Looking for an easy preschool valentine craft? This wooden lacing toy idea is easy to make (even last-minute) and affordable too.
Coming up with an a preschool valentine craft that hasn’t been done a million times is a bit of a challenge. But when I saw these wooden shapes online, I immediately thought of those little wooden lacing toys that are used for early childhood development. And was like ‘those would make great valentines for classmates and preschool kids’.
Lacing toys are a great way to help improve fine motor skills, problem solving skills, and hand-eye coordination in young children (3 and up typically). Which makes them perfect for toddlers and preschoolers. Plus, they’re cute (and easy) to put together.
Wanna make a set of these for your child’s preschool class? Click through for the quick and easy tutorial.
Supplies Needed for Wooden Lacing Toy
- wooden shapes – I used 80mm wooden hearts.
- cording or rope – I used this faux suede cord in burnt orange.
- painters tape
- pencil
- scissors
- drill and drill bit
- (optional) paint, crayons, markers, or wood stain
Making an Easy Preschool Valentine Craft (Lacing Toy)
1. Embellish the wooden shape.
Decide whether you want to keep the wooden shapes completely plain or add something to them. If you want to add a more personal touch and opt not to leave the shapes as is, the first step would be to paint, draw, or stain the shapes.
Examples of what you could do include:
- stain the front and back a darker color
- have your child to paint a design onto the wooden shapes (or paint it on your own)
- have your child to draw onto the shapes with crayons or markers
We did a combination of plain wooden hearts and painted hearts.
We used paint stix, which are a lot messy than regular paint and are fast drying as well. They dry in 90 seconds or less.
My son was able to paint all the hearts in under 10 minutes. So it’s a great valentine craft to get kids involved in making – very easy for them to execute.
2. Tape a stack together.
Next, tape a stack of 5-10 of the wooden shapes together with painters tape.
Completely cover any areas that will be drilled through. This will help limit splitting of the wood.
You can also use masking tape instead of painters tape. But I tried both and found that painters tape worked better, especially when considering the thinness of the wood.
3. Mark off the design.
Mark the hole design you want to use onto the tape wrapped stack.
4. Drill the holes.
Drill all of the holes with a drill, being careful not to go too fast.
I would recommend using a half power setting on your drill as well, to help preserve the wood as much as possible.
5. Remove the tape.
Remove the tape and any leftover wood debris.
6. Cut the cord.
Cut a long length of cord or rope that will fit through the holes and tie it together in a small bundle.
From there, you can throw everything into a small glassine bag, paper envelope, or mini drawstring bag like the ones I used as one of the party favor ideas for my son’s fourth birthday party.
7. Add a message.
Add a quick message that goes with the theme and they’re ready to be passed out in the classroom on Valentine’s Day.
Here are some example phrases that would be cute to use:
- We have a common THREAD valentine.
- You make me SEW happy.
- Our class would KNOT be as fun without you.
- I like you SEW much.
- You’re the best! SEW will you be my valentine?
Other variations of this easy preschool valentine craft
Stickers, glitter, googly eyes, and sticky gems would all be great embellishment options for these DIY wooden lacing toys.
Using wooden alphabet pieces to write the words BE MINE on each heart would be fun as well. Lots of ways to make this project more unique.
Easy Preschool Valentine Craft (DIY Lacing Toy)
Coming up with an a preschool valentine craft that hasn’t been done a million times is a bit of a challenge. But when I saw these wooden shapes online, I immediately thought of those little wooden lacing toys that are used for early childhood development. And was like ‘those would make great valentines for classmates and preschool kids’.
Lacing toys are a great way to help improve fine motor skills, problem solving skills, and hand-eye coordination in young children (3 and up typically). Which makes them perfect for toddlers and preschoolers. Plus, they’re cute (and easy) to put together.
Wanna make a set of these for your child’s preschool class? Click through for the quick and easy tutorial.
Servings: 10 classroom valentines
-
Scissors
-
drill and drill bit
- wooden shapes
- cording or rope
- painters tape
- pencil
- optional paint, crayons, markers, or wood stain
Embellish the wooden shape.
-
Decide whether you want to keep the wooden shapes completely plain or add something to them. If you want to add a more personal touch and opt not to leave the shapes as is, the first step would be to paint, draw, or stain the shapes.
-
We did a combination of plain wooden hearts and painted hearts. We used paint markers, which are a lot messy than regular paint and are fast drying as well. My son was able to paint all the hearts in under 10 minutes. So it’s a great valentine craft to get kids involved in making and also very easy for them to execute.
Tape a stack together.
-
Next, tape a stack of 5-10 of the wooden shapes together with painters tape. Completely cover any areas that will be drilled through. This will help limit splitting of the wood.
-
You can also use masking tape instead of painters tape. But I tried both and found that painters tape worked better, especially when considering the thinness of the wood.
Drill the holes.
-
Drill all of the holes with a drill, being careful not to go too fast. I would recommend using a half power setting on your drill as well, to help preserve the wood as much as possible.
Cut the cord.
-
Cut a long length of cord or rope that will fit through the holes and tie it together in a small bundle.
-
From there, you can throw everything into a small glassine bag, paper envelope, or mini drawstring bag like the ones I used as one of the party favor ideas for my son’s fourth birthday party.
That’s it for this wooden lacing toy idea. I hope you’ll find it to be an easy preschool valentine craft for your kiddo to bring to school for Valentine’s Day.
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