http://www.valentinesdayfun.net/ Collection of fun Valentine's Day activities and stories. Will you be mine? ~~ Barbara J. Feldman en Copyright 2010 Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:25:55 -0800 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss The "Good For" coupon book: Christ lived a life of service. Valentine's Day is a day to show love and appreciation for those you care for. What better way to embrace the holiday, and create a craft that is both religious and fun at the same time then a "Good For" coupon book? Start by cutting several hearts from construction paper and punching a hole in the top left hand lobe of each heart. Then, use a ring to clip the whole coupon book together. You may also use a piece of string or staple them together. On the front of the book, you can write "God is Love", or whatever you like. On the inside, you can include a Bible verse that talks about love, God and service. Here are a few good ones to choose from: Deuteronomy 6:5, Psalm 18:1, Psalm 116:1, Psalm 145:20, Proverbs 8:17 or Romans 8:28. On the inside, write something you promise to do, or that each heart is "Good For", on each heart. Items or chores you might consider doing could include "good for doing the dishes", "good for a foot rub", "washing your car" or whatever form of service you wish to give. Valentine's mobile: Valentine's Day is a fun day where hearts, cupids, candy and, of course, love, rule the day. So, why not capture all of those elements in a decorative hanging mobile? Give your mobile a religious side by including your favorite scripture versus on each hanging object. For example, you could cut out a heart, write "love" on one side and, on the opposite side, write out a verse from scripture. This is just a fun visual reminder to see past the confection hearts and silly phrases about love, and remember that God is love, and that loving each other in Christ is part of what Valentine's Day is about. Hang it somewhere you will see it. Valentine's Day cards: On Valentine' Day you exchange Valentine's cards with those you love. Instead of buying pre-made cards, make your valentine a card that offers a deeper sense of love, including the love of God, and all that He encompasses. Make a lovely card that has all things Valentine's Day in the traditional sense like doilies, hearts, and reds and pinks. Then include a scripture verse that captures what you feel. For example, a spouse might love: "I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul." Psalm 31:7 For that person who has always been there for you: "I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble." Psalm 59:16 ]]> http://www.valentinesdayfun.net/religious_valentines_day_crafts-46480.php http://www.valentinesdayfun.net/religious_valentines_day_crafts-46480.php Crafts crafts religious_crafts religious_Valentine's_day_crafts Valentine's_day_crafts Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:25:55 -0800 Candy Rockets One of the best ways to make Valentine's Day kids crafts fun for everyone is to make crafts that incorporate the cards and candies they give out such as the Candy Rocket. Supplies • Lifesavers • Candy Kisses • Construction paper • Markers • Tape Start by taking your Candy Kiss, and taping it to the top of your roll of Lifesavers. Then take the construction paper and cut it down so that it is just the right length and width to cover the Lifesaver roll. Use the tape to secure it around the roll, so that the label is covered. Now, take another piece of construction paper, preferably red or orange, and cut out "flames". Secure this to the bottom of the "rocket", on the opposite end of the Candy Kiss. Then, use your marker to put a note on the rocket for your intended Valentine. It might say something like, "You're a Blast!" "I Dig You" Once again, you are going to be using your treat and message as a craft. Supplies • Small bag of candy • Twist tie • Ribbon • Toy sand shovel • Paint pen Start this craft by taking the little bag of candy, preferably in red, white and red for Valentine's Day, and closing it off with the twist tie. Using a piece of ribbon, attach your little bag of candy to the base of the shovel, right before the handle. If you can't find sand shovels, try www.iparty.com or www.OrientalTrading.com. Next, use your paint pen to inscribe your message on the bottom of the shovel, making sure that your candy bag does not cover it. If it does, then write the message on the back of the shovel, so that it can be seen. A few fun message ideas include: "I dig you!" or "You've got the scoop on me!" Valentine's Day Bookmarks This is a useful Valentine craft for the reader in your family. You will need: • Paper clip • Construction paper • Decorating items • Glue Start by cutting out two identical hearts from construction paper then decorate them with a written message, glitter and stickers. Then, use glue to attach the two hearts together, with the paper clip between them, but sticking out so that it can act as the