Toddler Valentine's Day Crafts

Zoe loves doing art projects these days so here are a few of the ones we did for Valentine's Day.

Lady Bug-Zoe's favorite part of this was of course the silver glitter glue we used to put the spots on our lady bug. It probably could have used legs of some kind. Maybe next year.

Foot Prints-Zoe is always a little timid about getting paint on her but she warmed up to the idea and we ended up with some great heart prints.

 

Caterpillars-We cut thin strips of paper and made the heart chain that we used for the body.  After that we cut pipe cleaners for legs and antenna.

Yarn Heart-Zoe smeared some red glitter glue into a heart shape and then pressed the different length pieces of yarn into it.  This one took some time to dry, but totally worth it.

More Caterpillars-This was super easy.  Three big hearts, a smaller one for the face, pipe cleaners, and wiggly eyes.  Zoe did hers all by herself just copying Mommy as she went. She put her head on upside down but it looked cute so we left it.

Hand Print Heart-Again it took some convincing to get painted but once she got going she had a blast.

Feather Heart-I like doing 3 dimensional things so this one was one of my favorites.  We smeared glue all around in the heart then Zoe went to town putting the feathers on.

Love-We had pixie stix left over from Halloween still so we decided to use them for art.  We wrote the letters with glue then sprinkled the powder on. After it was completely dry we shook off the excess powder and you could see what we had written.

Heart stamps-We cut heart shapes out of some sponges from the dollar store and then used them as stamps.  This was probably Zoe's favorite project.

Fish-We started with a big circle for the body then added the hearts for the scales.  We finished it off with a fin, a mouth, and of course a wiggly eye.


Doing art projects with my little one is one of my favorite parts of the day.  We talk about colors and shapes and she gets to practice cutting and drawing but there is so much more that goes on.  We make a mess together, we exercise our creativity, we laugh, we talk to each other, and then we clean up our mess.  The toddler years may have many challenges in them but they also have lots of fun and laughter.

The Power of a Kiss

Zoe raced around the playground eagerly going from the slide to the swings and back to the slide again.  She climbed the ladder, braved the bridge, hung on for dear life to the monkey bars and did it all again.  Then it happened.  Zoe was swinging on her tummy on one of the swings and she scraped her hand on the rubber surface beneath her.  I could tell that it hurt but it wasn't bleeding and it didn't require medical attention.  I didn't rush to her side but rather watched to see how she would handle it.  Her little eyes welled up just a little then she kissed her hand. 

Why, you ask.  The answer is simple.  In the past when she has fallen down or gotten a boo boo I would lean down place a kiss on her owie and tell her, "All better."  I had taught my daughter that a kiss has the power to take away the pain. 

Zoe made the right choice.  She didn't let the pain come in the way of what she loved to do.  She used the most powerful thing she knew and then she kept right on going.  I am proud of my little girl. She is my inspiration. I will not let pain that comes my way hold me back from making the most of this adventure I like to call my life.