Pass out these heart themed coloring pages as Valentine's Day cards, use them for arts and crafts during library story time or as boredom busters. They make terrific alternatives to store bought valentines!

Heart Themed Bookmarks

Encourage young readers to mark their place in a book with one of these sweet heart themed bookmarks. The coloring sheet includes four different designs so you can distribute individual bookmarks as valentine cards or hand out a complete set for an arts and crafts project during library story time.

Get the Printable --> Heart Themed Bookmarks

MORE: Bookmarks coloring page collection

Valentine Stick Puppets

Color the cute heart animal faces and dozens of individual hearts. Cut them out and design your own heart themed animals. Glue the faces to wooden craft sticks or pencils and voilá! Now you have a cast of characters for a puppet show!

Get the Printable --> Valentine Stick Puppets

MORE: Printable puppet coloring page collection

Classroom Valentine Cards

Forget the store-bought boxes of premade valentine cards! Instead, print out this cute hand-drawn classroom valentine coloring page! Classmates will appreciate the personalized messages your child writes in the available space. Or, simply add the recipient's and sender's names with flair!

Get the Printable --> Classroom Valentine Cards

Valentine Card Template

Creative kids will love using this printable Valentines' Day card template to design their own 3D cards. We show you several ways to make your own, such as see-through windows, pop-up hearts and spinning hearts, but the variations are endless!

Get the Printable --> Versatile Valentine Template

Heart Air Balloon Mobile

This darling illustration of two "heart air balloons" (get it?) can be colored as a traditional coloring sheet, or transformed into a mobile that kids can hang in their own window, or gift to a special Valentine to show their friendship and love.

Get the Printable --> Heart Air Balloon Mobile Coloring Page Template

Kids Making a Valentine

Is this the most "meta" valentine coloring page of them all? A hand-drawn valentine coloring page of two kids coloring a valentine? How can you resist?

Get the Printable --> Kids Making a Valentine Coloring Page

Marine Animal Valentine

Animal lovers will adore this unique illustration of a whale giving a ride to a pair of lovey-dovey fish on a date. Notice the beret!

Get the Printable --> Fish in Love Coloring Page

MORE: Animal themed coloring page collection

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The birthday cake on this coloring page is ready for candles, frosting decorations and some festive colors! Children's book illustrators and author, Melanie Hope Greenberg, based this birthday coloring page on one of her original greeting card illustrations.

About the Illustrator

Melanie loves birthday parties, especially the cake! She is also an award winning author and illustrator who loves to talk to children about the process of writing and illustrating books. Learn about how to bring her talk to your library or school, or request teacher guides for her books at her blog here.

Her books are favorites of children everywhere. Melanie's cheerful, vibrant illustrations can be found in her iconic book Mermaid Parade, which was listed as an essential Brooklyn book by the Brooklyn Public Library.

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Kids not into the lovey-dovey aspect of Valentines' Day? Obviously, you need to turn to mathematics for inspiration! Bookmark this collection of twelve Valentine's Day math art ideas because you are going to want to do every single one!

(Note: this post contains affiliate links that earn from qualifying purchases.)

Many of the projects below include several of the STEAM subjects (math, art/design, and sometimes engineering) and those ideas earn extra love! Best of all, none of these Valentine's day math art ideas use boring worksheets!

Heart Tessellations

Heart tessellations can be done for fun, turned into valentine cards, or included in classroom lessons on Valentine's Day. Our instructions include three different ways to draw heart tessellations.

Heart Geometry Puzzle

You kids can put their problem solving skills to the test when they attempt to arrange 22 triangles into this heart geometry puzzle. Turn this puzzle into a valentine card by slipping the pieces into a red envelope and adding a few cupid-inspired words. The triangles can be used to form other valentine shaped math art as well. Our instructions include a free printable template to make the puzzle.

Origami Heart Bookmarks

Make origami heart bookmarks to show your love of reading and math art at the same time! When you think of origami, you may think of paper crafts instead of math, but the paper folding technique uses mathematical principles. We have two different heart bookmark folding methods with two for those of you who prefer to watch instead of read instructions. One of the videos is below; visit the written origami heart bookmark instructions to see the other. I ask you, what book loving friend wouldn't love to receive one on Valentine's Day?