page holder. ]]> http://www.valentinesdayfun.net/creative_valentines_day_crafts_for_children-46352.php http://www.valentinesdayfun.net/creative_valentines_day_crafts_for_children-46352.php Crafts kids_craft kid_crafts Valentine's_Day Valentine's_Day_kids_crafts Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:06:08 -0800 Chocolate Boxes Chocolates are a traditional expression of love, especially when a man gives them to a woman. A box of chocolates is akin to flowers and jewelry. Of course, a box of chocolates is by no means a gift exclusively for women; anyone who likes chocolate would be happy to receive a box of chocolates. Supplies Needed 1 Plain white cookie or chocolate box. You can pick these up at just about any craft store, or even Wal-Mart in the craft aisle. Construction paper in Valentine colors White school glue or a hot glue gun Beads, gems, glitter & other decorative items 1 marker Assorted chocolates White cookies and chocolate boxes are made of thick cardstock and come flat. You fold them into the box. Decorate the box as a creative expression of your love for the recipient by cutting out hearts and cupids. Decorate it with lace and glitter. When you are finished decorating it, use a marker to write a note on it then let it dry completely. Once it's completely dry, fill it with your recipient's favorite chocolates and deliver. Kiss Guys and Gals This is a fun craft, and will have your kids laughing about the double meaning of kissing girls, and kissing guys. Necessary Supplies Colored construction paper Chocolate kisses Small googley eyes Glue Glue the googley eyes on to the chocolate kiss, near the bottom. Then cut triangles out of construction paper, twist one into a cone shaped hat and glue it on to the kiss. You can use yarn to add hair under the hat if you wish. Sweet Jewelry Jewelry is a standard Valentine's Day gift but children don't usually have diamonds and gold in their budgets. So, help them make a delicious necklace. Supplies Needed Plastic wrap Curling ribbon An assortment of Valentine's Day candies Place the candies in the plastic wrap in a long line, the length that you want the necklace to be. Leave some room between each candy then wrap the candies, so they are in a cylinder of plastic wrap. Now, use the curling ribbon to separate each candy, then tie a knot and curl. Tie the ends together to create a loop that can be worn as a necklace. ]]> http://www.valentinesdayfun.net/sweet_kid-friendly_valentines_day_crafts-46351.php http://www.valentinesdayfun.net/sweet_kid-friendly_valentines_day_crafts-46351.php Crafts kids_craft kid_crafts Valentine's_Day Valentine's_Day_kids_crafts Mon, 01 Mar 2010 20:23:35 -0800 Candy Holder On Valentine's Day children typically get Valentine's cards and candy from family, friends, classmates and teachers. For a special touch, and to enhance your child's holiday experience even more, help them create a unique card holder or "mailbox" for these cards and candies. Supplies 1 Plastic ice cream bucket with lid 1 Scissors 1 Paint brush 1 White school glue Water Construction paper Decorating items: Buttons, gems, lace, pipe cleaners, stickers, paints, beads, etc. First, cut a hole in the lid large enough for candies and cards to fit through it. Water down the glue a little so that it is the consistency of paint as you're going to use this glue to attach the construction paper to the exterior of the ice cream bucket. Paint the glue over the bucket then attach strips of paper to the outside. Let it dry completely, and then apply one more layer. Do the outside of the bucket and the lid, but don't cover the hole. To finish and personalize your card holder, apply buttons, lace, gems, stickers or any other decorative pieces you like. Put your name on it somewhere so that everyone knows whose treats to put in it. You can use beads or buttons to spell it out, or just write it using a marker. Cards What better Valentine's Day craft than Valentine's Day cards? You can help your kids create personalized Valentine's Day cards for everyone on their list. It can fill a whole afternoon with crafting fun. Supplies Lots of construction paper in a variety of patterns and colors along the Valentine's Day theme Scissors, straight and decorative edge scissors Glue Decorating items: Buttons, gems, lace, stickers, paints, beads, a hole puncher or whatever else you like. Start by folding and cutting a piece of construction paper to create the size of card you want. Then use the other paper and accessories to decorate the front. Use a pen to inscribe your message. A message such as "Be Mine" is traditional for Valentine's Day, or you can help your child with a more creative message like, "Roses are Red, Violet's are Blue, I will use this day to say "I love you!"' You can also include personal notes. Address and sign them all, then put them in envelopes so that you can give them to family and friends. You can decorate the envelopes as well. This is a great way to personalize your Valentines