We’re having fun sharing all of our Valentine’s Day Crafts for Kids this year and this one turns into a great Valentine’s Activity for the whole family. We will be starting up this tradition for the 5th year soon and it is my favorite thing we do for the holiday. It all starts with beautiful watercolor hearts…
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After some digging I found (I think) the original idea over on Skip to my Lou. However, I wanted to get the whole family in on it… and of course, make it into a fun craft too. Getting your kids to find things they love about each other can sometimes be like pulling teeth, so this Valentine’s activity is aimed for them to see there is plenty. Our hearts tend to stay up far longer than I will admit, but you could easily add them to a key ring and save them to reference when your kids might be fighting.
What you need for your Watercolor Hearts:
- Watercolors. I love liquid watercolors. They are vibrant and last a long time.
- Paper. We used a large roll of paper, but any thicker paper will do.
- Paintbrush.
- Water (in a dish)
- White crayon.
Creating your Watercolor Hearts:
Place out your paper and draw all over it with your white crayon. Swirls, little hearts, etc. This really helps your little one paint the whole paper because they are finding the pictures. When you are done drawing your design set up your kiddo with their paint, water, and brush. If you have younger kiddos, check out our tips for painting with toddlers.
Only give them one or two colors per sheet of paper. We want pretty hearts, not brown ones. When they are done with one page give them another with different colors. 
Continue this until your child is “done” with it. I did this over the process of a couple of days. Let your paper dry then cut into hearts!
Valentine’s Activity for the Family:
Place all of your watercolor hearts in a bowl or on a plate accompanied by a marker and tape. Each morning everyone picks a heart to write something on for another member of the family. Like a conversation heart. Then have them place it on that family member’s door! We always start on February 1st so that we have two weeks of adding hearts. 
Every day as they go into their room they will see all of the nice things that their family members think of them. It is really quite endearing to see. 
I hope you enjoy this Valentine’s tradition with your family!