Möbius Hearts

Amaze your friends and family when you demonstrate that "love wins" as you use the magic of topology to turn two Möbius strips into interlocking hearts. Seriously, this clever Valentine's Day math art idea has a big WOW factor! Your kids will want to figure out how it works over and over!

Valentine's Day STEAM Projects

Our Valentine's Day STEAM Kids ebook is chock full of more ideas that use math, science, engineering, technology and design. The easy to learn projects are designed for use in classrooms and at home and stimulate creative and logical thinking skills.

More "Math Heart" Projects

Science Friday shows you how to make some really cool mathy valentines with hearts. They give you mathematical instructions for graphing heart dilations, heart translations, reflections and rotations!

Babble Dabble Do has a printable for kids to make three dimensional paper hearts. This Valentine's Day project will teach symmetry and think how amazing a room decorated with a bunch of 3D hanging hearts would look!

Similar to our parabolic curve art, Almost Unschoolers shows you how to adapt the idea into a heart string art project that works number skills.

A heart geoboard pattern from Little Bins for Little Hands is excellent for working fine motor skills and although kids can make predetermined patterns, free exploration is encouraged. Children will learn about geometry, shapes, patterning and symmetry.

Speaking of geometry, a heart tangram challenge adds a little Valentine love into working with geometry, puzzles and patterns. Tangrams are centuries old dissection puzzles that came out of China. Once you printout the tangram pieces, the math art possibilities are endless.

Have you ever heart of Pascal's triangle? It's a fascinating number pattern. Teach Beside Me adds a Valentine theme twist to their Pascal's triangle project.

Got advanced mathematicians in the family? They will want to spend Valentines' Day graphing these heart curves.

If your kids are really drawn to traditional arts and crafts projects, get out the paints and construction paper and teach them about symmetry using hearts with this activity for younger kids, or this pop out card project for older kids.

There you have it, twelve ways to turn a holiday about LOVE into a holiday celebrating MATH!

The post Valentine's Day Math Art Ideas -- Without Worksheets appeared first on What Do We Do All Day.

MORE: Decorate trees with DIY tomten garlands and "unwoven" paper hearts

The next row of triangles can either sit evenly atop the first row, or they can be staggered. The tessellations will work either way so kids can make their own decisions how to do it. And we all know kids love to make their own decision!

Color each triangle individually and give them trunks, if desired. Or, group triangles together to form larger trees (shown below)! Note that if the rows of triangles are staggered, they can't be confined into a larger triangle-shaped tree.

Grouping the tessellated Christmas trees into a larger triangle shape is a great way to turn the activity into a collaborative project, with each young math artist making one or more triangles to contribute to the Christmas tree. Perhaps your tree will be as big as our family Christmas tree art project!

The connected lines will form the left side of the tree. Kids can now use this pattern to determine how to form the right side of the tree. (Make them work their brains a little to figure it out!) See the image above in the materials section for an example.

Finally cut out the Christmas tree template and follow the instructions as for the isosceles triangle, above.

For extra credit: math teachers can instruct their students to figure out how to scale this tree to different sizes.

More Christmas Math Art

Kids can draw or collaborate on a similar Christmas tree math art project with this Sierpinski fractal Christmas tree. Read the instructions here and get the printable template (trust me, this is where a printable does come in handy) or watch our how-to video:

In addition to Christmas trees, kids can make star tessellations - no printable template necessary! This project works for Christmas or Hanukkah. Or, anytime of year!

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Want to encourage your kids to learn how to set the table? Make it fun! One way to introduce the concept of table settings is with our place setting coloring page by children's book author and illustrator, Melanie Hope Greenberg.

Print it out here (By clicking on the following link you agree to our terms of service* see end of post) -->: Table setting coloring page

About the Illustrator

Melanie always sets the table properly. She is also an award winning author and illustrator who loves to talk to children about the process of writing and illustrating books. Learn about how to bring her talk to your library or school, or request teacher guides for her books at her blog here.

