Heart Patterns

What You Need:

• Felt
• Scissors
• Yarn
• Masking tape 

What You Do:

1. Using three different colors of felt, have your child cut out a supply of hearts. You can use traditional red, pink and white or you can use colors similar to the pastels of Conversation Heart candies. Have your child use the ruler to make each heart is one to two inches wide. To start, make an equal number of each color.
2. Show your child how to cut two parallel slits in each heart. These slits will be used to string the hearts on the yarn.
3. Have your child cut a piece of yarn long enough to string all of his hearts. You may have to give him some advice on length.
4. Wrap a piece of the masking tape around one end of the yarn to make a simple needle. This will make it much easier for your child to string the hearts, and you won't have to worry about painful pokes.
5. Now, set up a complicated pattern such as AABBCC for him to duplicate.
6. When he is done, hang his garland in a place of honor.

If you want, you can make this project an active part of the family Valentine’s Day celebration. Each day in February leading up to the 14th, unstring the hearts and have him string a new pattern. Once he's mastered AABBCC, come up with one that's even more complicated such as ABCCBA or AABBAACC.