Valentine's Day Canvas Art for Kids-Great Valentine's Day Party Craft

My friend Mandy and I are the Room Representatives for our son's fourth grade class. We met one day back in January to plan the upcoming Valentine's Day Party. Planning kids class parties get harder the older the kids become. During research we found so many ideas for younger kids, and not as much for the older kids. We wanted to plan a fun and simple craft that the kids would not think was too "babyish" and one they would be proud to take home. We hope we came up with something they will enjoy.

Supplies:

--8x10 canvas (I found a good deal on a 10 pack at Michael's Arts and Crafts)
--various acrylic craft paint (2 oz bottles)
--pencils
--cotton balls
--baby wipes (to wipe hands when done)
--shape cutouts (we chose a heart, arrows, and the word LOVE)
--painters' tape (to secure the cutout on the canvas while painting)


Step One. Make sure you have each child write their name and the year on the back of their canvas before they start to paint.

Each child will need to choose a shape and process to paint their canvas. We decided on a heart, arrows, and the word LOVE. We thought the boys might appreciate the arrows since everything Valentine's Day is so pink and hearts, etc. I cut the cutouts out of card stock on my Silhouette Portrait Machine, but you could also find shapes on the internet and print them onto card stock or trace them on cardboard. The last part of the prep step is each kid will need to decide on whether to use the pencil method or cotton ball method.

Step Two: Secure the cutout to the canvas with painter's tape. Make sure to get the edges secure so that the cutout does not slide around during the painting process.

Step Three: Paint!

Pencil Method: Have one pencil for each paint color. Dip the eraser side of the pencil in the paint and dab on canvas. Easy!

NOTE: Depending on the amount of time your kids have to finish the canvas they might not be able to fill the entire canvas with dots (it did take more time than the cotton ball method). However, it would still look cool to do several layers around the perimeter of the cutout to get the same effect.

Cotton Ball Method.  Have one cotton ball for each paint color. Dip the cotton ball in paint and dab on the canvas.

NOTE: You can also attach a clothes pin to the cotton ball for the kids to hold for less mess. The mess was still minimal without the clothes pin. The paint easily came off with a wet wipe when I was finished.

Step 4: Depending on the amount of time you have, you can let the paint air dry or bring a hair dryer to speed the drying process along. Our party is at the end of the school day, so we are planning on using a hair dryer so the kids don't leave school with a wet canvas and risk getting paint on clothes, car/bus seats and floors.

A fun Valentine's Day craft that any age kid will love!

Check back Monday for my favorite Valentine's Day childhood memory that I've continued with my own kids! It's a fun one!