Woven Heart

What You Need:

• 2 Sheets of white watercolor paper 8.5” x 11”
• Tempera paint
• Paintbrushes
• Scissors
• X-acto blade
• Pencil
• Glue Stick

What You Do:

1. You and your child will paint two sheets of watercolor paper using bright, Valentine's Day colors. The first sheet will be for the heart and the second sheet will be for the colors that are threaded through the heart. Allow the paint to dry completely.
2. Tell her to fold the paper for her heart in half. Draw a half of a heart shape from the edge of the paper that is folded.
3. Cut along the line of the half-drawn heart and unfold the paper to reveal the entire heart. Lay it flat on a surface you can cut on.
4. Help your child carefully cut slits in rows across the heart (it's best for the adult to use the X-acto knife in this step). The slits should be vertical and about one centimeter in length. They should be spaced about one finger width apart. Each row of slits should appear alternating or staggered, so the rows are not exactly even. This will create a more interesting pattern for the final outcome.
5. With the second piece of paper, cut long strips a little less than one centimeter in width so the pieces will fit through the cut slits in the heart.
6. One at a time, carefully weave a strip of paper starting at the top of the heart. The strip of paper should weave up and down going through each slit of paper. Leave any excess paper hanging over the edges of the heart for now.
7. Continue weaving until the entire heart is full and no slits are left empty. Use one long strip of paper for each row of cut slits.
8. Using a glue stick, glue down the edges of the paper strips to the edge of the heart. This will need to be done on the front and back of the heart.
9. Carefully cut the excess paper off the woven strips while following the outer shape of the heart.

Encourage your child to write a thoughtful message on the back of her woven heart, and give it to someone she loves!