Valentines Crafts for Kids | Love Bugs

My kids love doing projects.  They would do them all day if I would let them!  The hard part is coming up with things that we can do together that don’t require a lot of money.  I love the holidays because finding Valentines crafts for kids to do is so much easier then just pulling something out of the blue.  These cute little love bugs were a HUGE hit with my girls!  They loved making them.  Let me show you how you can do it too!

Supplies:

• Craft Foam (I got mine at Walmart.  The glitter foam has an adhesive side which made these even easier to make.  I recommend finding a foam with the adhesive.)
• Pipe Cleaners
• Googley Eyes
• Wire (just go to your jewelry making aisle and get a wire that is thick enough that it can hold it’s shape, but not so thick that you can’t bend it easily.)

Begin by cutting out your foam into a 1.5″ wide strip by however long your piece of foam is.  The longer the foam, the more fun it is!  Cut two strips that are exactly the same size by using the first one you cut as a guide for the second piece.  Next, cut a piece of wire to be almost the entire length of the foam.  You are going to need to roll up one end and don’t want the foam in the way.  (we will get to that in just a minute)  Once your wire is cut, take off the adhesive backing from the glittery foam and stick the wire to it making sure to spread them apart.  Now you are going to take the other piece of foam (the one without the wire on it) and cut a small section off the top.  It would be about a half of an inch is all.  Attach the foam to the adhesive foam making sure that the foam matches up leaving a section of glittery adhesive foam exposed at the top.

I should mention that I had my girls helping me all along the way.  They removed the backing from the adhesive, helped me make sure the wires were in place, helped to seal the foam onto the other piece of foam plus they chose all of the colors along the way.

Back to the worm.  We need to attach the antennae to the head.  you do this by placing the middle of the pipe cleaner right where the exposed adhesive is and then fold the glitter foam over the top of it.  This seals everything in.  Next, your kids can bend the pipe cleaners to be any shape that they want!  The wackier, the better!

You will need to do this part.  I hot glued little eyes on the worms, but let the girls tell me which side was the side they wanted me to put them on.  After that, it is all them!  Let them go crazy adding heart stickers to their heart’s content.

Once the hearts are added, show them how fun it is to bend the love bugs into different shapes and let them have some fun!  This is the perfect rainy day activity, or snowy day, or ANY day!  They will be sure to love making them with you!