Her books are favorites of children everywhere. Melanie's cheerful, vibrant illustrations can be found in her iconic book Mermaid Parade, which was listed as an essential Brooklyn book by the Brooklyn Public Library.

*Terms of Service: this coloring page is used with permission from Melanie Hope Greenberg and is for non-commercial use ONLY. You many print out as many copies as you like for personal, library or classroom use. If you would like to share this coloring page, you MUST link to this blog page. It is expressly forbidden to link directly to the coloring page pdf file.

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Kids might have to wait a few years to vote in an election, but they can show their enthusiasm for democracy and encourage others to participate in the process with this Election Day coloring page.

Children's book author and illustrator, Melanie Hope Greenberg, created this fun voting coloring page. It features the four gentlemen on Mount Rushmore telling people to VOTE!

Note: Mount Rushmore, in the Black Hills of South Dakota, is on land considered sacred by the Lakota Sioux, and is known by them as "Six Grandfathers." Learn more here.

About the Illustrator

Melanie votes in every election! She is also an award winning author and illustrator who loves to talk to children about the process of writing and illustrating books. Learn about how to bring her talk to your library or school, or request teacher guides for her books at her blog here.

Her books are favorites of children everywhere. Melanie's cheerful, vibrant illustrations can be found in her iconic book Mermaid Parade, which was listed as an essential Brooklyn book by the Brooklyn Public Library.

*Terms of Service: this coloring page is used with permission from Melanie Hope Greenberg and is for non-commercial use ONLY. You many print out as many copies as you like for personal, library or classroom use. If you would like to share this coloring page, you MUST link to this blog page. It is expressly forbidden to link directly to the coloring page pdf file.

The post Election Day Coloring Page appeared first on What Do We Do All Day.

Even though I did everything "right", such as emphasizing process over product, asking questions instead of saying "good job!" and strewing the table with materials I was "sure" would spark creativity, my son just never took to art activities.

Knowing many of you were in the same boat, I gathered some a collection of art ideas to encourage you to keep trying! The result is this collection of art projects and activities is geared towards inspiring reluctant artists. It goes without saying that eager artists will also enjoy these projects.

(Note: this post contains affiliate links that earn from qualifying purchases.)

I hope you try some of them and tell me how it goes!

Active Art

If your child loves to move and has trouble sitting still the first thing to try is an active art project. Examples are marble painting in which kids focus their concentration on manipulating objects in a box with paint, and shaken container painting in which they can toss around their art-in-progress like a football, or dance with it!

MORE: 10 Active Art Projects

Art Delivered!

Get a project delivered to your kids in the mail. My kids adore when they get a personal delivery from the postal delivery person! Our absolute favorite source for cool DIY art and crafts projects is the Doodle Crate from KiwiCo. Many of the projects have a science slant, too.

Body Art

My son really loves tracing his handprint and then coloring it in. He also loves when I trace his body on a large piece of paper. I think he likes the sensory component of feeling my hand drag along his outline. Kids are drawn to this kind of body art because it has such a personal component.

Comic Strip

Do your kids love comic books as much as mine do? Harness that interest. My kids LOVED making giant comic strips – so big you need to roll out the paper on the floor!

If you don't have a big roll of paper (a big roll of paper is our favorite art supply, by the way) comic strips on standard paper offers a great opportunity for handwriting practice.

Design-oriented Art

When kids feel they have to reproduce and represent an object on paper it can feel very intimidating. Instead, move towards scribbles, lines, circles, dots, and other types of design-y doodles. Zentangle drawing is an open ended art activity that my son has loved.

Mix Art with Science

Mix engineering and make a draw bot! We made a draw bot from our beloved Tinker Crate. The kids could not get enough of this idea and loved experimenting with different colors and placement of the bot. Tinker Crate also comes in the mail so you get a double bonus!

Drawing with melted crayons is another way to mix science with art. My son thought it was great fun to try and melt the entire crayon on a hot tray.

