Always a good thing to do:
1. Whatever shape you are working on for that month, cut it out of a large paper and put it up on a wall (or let them color on it on the floor). Let them paint, color, draw - whatever they want to do and you feel comfortable with.
2. What we did last year: We colored little Valentine Day cards from Wal-Mart for all of the kids his age that we were friends with and we went around to deliver them. He loved it. This year we are going to make cards for our friends out of hearts as well as for grandma's and grandpa's. I will cut the hearts out of paper or cardstock and he will be able to decorate them any way he chooses - with crayons, pencils, markers, or glitter. He will help me deliver cards to his friends and help me put the ones we have to mail in envelopes and mail them so he can see the whole process. For older preschool age children - have them trace a heart shape and cut it out, then decorate it.
Cutting, tearing, and tracing are all skills they should have by the time they enter kindergarten. Not that they have to do it as well as we do, but that should be something they are working on. Cutting and tracing are developmentally appropriate for 4 and 5 year olds and possibly some older three's, also. Tearing can start between 18 months and 2 years. Andrew loves to tear paper. I give him paper that is appropriate for him to tear and try to teach him the difference between what kinds of papers are OK to tear and what kinds aren't. So, when your toddler starts tearing paper, remember that it is 100% developmentally appropriate and necessary to some of their fine motor development. They just need to be given paper you are OK with them tearing.
3. Add some pink or red to shaving cream and let them go at it!
4. Use pink or red paint throughout the month. Remember, to increase their awareness of sight word recognition, it's always a good idea to write down the names of the colors you are using and have them posted where the child can see them often. You could do this by cutting out a red heart and a pink heart and writing on each of them: "red heart" and "pink heart". Then put it up where the child can see it often. They may want to play with it and that should be OK. Kids this age are very tactile, so you may want to cover them with some kind of laminate - like the kind you can get at Wal-mart.
5. Use red and pink glitter throughout the month in various art activities. You can add it to almost any art activity and sometimes it's fun to just let them experiment with glue and glitter to whatever degree you are comfortable with.
6. Shape of the month: Heart - this is obvious, right? I post the shape of the month on a wall where my toddler can see it all month. He likes to talk about it and he refers to it often. Along with the shape of the month is a letter of the month. This month, the letter is H, again, obviously. I print a printable letter out and post it. Remember, again, that kids this age are tactile and as much of these things as possible should be available for them to handle as much as they want.
Here is a link with some ideas for other art activities:
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