DIY VALENTINE BOXES
Since my kids were in kindergarten, it has become a fun tradition to make a Valentine box to house all their class valentines. Some years, this project is sent home as a fun assignment to do as a family. Over the years, I have made quite a few templates to simplify this process and thought it might be helpful to share them here. They are all free to download for personal use below. There is a unicorn box, cat, koala, penguin, and most recently a cardboard ferris wheel (requested by my oldest daughter). Hope these printables and ideas can help you to create something special and fun for Valentine’s Day with your kids!
This was made from a Capri-Sun box, toilet paper roll, some construction paper, and cardboard from a cereal box (cut into a unicorn head shape).
I cut a toilet paper roll in half and taped them to the the base of the box to create the unicorn legs. In hindsight, it would have looked cleaner to use hot glue. I cut a rectangle at the top to insert the valentines and glued the unicorn head to the back of the box. My daughter (who was in kindergarten at the time), painted everything white.
She then glued construction paper hearts for the unicorn cheek and mane and strips of construction paper for the tail. I made alphabet heart cutouts for her to color, cut, and glue her name onto it. It is free to download above and can be used for a variety of other activities (think letter hunts, letter match, name recognition, cvc word building). She was so proud to bring it to her kindergarten class valentine party!
Of course, her little sister who wasn’t in school yet at the time had to make one too. After school, my kids would fill her box with cards and treats. The valentine coloring cards pictured are available here.
All you need for this is a rectangular box and my Cat Valentine Box template that is free to download above.
Use masking tape to tape up the box so it can be easily painted over. On top of the box, cut out two triangles for the cat ears. This will also be where the class valentines go in. Feel free to cut out larger openings if needed.
Next you will need to paint everything pink (or your desired cat color). We just used acrylic paint from Walmart. The cardboard really soaks up the paint so often only one coat is needed.
Lastly, my kids cut out my printable and glued them on to complete their box. Here is my daughter taking her cat box to her second grade Valentine’s Day party last year. She was super proud of it and did most of it herself, including helping me to design the printable.
My youngest requested a valentine box shaped like her favorite stuffie which is a pink Ty Squish-A-Boo koala that my niece had given her.
You will again need a rectangular box, this time taller than wider. Cut three curves out of the top flap to create the koala head with ears and paint everything pink (or your desired koala color).
Use my free printable, cut out all the pieces, and tape to your box.
That’s it! Super easy peasy and ready to house valentine cards and treats!
This is perhaps the easiest valentine box my kids have ever made. All you need is a rectangular box that is taller than it is wide. Cut out a rectangular opening on top for the valentines. Paint it all black (or your preferred penguin color).
Use my penguin balloon template here to cut and paste. You can further embellish with glitter, heart stickers, or add doodles and lettering with paint pens. You can also use the heart cutouts above to personalize it with your child’s name.
Lastly, my fifth grader wanted to make a ferris wheel valentine box this year. This is by far, the most challenging box my kids have made. You will need a rectangular box and the template I made above.
My daughter painted her box with pink acrylic paint then used paint pens to draw on more hearts, outlining them further with a black Sharpie.
We used my template to cut everything out twice onto cardboard, hot gluing popsicle sticks for the spokes. A wooden dowel went through all four hearts. The support towers of the ferris wheel were folded at the bottom and hot glued onto the box my daughter painted. Then another wooden dowel was cut into 3 inch pieces and were hot glued to connect each popsicle stick.
We created seats using pipe cleaners and mini cupcake liners. This was largely a trial and error project. We ended up having to use hair ties on both sides of the support towers to hold everything together, otherwise it kept slipping outwards. We also had to hot glue all the passengers to their cupcake liner seats, glue their heads together on the sides and glue the back of their heads to the wooden dowels, otherwise they flopped around too much when you spun the ferris wheel.
My daughter really enjoyed making this and was so creative in the process, drawing peg people with so much detail, including a height requirement for the ride, as well as a ticket and snack booth.
Your child may also be interested in:
Free Valentine Printable Activities (Letter Hunt, Snack Sort, Love Potion Water Play)
Free Anatomical Heart Coloring Pages and Cut and Paste Activity
Tracing Hearts and Name Worksheets
Hundreds Chart with Heart Border
Printable Alphabet and Number Workbooks with Heart Border
Valentine Countdown (Glue Pepperoni on a Heart Pizza)
Personalized Valentine’s Day Coloring Pages
I create more printable activities for kids here.
If you use these printables in your home or classroom, I would love to see it! Please use #sodangfun on social media, tag me @sodangfun on Instagram, or post to my Facebook page.
I hope this post can help you to create something memorable and fun with your kids for Valentine’s Day!
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