Valentine’s Day is right around the corner! And even though many of us are in a virtual world right now, there are still plenty of kiddos who will be passing out valentines this year! As a child, this was always one of my favorite days at school! I loved personalizing my friends’ valentines and looking at all of the sweet valentines that I received. It is really one of the only days where everyone in your class says something nice about you (not that they don’t on a typical day!). Talk about a self-esteem booster!
Taking a walk in the past!
As a child, I vividly remember going with my Mom to the store and picking out valentines for my class. The two things that were most important to me were the messages and the treats that the cards came with. I didn’t want to choose a message that might make someone think that I wanted to be more than friends, but I also wanted the message to either be funny or sweet enough to make someone smile (the things young minds think about!). And the treat needed to be something that my classmates would get excited about. I usually chose some sort of lollipop or chocolate treat.
Fast forward to life with my littles now:
This is our first school Valentine’s Day and as a Mama, I am in full creative mode! But, life with my 3 cuties is busy! It is full of school days, doctor appointments, baby care, toddler development, meal making…entertaining, exhausting and unpredictable. I thought about heading to the store and grabbing some pre-made valentines (which there is nothing wrong with!), but I can’t ignore that creative bug that I have always had! Plus, I am assuming that at some point in the future my kiddos will want to pick out (or make) their own valentines. And, to be honest, I want to capitalize on these young years where my littles will let me get creative with their valentines! So, I decided to make these fun and easy crayon valentines!
Food Free Valentines
Let me tell you about my decision to go food free for valentines. My sweet middle child has some serious food allergies and food served to him from anyone except for me absolutely terrifies me. As a child, I don’t remember food allergies being as prevalent as they are today. And although both of my parents and my brother have some food allergies, it never seemed like a big deal growing up. Honestly, I never gave the food that I served at parties or stored in my classroom a second thought until I had my precious middle babe. I’ll have to do a separate post on his journey through food allergies to go in-depth on his struggles and small victories!
Now, having to constantly read food labels and check ingredients, I am extremely sensitive to food allergies. When we have family parties I do my best to check for guest allergies and avoid (or label) those items containing allergens. I also tend to keep goodie bags to non-food items so no one has to get something different because of an allergy. With my oldest now in Preschool, I keep his little brother in mind when bringing things in for the class (and teacher). There is a kiddo in his class with an allergy, so I try to keep it to non-food items, when possible. That is where the idea for crayon valentines came from! Here is what you will need (don’t forget to grab your FREE copy of my valentine cards below!):
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Materials
- Silicone Heart Molds or get these Heart Molds from Target to use the large ones in my pictures
- Crayons
- OR grab these ready-to-go crayon packs if you don’t want to make your own!
- FREE Printable Crayon Valentine Cards
When I was teaching Kindergarten, I had a bin for all of the broken crayons. A couple times throughout the year, I would take all of the crayons home, peel them, and then mold them into new animal shaped crayons for my kiddos. They absolutely loved receiving these crayons! I usually passed them out for Christmas, Valentine’s Day and at the end of the year. It was a fun (and inexpensive) way to create a personalized and useful gift for my class. This year for Christmas, I brought back the recycled crayons and my kiddos helped me create crayon names for all of their cousins! They loved breaking the crayons, putting them in molds and then watching them melt into something new. It is such a fun activity with littles!
Related: If your kiddos like to create, they will love making these awesome Animal Box Houses!
So, although we don’t have a whole lot of extra time in our days, I decided that crayon valentines were the way to go this year! I even created this adorable FREE Printable Crayon Valentine Cards product for you! There are 4 different layout options, depending on what type of crayons you would like to gift AND you don’t even have to mold your own crayons to use the cards! You could easily purchase these small crayon packs to attach your cards to, making them quick and easy to throw together at the last minute!
When I pulled out the crayons and heart molds, my oldest kiddo knew something was up. He followed me to the kitchen and hopped into his helper – if you don’t have one of these you NEED to get one in your life! It is essential for toddlers and littles! – I showed him how to peel the crayons and break them so they would fit in the molds. He loved organizing the colors and couldn’t wait to see what the crayons would look like!
Warning: the crayon mold that you see in the pictures (linked above) is rather large. It took 14 crayons for us to fill up one heart! You could definitely use it (I purchased it at Target) and only fill each mold 1/3 or 1/2 way if you preferred. However, I used this crayon mold to create more little hearts for his class. So if you are looking for a mold that doesn’t need quite so many crayons, I would check it out. My littles are having a ton of fun using their Giant Heart Crayon to color with though!
How to Create Molded Heart Crayons
Here is the step-by-step on how to create your own amazing heart crayons for Valentine’s Day!
1. Gather your materials – crayons (old or new), heart shaped molds, FREE Printable Crayon Valentine Cards
2. Peel your crayons and break them into 2 or 3 pieces (depending on the size of your mold)
3. Place your crayons into your molds. You can put different shades of the same color together to create a single color, multi-shade crayon. Or, you can mix colors to create multi-colored hearts. We’ve done both and have loved each of them!
4. Place your silicone molds on a cookie sheet and carefully put them in a 350 degree farenheit oven. Disclaimer: Make sure your molds are SILICONE and OVEN-SAFE! Also, adult supervision is required with this activity! Children should NOT place anything into a hot oven!
5. Allow the molds to bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes OR until all of the crayons are melted. *Be sure to watch your crayons – they will burn if left too long!
6. CAREFULLY take the cookie sheet out of the oven – be mindful not to tip so the crayon does not spill – and place in a safe area to cool. I usually put my tray in the fridge or freezer after it has cooled for a bit, so the crayons will set faster.
7. Slowly peel crayon out of silicone mold. Be sure it is completely cooled before you attempt to remove it, or it will break!
Note: If the crayon breaks as you are trying to remove it, simply place it back in the oven until it is melted and start the cooling process again.
8. Attach your crayon to this adorable FREE Printable Crayon Valentine Card and you are set to pass them out!
Enjoy!
This was such a fun way to create safe and useful valentines for my sweetie to bring to school this year. I hope that you enjoy the FREE Printables and that you and your littles have the sweetest Valentine’s Day!
Happy Valentine’s Day!