and make them a special memento for the recipients. ]]> http://www.valentinesdayfun.net/valentines_day_creativity_101_cool_crafts_for_kids-46331.php http://www.valentinesdayfun.net/valentines_day_creativity_101_cool_crafts_for_kids-46331.php Crafts kids_craft kid_crafts Valentine's_Day Valentine's_Day_kids_crafts Sun, 28 Feb 2010 21:04:10 -0800 Heart Wreath This wreath requires a stack of construction paper and scissors, as well as glue. Start by cutting out several hearts in different sizes and Valentine colors. Take a piece of heavy cardstock paper and cut it into a circle to make it into a wreath. Cut another circle inside about an inch in from the outer circle, in order to make a ring. Next, glue all of the hearts onto the ring, putting the largest ones in the back, and smaller ones near the front. Alternate colors so that you do not put pink on pink, for example. Conversation Heart Cake Any craft that includes food is a fun kids craft. Make a conversation heart cake. Ingredients 1 Cake mix 1 Heart shaped pan, or a knife to cut a cake into a heart shape Pink, white, and red icing 3 Piping bag and tips First, bake the cake and let it cool. Once it's cooled, cut it into a heart shape. Once it is completely cooled, ice it with white, pink or red frosting. Then, using the piping bags, create a "conversation heart" by writing a message in icing on the top and drawing a heart around it. "Be Mine", "Kiss" and "Hugs" are great examples. Variations: You can create small cakes and do a whole conversation, or use a larger one just for fun. Flower Candy Holders What girl doesn't want to get flowers on Valentine's Day? Turning treats into flowers is one of the best Valentine's Day kids crafts. Supplies Scissors Construction paper Dum-Dum suckers Tape First, cut flower shapes of varying sizes out of construction paper. Create several different sets, so you have large, medium, small and some in between sizes. Use a variety of colors so that your flowers are more vibrant. Punch a small hole in the center of the smallest flower cut out. Make sure it is only big enough for the sucker stick. Repeat the punch and place process using the smallest flowers first, then the medium and, finally, the largest. The dum dum sucker head is the center of the flower. Use tape to secure the sucker in the flower. You can make a whole bouquet for someone or make them as individual treats. Once the petals are on, you can crinkle them some, bend them a little or use markers to make the petals look more realistic. ]]> http://www.valentinesdayfun.net/valentines_day_kids_crafts-46327.php http://www.valentinesdayfun.net/valentines_day_kids_crafts-46327.php Crafts kids_craft kid_crafts Valentine's_Day Valentine's_Day_kids_crafts Fri, 26 Feb 2010 20:10:23 -0800 What You Need: Sponge cut into the shape of a heart Grass Seeds Water Plastic Wrap Paper bowls Help the kids cut the sponge into a heart, or provide them with a precut sponge. Have them put their sponge into their paper bowl. Then have them moisten the sponge with water, and sprinkle it with grass seed. Then have them cover the top of the bowl with plastic wrap. When the sprouts start to show, you can uncover the bowl, and just be sure to spritz with water regularly. When the grass starts to get long, use scissors to mow it down some, and it will fill in. Within a couple of weeks, you will have a heart shaped piece of grass that your preschooler will be so proud of. ]]> http://www.valentinesdayfun.net/grassy_valentine-45937.php http://www.valentinesdayfun.net/grassy_valentine-45937.php Crafts preschool_crafts Valentine's_Day Valentine's_Day_crafts Tue, 16 Feb 2010 08:27:08 -0800 This is a great craft that makes fun decorations for Valentine's Day. Your preschooler will love getting involved in the decorating, and will be so proud of the decorations they make themselves. What You Need: Pipe cleaner Beads Yarn Start by twisting two pieces of pipe cleaner together at the bottom to create a "V" shape. Then, give it to the preschooler so that they can string beads on it. Give them a bunch of beads to string on it, preferably in Valentine's Day colors (white, red, pink). Once they have strung the pipe cleaner with beads, fold the ends over, and twist them together to create a heart shape. Then take your yarn, and tie a piece to it so that you can hang it in your home. http://www.valentinesdayfun.net/beaded_heart_hangers-45936.php http://www.valentinesdayfun.net/beaded_heart_hangers-45936.php Crafts preschool_crafts Valentine's_Day Valentine's_Day_crafts Tue, 16 Feb 2010 08:23:21 -0800 What you will need: Soft sculpting clay (available at art supply or craft stores) Aspic or tiny cookie cutters Toothpick Thin cording or string Safety pin Instructions for the project: If you wish to make symmetrical hearts, use the side of a pen to roll flat a lump of clay to about 1/8-inch thick. Cut out pieces with a heart-shaped aspic or cookie cutter. For free-form hearts you can use your fingers to form or coil individual bits of clay. You may even want to swirl together multiple colors. Use a toothpick to make a hole in a corner of each bead and then bake hearts according to package directions. After baking you can then string the beads into a necklace, coat pin or key chain.]]