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Our Valentine’s heart sticky wall was a fun, open-ended Valentine’s activity I did recently with my kids that was inspired by our sticky wall Christmas tree decorating activity.
To prepare this activity, I gathered the following materials:
- Large sheet of red poster board
- Clear contact paper
- Painter’s tape
I started by cutting the poster board into a red heart shape.
Because my heart was wider than the contact paper, I folded the heart in half and laid it on top of the contact paper. I traced the heart shape on to the back of the contact paper.
Then I cut the contact paper along the lines I had traced. I ended with a red poster board heart and a contact paper heart that were the exact same size.
I then used an outline of painter’s tape to put the heart on the wall at my kids’ eye level. Then I took the backing off the contact paper and laid it over the heart, with the sticky side facing out. I then used another outline of painter’s tape to place the sticky contact paper over the red heart.
Once the heart was on the wall, I prepared a tray with the following materials:
Then I invited the kids to play. They both immediately gravitated toward the buttons, gathering up as many as they could in their hands.
And then they started sticking them up as fast as they could.
I was surprised that they really only had eyes for the buttons while doing this activity. They basically ignored all of the other materials I had set out for them. That was okay by me, however, as they were having a great time.
After a while, XGirl decided to make a “snowman” with her buttons. She began stacking them on top of each other, and she even started counting them. This gave me a chance to work in some basic math practice for her.
In the end, the kids put a couple hundred buttons on their Valentine heart.
Want to see other sticky wall activities we’ve done? Click here to see our Christmas tree sticky wall activity.
More Valentine’s Day learning resources
More Valentine posts from Gift of Curiosity:
- Valentine Montessori activities
- Valentine sensory bin
- Heart suncatcher
- Marbleized hearts
- Find the hearts Valentine’s sensory bin
- Books about Valentine’s Day
- Valentine’s Printables Pack
- Valentine Bingo
- Valentine I Spy game
- Valentine Do-a-Dot Printables
For more Valentine ideas, check out my Valentine Activities for Kids page and my Valentine’s Pinterest board.
Follow Katie @ Gift of Curiosity’s board Valentine’s Day on Pinterest.
Jessica @ Play Trains!
This looks like a lot of fun. I love the idea of cutting a shape out of poster board to go under the contact paper.
Tracey@We-Made-That
HOW FUN! What a great activity for the kids. I bet they had a lot of fun decorating the heart. Thanks for sharing on We Made That!
Julie Cox
I thought that this was a cute idea that I have never seen before. I loved it and will do it at my preschool.
I work with blind kiddos, and this will be a great, creative, sensory ,and tactile project. I like that they can feel, touch their project without having to see it. Bravo! Julie,preschool teacher of the blind and visually impaired.
Katie
Thanks so much for your comment! I didn’t plan this activity with visually impaired kids in mind, but if you can adapt and use it to work with them I think that’s wonderful. I hope your kiddos enjoy their sticky wall activity!
Trisha @ Inspiration Laboratories
My son would have lots of fun with this!
Andrea @ No Doubt Learning
What a fun idea for kids!
Kirstylee
Love this idea! I am always looking for more activities that involve a vertical surface. This is great.
Miss Courtney
I love this activity! Contact paper is so easy, cheap and fun to use.
Lori Summers
This is so great!! My daughter would love that!! I’ll have to try that this week! Thanks for sharing!!
Deb @ Living Montessori Now
What a great sensory experience for Valentine’s Day! Thanks for linking up with Montessori Monday. I featured your post at the Living Montessori Now Facebook page and pinned it to my Kids’ Valentine’s Day Activities Board.
Katie
Thanks for featuring my post Deb!
Monica
What a great idea! My one year old makes it hard to do this at home right now but it’s a great idea for future. Thanks for linking up at Family Fun Friday.
God Bless! ~ Monica
Carrie
Oh, how fun!! Such a great idea to grow creativity! Thank you for sharing at Sharing Saturday!
Heather @ Crayon Box Chronicles
Great material choices! Thanks for sharing. Pinned.