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Creative Development Lesson Plan for Daycare
Puffy Valentine’s Day Heart Art activity for toddlers and preschoolers contains instructions, procedures, materials list, learning objectives, and sample verbal cues.
Early learning goals for toddlers include creative development. “Creative arts experiences open an avenue for the development and expression of individual ideas, feelings, and interests. Although these are more readily observed in older preschoolers, they have their beginnings in the infant and toddler years,” according to First Art: Art Experiences for Toddlers and Twos MaryAnn F. Kohl et al. [Gryphon house, 2002]. Art, therefore, nurtures creativity.
Preschool teachers and daycare providers can promote creative development by providing art activities that explore media and materials and encourage imagination.
A valentine heart creative activity is an excellent example of an opportunity to foster expression, to encourage spontaneity in material usage, and to introduce children to textured materials.
This lesson plan includes the materials list, preparation instructions, and procedures for this activity. It also includes age-appropriate learning objectives and samples of the simple, supporting verbal cues necessary to encourage participation and support learning.
Valentine’s Day Heart Materials
- Shaving Cream
- Elmer’s glue
- Red Tempera Paint
- Pink Tempura Paint
- Heart shape cut from poster Board or very heavy construction paper
- Paint Brushes
Activity Preparation
- Mix shaving cream, Elmer’s glue, and red tempura paint to make a puffy paint texture.
- Mix shaving cream, Elmer’s glue, and pink tempura paint to make a puffy paint texture.
- Cover the table with butcher paper.
- Place paper hearts, paint and paintbrushes on the table.
Procedures for Valentine Heart Craft
Invite the children over and tell them that you are going to make puffy valentine hearts. Give each child a paintbrush and let him or her paint onto the poster board hearts. Allow the paint to dry to create a puffy valentine.
Valentine Heart Craft Objectives
Objective 1: To provide the opportunity for expressive activities through a valentine art craft by allowing the children to create designs using a paintbrush.
Verbal Cue A: Today we are going to make puffy valentine hearts!
Verbal Cue B: I have puffy paint for you to use to make a design.
Objective 2: To encourage spontaneity in material usage by allowing the children to choose colors or to use the paint as they choose.
Verbal Cue A: Which color would you like to use first? Pink or red?
Verbal Cue B: I like the way you are using your colors!
Objective 3: To introduce textured materials by creating puffy paint to be used by the children.
Verbal Cue A: touch the paint. How does it feel?
Verbal Cue B: Let’s see what the paint looks like after it dries.
This Valentine Heart makes a great gift for children to present to parents for Valentine’s Day. This creative activity is great for children in preschool and daycare ages 3 and older. While it is a creative activity, it is also great for developing motor skills. For more preschool activities, see Online Preschool Lesson Plans.
Valentine’s Day Heart Art activity adapted from The Everything Preschool Website