> http://www.valentinesdayfun.net/love_beads-37558.php http://www.valentinesdayfun.net/love_beads-37558.php Crafts crafts jewelry jewelry_ crafts Valentine Valentine's_ Day Valentine_ jewelry_ crafts Tue, 01 Dec 2009 05:30:04 -0800 Creating a bulletin board can be difficult. You want it to look nice, be educational, and include the students. There are many ways that students can get involved and many ways that you can balance the educational and looking nice parts. You also don't want the project to take up hours and hours of your time. Let's take a look at some easy to do Valentine's Day bulletin board ideas. First, you want to figure out how much time you want to spend on the project. You will have to prepare some things for it and you will have to take up some class time to do the project. You don't want to spend too long on either part. Decide how long you want to spend and the quickest ways for you to get everything you need done to prepare the project for the students. One of the most fun and most common displays is to cut out a bunch of hearts. Many schools will have a cut out of a heart that you can trace or have a punch in the shape of a heart. Either way, it might take you a while. If you have the punch, take about 30 minutes to cut out a bunch of hearts. It will be one of the easiest ways to get the project done. If you don't have a punch, create or use a cut out shape of a heart as a guide. Trace a bunch of hearts. Cut them out just in squares and then let the children cut out the shapes themselves. You will be able to get the tracing done in a minimal amount of time. On the cut out hearts, have the children draw or write things that they love, people they love, their pets, friends, and their own names. Staple the heart onto the bulletin board. It will be a wonderful place to see what is loved by your students. You can have the children do this over a few days and have them do several hearts. It will be a great way to teach them about love and being friends with everyone. You can also have the children write poems. Teach them about the different types of poems and have them write their own. Let them write about whatever they love. Put the poems on the bulletin board. They can even draw a picture to go with the poem. You will most likely need a background. Use red, white, and pink paper on the background. You can use patterned paper if you want. If you use patterned paper be sure to use simple paper on top so that the background doesn't over power the look of the real design and the main part of the bulletin board. Most importantly have fun. Let your students learn about writing and how to do things on their own. http://www.valentinesdayfun.net/valentines_day_bulletin_boards_made_simple-42437.php http://www.valentinesdayfun.net/valentines_day_bulletin_boards_made_simple-42437.php Crafts bulletin_board_ideas easy Easy_to_do_Valentine's_Day_bulletin_board_ideas ideas Valentine's_Day Valentine's_Day_bulletin_board Valentine's_Day_bulletin_board_ideas Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:15:04 -0800 1. Candy boards. Young children love candy. Preschoolers would love to get some candy at school. They love the shiny look of candy and will be very excited about it. Because you are also teaching children to write and read at this time it will be very helpful. They will read their name on the board next to their favorite candy. This exercise will leave them excited about the holiday and it will help to teach them that valentine's day is all about giving. 2. Colorful boards. With young children you can only do so much with words. However, colors speak more than words. Try a bulletin board with various shades of red and various shapes. This will create something that will catch their eyes and keep them entertained. Remember that a preschool teacher is part educator and part entertainer. A bright and colorful bulletin board will set the tone for valentine's day and teach them something about the holiday without words. 3. Game board. There are some games that young children can play and understand. One would be something like pin the tale on the donkey. Make a bulletin board in one part of the room with various games and activities of this sort. These are just a few ideas for your Valentine's Day bulletin board for preschoolers. The sky is the limit when it comes to making bulletin boards. There are all sorts of great ideas out there. You just need to be creative and think in the way that a preschooler thinks. Don't be to complicated. Just think about some basics like candy and bright colors and you will do great.]]