Here is a cute little craft/game that you can do with your young ones for Valentine's Day.
What you will need:
- Dowels (we used very large, oversized pencils that we picked up at Walmart for $0.97 a piece). The number you'll need will depend on how many will be playing. We made 4.
- Duct tape
- Round adhesive magnets
- String
- Foam hearts in varying sizes (or you can make your own), the largest should be around 3-inches. It easiest if you get the smart foams with adhesive backing. We used a kit we picked up at Walmart. You'll need enough to make between 12 and 18 hearts.
- Paper clips
- A large shallow bowl or a mat to place the hearts for game play
- A cooking timer, minute timer, or a way to keep time
Here's What To Do:
- Decorate your foam hearts.
- Stick a paper clip through the top center of each heart (where the two curves come together).
Make your pole:
- Cut a piece of string about 12 to 18 inches in length. If you are doing this with toddlers, you'll want to make your string much shorter to prevent any chance of it wrapping around their necks.
- Use the duct tape to secure one end of the string to one end of whatever you are using for the pole.
- Secure the round magnets to the end of the string. Sandwich the string between the sticky sides of the two magnets. Make sure you press the magnets together fairly hard so that they (and the string) will really stick together.
That's it! The game is ready to play.
To Play:
How you spread the hearts out is up to you. You can spread them out on a mat or in a large, shallow bowl, depending on the age of the child(ren) playing. Younger children will need more space to pick them up; a bowl is more challenging for older children. The object is to see who can pick up the most hearts within a set period of time. We used 30 seconds for our daughter (age 7) and her friends and 60 seconds for the children about 5 and under.
Enjoy!
Article updated from original appearing in Macaroni KID Port St. Lucie on February 9, 2012.
