have this little one to do my bidding.  No, but seriously, holidays really help break up the monotony that can come with being a stay-at-home parent.  It gives you a really good excuse to do something a little different and make the focus doing something for others.  For that reason, I decided to have my daughter help make some Valentines to send out to cousins and friends. I got the idea from an episode of Curious George (yes, George has a wealth of ideas).

There are about a million Valentine's Day themed books you can read for this activity. Or, any book about love or doing something nice for those you love would be perfect for this.  Here is a really sweet list of books from PBS to get you started: Children's Books That Say 'I Love You'

What You'll Need:

We went for the classic potato stamp activity here. If you've never done it before, it's really easy.  You probably already have everything you need at home.

• A potato (any size)
• A sharp knife (parents only for this part)
• Something to mark your design (pen, pencil)
• Paint (preferably washable)
• An old plastic container for paint
• Blank cards (I got the cardstock kind from Michael's -similar here)  
• A willing assistant

Procedure:

1. Start by cutting the potato in half across the equator.  Draw out your design and poke holes to trace the outline into the potato.

2. 

   Like so.

3. Begin cutting out the design (carefully!) with your knife (adults only, please).  Cut all around and give yourself a bit of clearance so that the design is standing about an 1/8" from the base of the potato (that way you won't get the edges stamped as well). 
   
4. Do the same thing with the other half so you have some variation. 

   

   Tada!  (The less complicated the design, the better)

5. Grab a scrap/practice piece of paper and squirt some paint onto your plastic container.  Dry off the potato a bit (it helps the paint adhere better), and dip into the paint. You don't want a ton on there or it will not come out very clearly. A light coating is best.
6. Stamp onto the paper to get a feel for how much paint you'll need.  Lift straight up and...voila! You just made yourself a potato print!
7. The first one is definitely a bit iffy.  My daughter ended up making a blob, but who doesn't love a blob valentine? Keep stamping cards and let them dry completely before writing inside.

The stamped cards. The one on the left is a special one for Daddy.

It definitely turned into finger painting by the end.

I think family and friends are really going to love getting their definitely-handmade mail.  It's always so exciting for kids to get something addressed just to them!  I hope you enjoy this activity and let me know if you try it out!