Valentine
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See more activities in: Second Grade, Valentine's Day

If your child wants a change from the conventional, cellophane-wrapped boxes of Valentine's Day cards given out on February 14, this project is for him! Encourage him to create personalized Valentine's Day bookmarks this holiday. His classmates will be impressed with his thoughtfulness, and he'll improve his fine motor skills in the process.

What You Need:

  • Sturdy cardstock
  • Decorative paper (such as wrapping paper, scrapbooking paper, etc.)
  • Rubber cement or glue
  • Hole punch
  • Narrow ribbon or yarn
  • Pen

What You Do:

  1. Have your child start by cutting strips of cardstock into the length and width of a bookmark. Once he has a size he likes, he can produce mass quantities of them by using original as a pattern. Remind him that it's okay to have variety in the shapes and sizes of the bookmarks. It will add to his creations' homemade charm!
  2. Have him choose the paper he wishes to cover the cardstock with. He can create a collage using strips, or cut paper to cover the entire front and back of the bookmark.
  3. Ask him to paste the paper onto the bookmark and allow it to dry.
  4. Repeat the above process for each bookmark.
  5. While the glue is drying, invite your child to cut out paper hearts for the bookmarks. He can do this easily by folding paper in half, and then cutting half-hearts along the apper's fold. He'll want the paper hearts to be about 1/4 the size of the bookmark, and he'll need one for each bookmark. He can leave the hearts as they are, cover them with colorful paper, or use some other creative decoration. The options are endless!
  6. Ask your child to arrange a heart at the top of each bookmark, with the curves of the heart touching the top edge. Carefully, punch two holes so that they go through the heart and the bookmark.
  7. Invite your child to thread the ribbon through the holes and secure the heart to the bookmark with a neat bow or knot.
  8. Ask him to write a Valentine's Day message on each bookmark. He can either personalize each to his classmates' names or write a generic greeting. The message can be written on the back of the heart, front of the heart, or on the bookmark itself.

That's it! This bookmark is perfect  because it wraps around the page, making it less likely to slip out of a book.