> http://www.valentinesdayfun.net/preschool-aged_valentines_day_bulletin_board_ideas-42436.php http://www.valentinesdayfun.net/preschool-aged_valentines_day_bulletin_board_ideas-42436.php Crafts bulletin_boards classroom_decoration valentine's_day_bulletin_board_ideas_for_preschoolers Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:12:35 -0800 Classrooms are always decorated for the many holidays. They are filled with red and green around Christmas and pastel colors around Easter. There are many ways that you can decorate your classroom and more specifically your bulletin board. Let's take a look at some classroom Valentine's Day bulletin board ideas. One idea is to write Happy Valentine's Day on the top of the board. Inside the letters put little hearts. You can also put hearts on the letters where you might put the dots if you were dotting the letters. Use different colors for the hearts or make them the same color. If you have a calendar on the bulletin board, decorate it. Decorate the whole month of February. It is fun to have a theme for each month, so make the theme for February love. You don't just have to celebrate love and how it is so important in the world to love everyone just on Valentine's Day but you can celebrate the message all month long. Cut out a bunch of little hearts. Have the children decorate them with their names, things that they love, people they love, sayings, and quotes. You can even have them draw themselves, the things they love, or the people they love. You can have them do many hearts or just a few. If you want you can even do it for a few days and have them write or draw something new each day. To start you can even put up sayings that you would find on the conversation candy hearts. Write quotes on the bulletin board. Have the students write their own sayings about love and put some famous quotes on the board about love. If you are teaching about poems and authors that have written books about poems, have your students each write a poem about love. It doesn't have to be anything huge, just a few lines, but have them write in the different formats and styles. It will be a great way to teach that not all poems rhyme and that they can come up with their own poems. Be sure to use many of these ideas. You don't just have to use one, but have a bunch and have fun with them. The best part about making crafts or decorating is that you can make things your own. Have fun and don't forget to teach the children about love and friendship while you are making your Valentine's Day decorations. http://www.valentinesdayfun.net/ideas_for_classroom_valentines_day_bulletin_boards-42435.php http://www.valentinesdayfun.net/ideas_for_classroom_valentines_day_bulletin_boards-42435.php Crafts bulletin_board_ideas calendar classroom Classroom_Valentine's_Day_bulletin_board_ideas ideas love Valentine's_Day_bulletin_board Valentine's_Day_bulletin_board_ideas Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:11:15 -0800 Go Green Instead of buying a card, why not recycle some of your old ones? Grab your old cards and toss them into your blender along with ¼ cup water and some rose petals. Blend them all together. You should have a paste substance. Take this out of the blender and line it one a cookie sheet. Allow it to dry until it is crisp. It should hold together. If it doesn't, paint a thin layer of glue over the top of it. Once it has dried, you can glue your pictures to it along with some cut out's of hearts and other things. Use some rose petals to glue them onto the card to add a nice smell to the card. It's a great way to personalize your Valentine's Day card. Cardboard Instead of tossing your old cereal boxes, turn them into some decorative Valentine's Day cards, Cut out the sides of the box and cover them with a thin fabric like cotton. Glue the fabric down so it won't move. Once it is covered and it has dried, take a bunch of different family pictures and cut them into hearts. Now, arrange them on the fabric along with some additional things like stickers, ribbon, and foam hearts. Make a Book Another great way to make your Valentine's Day card stand out is to create a book. Instead of just sticking with a single photo, choose a variety of photos that tell a story. If you want to send your photo book to your parents, get some pictures that share your life story with them. Try to find some old family pictures from when you were younger up until your age now. On each page of the photo book, write down a reason why you love and appreciate your parents. This is a great way to show them just how much you truly care about them and to leave them with a memorable Valentine's Day card. Hobby Card Do you have a particular hobby? If you play football or you love a particular sport, make your Valentine's Day card into the shape of this item and cover it with pictures of your family. For example, let's say your family loves baseball. Head out to a craft store to purchase a large Styrofoam ball. Now, find a bunch of family pictures where you are attending baseball games or when you are playing baseball. Glue them to the outside of the ball and use some ribbon to write 'happy