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I don’t know about you, but I just love getting cards made by my students! There is something so personal and special about something that is hand-made just for you! That is why I love having students make special cards for their parents or caregivers. They are sure to treasure them for years to come!
My favorite parent cards, crafts for Valentine’s Day are the animals that are made entirely from hearts. First, because they are so darn cute and second, because even though students follow general guidelines for putting the animals together, they can position and turn them in unique ways that show their personalities. They turn out soooo adorably cute!
Here are my favorite valentine parent cards that I have used. If you would like the printable patterns and instructions to use with your students, they are available here.
Short on time? Click here to see how to easily create digital parent valentines with students’ photos.
Lion Valentine Craft
I am just “wild” about this cute lion craft (sorry, couldn’t resist)! The lion holds a valentine in its mouth that reads “I love you and I’m not “lion”!”. How adorable is that?
The entire body, except the black strip for the tail, is made of hearts. The mane is made from 5 hearts that are glued to the back of the heart-shaped head.
Lovebug Valentine’s Day Card for Parents
This is a very sweet card that is simple to put together so it’s perfect for pre-k students or if you don’t have a lot of time.
Students glue the heart head to the heart body that has the poem, draw a face, and attach antennae.
The teacher or parent volunteer then adds the wings with a brass fastener. It may be too hard for young students to push the brass fastener through in the right place. When the wings are opened, the entire poem needs to show. Parents love this one!
Bear Valentine Craft
The year I wanted to make these “beary” cute cards we did not have enough brown paper in stock. So, I printed the heart patterns onto white paper and had students color them. They turned out just as nice! If you don’t have access to the colors you need, let students color the pieces then cut them out and assemble them.
The entire body is made of hearts, even the ears. We glued the hearts to the back of the head so only half of the heart would show to look like a bear’s ear.
Bee Valentine’s Day Cards
I had made bees for other bulletin board projects and crafts that had hearts for wings, so I changed the body to 2 heart shapes for Valentine’s Day and created two different styles of parent cards.
The first one has the valentine message on the wings (“Bee” mine).
The second one has the message on the bee’s heart and reads “My heart “bee-longs” to you!”.
Dog Valentine Crafts
Of course I had to make dog valetines lol! We had made heart-shaped dogs for a bulletin board display years ago and received so many compliments on it that I decided to turn it into a parent gift with the message “I “paws-itively” love you! Happy Valentine’s Day!”.
I’ve done 2 different styles. This is the first one from many years ago that has longer ears and a more simple design for the head. The dog is holding the valentine in its mouth.
The second style has shorter ears and a different style of head.
Thumbprint Poem Valentine Craft, Card
This is a very sweet poem and craft that I had done years ago and thought I would include it in this post because it could be used as a parent gift or card for Valentine’s Day.
Students sign their name on the heart and then dip their thumbs in finger paint and press their thumbprints around the heart.
You can choose to do one color or multiple colors. If using multiple colors, having hand wipes or wet paper towels available for students to wipe off their thumbs before switching colors works well. I also like to fold paper towels in fourths, squirt the finger paint on the folded paper towel to resemble a stamp pad for students to use when doing their thumbprints.
If you would like to have the printable patterns, detailed directions, and printable student guides for all of these Valentine’s Day cards to use with your students for years to come, they are available in my Valentine’s Day Cards for Parents resource on Teachers Pay Teachers.
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Short on time or craft materials? Click here to see how to easily create digital valentines for parents with students’ photos that can be emailed or printed.
Use these pre-designed valentine templates with places for students’ photos to create personalized parent cards that can be emailed or printed.