MORE: 12 Science Art Projects for Kids

Draw Favorite Characters

Try a drawing game focused on one of your child's interests. My son and I played a Star Wars drawing game. We took turns drawing Star Wars characters – one person started the drawing while the other would try to guess who it was before the drawing was finished.

MORE: Funny Drawing Game for Kids

Draw on Clothing

Make an article of clothing! Every year we make a "summer of fun" t-shirt. This year, my little Star Wars fan loved drawing all his favorite characters so he could wear them.

Draw as a Family

Try tandem drawing with your child! This is one of my all time favorite art activities to do with my son. I even have a video of how it works.

A low-key way to bond with your child is to sit down and start a conversation while you work on a coloring page. You may be surprised at what topics your child choses to talk about. I certainly was when my son and I worked on this campfire coloring page.

Mix Math and Art

My eldest child's love for math was the key to finding engaging drawing activities. We made spirolaterals with multiplication, tessellations and groovy parabolic curves!

MORE: Find our math art projects here.

Abandon the Brush/Pen/Crayon/Marker

Perhaps your child doesn't like to wield a drawing implement because of fine motor issues. Or maybe they just need to approach color and paper in a new way. Everyone's heard of finger paint, but you could let them use their feet to paint.

Keep a Journal

Kids will feel ownership over their own special book that is dedicated to art. Think outside the box when it comes to journaling. For example, my son loved just sticking pieces of colored tape onto the pages one day. Other times, he's mixed scribbling with simple office supply stickers. Here are our tips for starting a creative art journal with kids.

The post 12+ Ideas for Reluctant Artists (Or, What to Try When Your Kid "Hates Art") appeared first on What Do We Do All Day.

If your child has never told you he "hates art" or that "art is for girls" consider yourself lucky. I'm embarrassed to say that is exactly what my 5-year-old has been saying lately. The "for girls" part is especially annoying! I mean really. Where did he learn that nonsense?

(Note: this post contains affiliate links that earn from qualifying purchases.)

I am on a mission of sorts. Without scaring my son off with added pressure to do more art, I am trying to find ways to sneak it in, if not every day, then at least a few times a week.

Of course, these ideas I'll be sharing are not just for the art-resistant kid. If you have a naturally art-y child, I'm sure he or she will take it to a whole new level.

Instructions:

Since this is a process-art project, you want to ensure you don't give too many proscriptive instructions to your child. Let them explore!

After I saw a fun package of rainbow tape at the local art store, I brought it home and left it out on the table for my son to discover. Purposefully leaving things out as if they are not meant to be there is a good way to get a child interested in something, if you know what I mean.

He was intrigued by the tape rolls and sat down so I swiftly pulled out his art journal and opened it up to a blank page.

Cutting tape is a good fine motor exercise for children. The stickiness adds a sensory element to the fine motor muscle work. Some kids "hate art" because they find wielding a writing implement challenging.

At first he wanted me to do the cutting for him, but when I shook my head "no" he decided to give it a go himself. Note that some kids might be able to tear the tape instead of using the scissors. This is totally fine.

With the art journal page conveniently located in front of him on the table, he naturally started sticking the pieces to the page. At this point every child's intention about what to do with the tape will be different.

Some might stick the tape down with a design in mind, others will do so haphazardly. Either way is totally fine! And since art tape and washi tape is usually low tack, a few bits stuck to the table shouldn't do any damage (check first if you are concerned).

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MORE: After you learn the basics of tessellating ghosts and bats, extend the Halloween fun with our printable Halloween finger puppets and Haunted House template!

TIP: Once your child gets the hang of tessellating, keep them entertained while they do so with one of these Halloween audiobooks or reading aloud a not-so-scary Halloween book!

Alternative Ghost Tessellation

Creating this alternative ghost template for a tessellation pattern is not as basic as our first ghost template, but it's not hard, either!

Use the instructions in our original how to draw abstract tessellations instructions (or watch the how-to video below) to create an abstract shape. Rotate this shape until you can imagine it as a ghostly apparition and then tessellate!

Bat Tessellation Instructions

Nothing says Halloween like a colony of bats!

Step 1. Draw the outline of pointy ears and wings at the top of your sticky note. Don't forget that you want to leave space between the ears and the top of the paper.

