Free Printable: SuperHero Valentine

The upcoming Valentine’s Day is a sweet opportunity to create themed decorations and plot how to deliver secret Valentines. Include kids in the preparations and whether you’re getting ready for a classroom party dessert table or a small family celebration, you’ll have industrious helpers that are as happy about the process as they are for a Valentine event. This free, printable Valentine is a good starting point to spread the love! It can be used as is or it can be embellished by eager artists. Ready to explore some more options?

>>> Click here to download these free valentine printables in a PDF format. <<<<

Before you begin creating Valentine cards, help your kids decide how many people will be receiving their messages of friendship and love. If time and attention spans allow, go beyond the usual list of best friends; everyone likes to know they are cared about! Siblings, grandparents, a lonely neighbor or that favorite checkout person at the grocery store might be included on the list of recipients.

Some kids will know just what they want to make but it’s often helpful to have ideas to suggest. Letting younger children embellish a stack of hearts that you’ve already cut out can be a good starting point, too.

Children don’t need an elaborate studio to create but a well-stocked craft station excites imaginations. Older kids can handle some tools the younger set isn’t ready for, so of course target your audience. Scrapbook papers, cardstock, crayons, markers, paint, feathers, glitter, lace, ribbons, buttons, google eyes…on and on the list can go!

In addition to making Valentines to share, craft decorations too. String hearts on ribbons to hang from the ceiling. Make heart garlands to crisscross a room. Windows, doors, photographs and tabletops need to be embellished for the occasion!

Here are a just a few ideas that can benefit from Valentine fever:
-Decorate (and eat!) heart cookies.
-Create a heart mobile.
-Design silly animals or monsters with only heart shapes.
-Make heart shaped bird treats.
-Use melted crayons or tissue paper for heart sun catchers.
-Hand/footprint art hearts are great keepsakes.
-Make heart wreaths.
-Create homemade play-dough hearts.
-Cut a paper chain of hearts.
-Make heart magnets (using paper, Sculpey, Shrinky Dinks, etc.)

From creating special cards to making any one of the many heart inspired projects, there are lots of fun ideas for crafting with the Valentine theme. Making heartfelt memories with your kids might be the best Valentine project of all!

Stephanie Keeping is a wife to Mike, a mom to a boy named Sam and an Etsy-prenuer. She celebrates boyish charm at Spaceships and Laser Beams, where she talks about all things boy and birthday party.

Lots of Americans seem to think that May 5 is Mexican Independence Day, but that holiday actually falls on Sept. 16.

May 5 is the celebration of the Battle of Puebla, in which the Mexicans defeated the French in 1862. Independence Day marks the beginning of their fight for independence from Spain in 1810. That was the day of what’s known as El Grito de Dolores, or the cry of Dolores, for when the Catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla rang the church bells at his church in Dolores and declared that Mexico should be free from Spanish rule.

They would fight for their freedom until 1821 when they finally gained independence.

Fabulous Classroom has a little of the history and ideas for celebrating the holiday for all age groups. There’s also a link to a good video in that post about the real story of Mexican Independence Day.

Twinkl also has a good tops about the history and different activities, discussion ideas, crafts and foods that can be incorporated into lessons at school or used at home.

I also found a few pins that no longer link to a website but include good information on Mexican Independence Day, including some questions for students to answer based on the reading. You can find more printables and questions for kids from TX Homeschool Mama on Etsy (also available in Spanish).

You can find a lot more paid resources about Mexican Independence Day at Teachers Pay Teachers.

Mexican flag crafts are a fun option for celebrating Mexican Independence Day (though the current iteration of their flag has only been in use since 1968). Kids Activities Blog has a free Mexican flag printable and a few different ideas for decorating it including dot markers and torn tissue paper.

You can also find some great Mexican crafts at Red Ted Art. The post includes all sorts of Mexican inspired projects including Day of the Dead crafts, Frida Kahlo pinatas and upcycled musical instruments. I love the giant paper flowers they shared from Honestly WTF.

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