Fun Valentine’s Day Activities For Every Preschooler

Valentine’s Day isn’t just for grown-ups, it’s the perfect excuse for preschoolers to dive into colorful crafts, hands-on imaginative play, and heart-themed creative fun! From making handprint wreaths to festive play dough and racing through a heart scavenger hunt, little ones get to celebrate the holiday in the most fun way.

These preschooler activities aren’t just adorable, they help kids build fine-motor skills, explore their senses, express creativity, and learn the sweetness of giving through homemade cards. With a mix of crafts, games, sensory play, and tasty heart-shaped goodies, Valentine’s Day becomes a celebration of love, learning, and laughter for all ages.

Why is Imaginative Play Beneficial for Preschoolers

Preschooler activities offer tons of benefits, helping kids grow socially, emotionally, and creatively while they’re having fun. Children naturally build language skills and keep their little hands and bodies active when doing these fun holiday-themed crafts.

Here’s how these Valentine’s Day activities support their development:

• Social skills: They learn to cooperate, share, and work together.
• Emotional development: They can explore and express their feelings through playful roles.
• Cognitive skills: These activities help boost creativity, problem-solving, and imagination.
• Language & communication: They can expand their vocabulary and storytelling abilities through these creative activities.
• Motor skills: Crafts allow preschoolers to strengthen their fine and gross motor movements through hands-on play.

Creative Valentine’s Day Crafts for Preschoolers

Handprint Wreath

Materials needed: paper plate, washable craft paint, child-safe scissors, glue stick, stickers, glitter

1. Create the wreath base: Cut out the center of the paper plate to create a wreath shape.
2. Make the handprints: Help your child dip their hand in paint and press it onto the paper plate. Repeat this process while overlapping the handprints to create a wreath shape.
3. Add decorations: Let the handprints dry completely. Once it’s dry, have the preschooler decorate the wreath with stickers, glitter, or other things.
4. Attach a hanger: Use a pipe cleaner, string, or ribbon to attach it to a hanger so it can be displayed.

Heart Stamping

Materials needed: cardboard, rubber bands or tape, paint

1. Pinch a cardboard tube and secure it together with tape or rubber bands.
2. Dip the heart-shaped end into paint and use it as a stamp.

Heart Suncatchers

Materials needed: Clear contact paper, tissue paper squares in red, pink, purple; child-safe scissors; and black construction paper (for a frame)

1. Cut a heart shape from black construction paper to create a frame.
2. Stick the frame onto the sticky side of the contact paper.
3. Have children place tissue paper pieces all over the sticky surface.
4. Press another piece of contact paper on the top to seal.
5. Cut out the heart and hang it in the window.

Science & Sensory Valentine’s Day Activities

Fizzy Heart Science Experiment

Materials needed: heart-shaped cookie cutters or silicone molds, vinegar, baking soda, pink and red food coloring, droppers, tray

1. Fill the tray with baking soda and place cookie cutters on top.
2. Mix vinegar with a few drops of food coloring.
3. Let your preschooler use droppers to squeeze colored vinegar into the cookie cutters.
4. Watch the fizzy reaction and talk about what happens when acid (vinegar) meets base (baking soda).

Valentine’s Day Sensory Bin

Materials needed: Heart-shaped containers, spoons, pom poms, plastic letter or heart-shaped beads, heart-shaped cookie cutters, heart-shaped erasers, and candy.

1. Fill a large bin with Valentine-themed scoops, containers, and heart items.
2. Let children scoop, sort, and search for heart-shaped treasures.

Preschool Valentine’s Day Games

“Cupid Says” (Simon Says)

• Play like the game Simon Says, but with Valentine-themed actions like
• “Cupid says… blow a kiss!”
• “Cupid says… make a heart with your hands!”
• Cupid says… give two thumbs up.
• Cupid says… give someone an air hug.
• Cupid says… find something pink and bring it to the center.

Valentine’s Bean Bag Toss

Materials needed: Bean bags, large paper hearts taped to the floor, markers

1. Draw shapes or numbers on each heart.
2. Have them toss bean bags and try to land on specific hearts.
3. Mix in learning goals like numbers or colors too, i.e., the red heart with 8 or the small pink heart with a V on it.

Musical Hearts

Materials needed: Similar to musical chairs, you’ll need heart-shaped cutouts with various numbers or colors written on them and music.

1. Lay heart-shaped cutouts on the floor in a circle.
2. Play music and have them dance or walk around the hearts.
3. When the music stops, each child must be standing on a heart.
4. Take turns having each child name the color, number, or word written on their heart.

Discover the Benefits of Enrolling Your Preschooler at Parkland Children’s Academy

At Parkland Children’s Academy, we love activities that spark a preschooler’s creativity, curiosity, and joy, and Valentine’s Day is the perfect opportunity to blend all three of them. These Valentine’s Day crafts and hands-on experiences encourage them to use their imagination while strengthening fine motor skills, exploring early science concepts, practicing language, and building social–emotional skills.

Whether you’re a parent or caregiver, these activities make Valentine’s Day festive, meaningful, and full of learning. Do you want to give your child more opportunities to play, grow, and imagine every day? Contact Parkland Children’s Academy to learn more about our curriculum-based preschool by calling 954-688-5877 today.