Anyone else in a little bit of disbelief that January is almost over?  How are your resolutions or goals coming along?  Hopefully, your still making progress on them!

Since we are almost to February, my mind is shifting into all things Valentine’s Day related and that means lots of fun Valentine’s Day crafts!

I’ve actually planned a few different Valentine’s Day crafts and activities this year for Little and I’ve started looking for some Valentine’s Day activities for babies so the littlest can play along, too (if you have ideas…send them my way!!). 

I’ve even pulled our supplies for each project into a bin so they’re ready to go.  (Which makes me think I should start doing something like this weekly to have our activities pre-planned and more accessible…but I digress…)

Today I’m sharing this fun Valentine’s Day Canvas Resist Art that Little did recently.

I got the idea for resist art from Lindsey over at Fueling Mamahood. She recently shared a fun winter resist art project she did with her kids AND She’s started a new Toddler Tuesday series that you should check out if you are looking for more toddler craft ideas!

I knew that we had enough supplies to make it happen for Valentine’s Day and I’m happy to report that it was easy to put together and lots of fun for Little to create.

What is Resist Art?

First things first though – what is resist art anyway?  This is fair, and to be honest, I had no idea what it was either until I started doing crafts with Little.  But, it’s simple.  Resist art is just art that uses layers to create a design in the blank space. 

You can use tape, stickers, crayons, anything that resists paint to cover up parts of your painting surface and paint over it to reveal the design.

Easy peasy.  But loads of fun – especially for kids.

Valentine’s Day Resist Art

I pulled all the supplies for this from my craft cabinet, but you can easily find them at your local craft store or on Amazon.  I tend to buy lots of kids’ craft supplies in bulk so I always have them on hand for quick activities and last minute crafts.

Supplies

• Canvas (or heavy card stock paper).  I used an 11×14 canvas board that we had on hand, but you can use any size you like.
• Foam Heart Stickers – another thing that I bought in bulk a couple of years ago and have been using for Valentine’s day projects since (like this Valentine’s Day garland)
  • You could also use heart shaped stickers, I think, but we didn’t try it because I didn’t have enough heart stickers on hand.
• Foam brushes
• Acrylic paint
  • We used 5 different colors, but you can use as many or as few as you want.
• Paper Plate (or an old egg carton is what we usually use to hold different colors of paint)
• Painting Smock (optional, but we don’t paint without it…especially when we use acrylic paint!)

Directions

• Use foam stickers to create any design you want on your canvas or paper.  You’ll want to make sure they are pressed all the way down on your surface.

• Paint over the whole surface of the canvas.
  • It’s important to let your kids take charge of the creative process here (and in the first step, too).  Let them choose how many hearts to use and where to put them, what colors of paint to use and how/if they want to mix colors.  Much of the learning process of these crafts is allowing kids to explore and create on their own.

• Once the paint has dried, remove the stickers and admire your work!  Little loved seeing all the hearts he painted contrasted against the bright colors of paint we used.

And that’s it.  I love how it turned out!  And now, we are officially in the Valentine’s Day spirit!

A Few Notes About Crafting with Kids

One of the things I love most about crafting with kids is watching them create.  Not only is it fun to see them explore and get to be imaginative, but it’s also a good practice for me in letting go of control.  Just letting them play.

I always encourage parents to focus on the process when it comes to kids’ crafts.  Perfection is not the goal.  Kids can be so creative and I want to encourage that.

You can ask your child to tell you about the decisions they’re making, how they want to design something, etc.  And when you show enthusiasm for their work, they will be proud of it and more encouraged to keep exploring and learning.

Little chose to put his hearts in lots of different directions for this project because, as he told me, “that way if you turn it around, then you can see these hearts.”

Finally, I always try to display their artwork at least for a little while so everyone can see it and we can talk about it during the season – especially if it’s a seasonal/holiday craft. 

You don’t need a large space to do this, either – just a magnet on the fridge for a few days will be hugely appreciated by your kids.  And I bet they will be so proud to show off their work!

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DON’T MISS THESE OTHER VALENTINE’S DAY CRAFTS

Easy Valentine’s Day Garland

Tissue Paper Hearts: A Fun Valentine’s Day Craft for Kids

10 Valentine’s Day Activities for Kids