Step 2. Cut the paper on the line you just drew.

Step 3. Move the cut portion of the paper to the bottom to form your bat template. TIP: Just like with the ghost, you can make your bat shorter or longer depending on where you align the two pieces.

We went for a bat with a short body. In this case, you want to place the cut portion near the bottom of the paper and cut on the outline. This is where a sticky note comes in handy because the top portion will stay in place while you cut!

Step 4. Now that you have a bat template, create your patterns. Place bat template on a sheet of paper and trace. Repeat this step, lining up the template on the paper so it forms a tessellated pattern. You can stager your columns of bats (as we did), or keep them aligned.

Step 5. Finish up by giving your bats sweet or fierce faces (don't forget the fangs!) and color them however you wish!

MORE: Heart tessellations also make great bookmarks. We have three different ways to make them.

BONUS: Halloween Tessellation Bookmarks

While working on this project, we noticed that a column of tessellated bats or ghosts makes a great bookmark! Cut out a column of finished creatures and use as a bookmark. For longevity, use card stock instead of office paper, or laminate the finished product.

The post Halloween Tessellations: Spooky Math Art appeared first on What Do We Do All Day.

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New York in Pajamarama Book

Both my kids and I swooned over a new interactive kids' book set in New York City: New York in Pajamarama by Michaël Leblond and Frédérique Bertrand. The story follows a boy who gets ready for bed, but when the lights go out his magical striped pajamas transport him to the hubbub of New York City, the city that never sleeps.

New York in Pajamarama is a unique book which uses an "Ombro-Cinema" technique to create the illusion of movement. Included with the book is a sheet of acetate imprinted with narrow black lines. While reading the book, kids slide the acetate across the book's illustrations.  The movement of the acetate across patterned lines imbedded in the illustrations makes the book come alive.

The nature of this illustrative magic is perfect for creating the dynamic movement of city life with its sparking lights, racing taxis, rustling leaves in Central Park, frantic shoppers, and dizzying skyscraper-induced vertigo.

Sponge Painted Skyline

To go along with our celebration of life in the Big Apple, we made cityscape art by stamping shapes cut from sponges to create a colorful skyline of buildings. I confess I sort of had grand ideas in my head of how this project would turn out. I had to remind myself: "process not product!" In any case, we had lots of fun.

MORE: Favorite Children's Books featuring New York City

Instructions

Fortunately, you probably already have everything you need! And the instructions couldn't be easier.

Materials:

• Plain, ordinary household sponges. You'll want 3-5 or more. Cheap ones are better than fancy ones.
• Scissors
• Paper plates; you could also reuse washed and clean take out containers
• Paint, preferably washable paints.
• Markers. We used fine point Sharpies.
• Paper. Although you can use basic construction paper. The project is much more fun with a big roll of paper to cover the entire table!
• Large binder clips. Optional.

MORE: Projects that use our favorite art supply: a big roll of paper!

How to:

Dip the sponges in paint, swirl to cover the entire surface of the sponge. Then press the painted side of the sponge onto the paper to create an impression.

Repeat, "building" the painted impressions into skyscrapers, houses, and other buildings to create the cityscape.

When your child is finished painting, allow the skyline to dry while you help them clean up (cleaning up is a good practical life lesson!). Then, using the markers draw windows, people, clouds or sun... whatever they want to bring their sponge-painted skyline to life!

MORE: Make another skyline with our Pi City Skyline, perfect for Pi Day!

Bonus! NYC Coloring Page

This post is chock full of goodies, isn't it! As a bonus, Melanie Hope Greenberg has graciously created a New York City skyline coloring page! So if you don't have the energy to set up a sponge art painting project, just print it out for some instant coloring fun.

Download and Print*: City coloring page by Melanie Hope Greenberg *Terms of Service: this coloring page is used with permission from Melanie Hope Greenberg and is for non-commercial use ONLY. You many print out as many copies as you like for personal, library or classroom use. If you would like to share this coloring page, you MUST link to this blog page. It is expressly forbidden to link directly to the coloring page pdf file.

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