valentine's day' on the baseball. This is a memorable keepsake and it definitely changes up the traditional Valentine's Day card. Digital Card If your parents have been begging you for some family photos, make them a photo CD. Include a picture of your family on the outside of the CD by using a sticker template. Make sure you write 'Happy Valentine's Day' on the outside of the CD or on the case. Try to find some family shots where you were with your parents or the gift recipient in order to build some long-lasting memories with them. There are a number of different ways you can create some unique Valentine's Day cards that will be meaningful to your recipients. Spend some time truly thinking about the person and decide on what they will appreciate this year.]]> http://www.valentinesdayfun.net/using_family_photos_to_make_fun_valentines_cards-42527.php http://www.valentinesdayfun.net/using_family_photos_to_make_fun_valentines_cards-42527.php Homemade Valentines book cardboard CD digital_card family_photos go_green hearts hobby_card memories photos Valentine's_Day Valentine's_Day_card Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:35:07 -0800 Valentine's Day is a great day to show your love. You get to tell everyone you know that you love them. One fun idea for teachers or parents is to decorate a bulletin board. Even if you don't have a bulletin board, decorate a wall or the fridge. It will be a fun way to get in the Valentine's Day spirit. There are lots of places where you can find fun Valentine's Day bulletin board ideas. Let's take a look at some of them. If you are a parent, take a look at your child's school. They will usually have lots of displays for Valentine's Day. See what ideas look great to you and use them at home. Create something from your child's schoolwork or have them come up with more fun drawings or sayings. Your kids have so much love that asking them to write it down will be fun for them. Tell them to write down what they love and why. It will be a fun experience for the whole family. School teachers often have a ton of resources. They have other more experienced teachers helping them and they have many books to guide them. If you are a teacher, check out a local school supply store. You can find tons of great ideas and books on making your bulletin board look amazing. The Internet is also a great place to look. Just type in Valentine's Day bulletin board ideas into a search engine. You will find tons of websites that have ideas for how to decorate things. You can find information about how to decorate or how to make things. You can also find out a lot of information about where to buy certain supplies. Try a service like Yahoo Answers. You can ask a question and have people answer you. Many people will answer your question and will help you find answers. It is a great way to find out the answer to a question, like how to decorate a bulletin board for Valentine's Day. You can ask specific questions and many questions at a time. It is free to use; you only have to have a Yahoo account, which is also free. Check out a craft store. Often they won't have a specific project like bulletin board ideas, but they will have other ideas that you can twist a little and turn into a great way to decorate your bulletin board. You can get the supplies that you need right there. There are classes that you can take to get ideas or they sometimes have little pamphlets and papers giving ideas. There are lots of places to find ideas for crafts. The internet has so much information and stores have a bunch of ideas too. Just look around and in no time you will be able to create a wonderful Valentine's Day bulletin board. http://www.valentinesdayfun.net/fun_valentines_day_bulletin_board_ideas-42434.php http://www.valentinesdayfun.net/fun_valentines_day_bulletin_board_ideas-42434.php Crafts bulletin_board_ideas displays displays_for_Valentine's_Day find_fun_Valentine's_Day_bulletin_board_ideas Valentine's_Day Where Sat, 14 Nov 2009 11:09:18 -0800 Instead of getting a Valentine's Day card this year, send a digital Valentine's Day card to the people you love. The digital Valentine's Day cards are unique because you not only can add sound to them, you can upload a bunch of family photos to make the card personal. The great part about digital photo cards is that they are free. All you need is a subscription to a web site like Smilebox and you can start creating family photo card. Using Smilebox, you can upload multiple photos or you can stick with one family photo along with some music. The great thing about using Smilebox is that you can also upload videos to make your Valentine's Day card personal. Digital Valentine's Day cards are wonderful to share with family members that don't live close as you have the opportunity to share videos of your growing family with them. While you can create digital photo cards on several sites, Smilebox is one of the only sites that focuses on uploading digital photos and making online scrapbooks. It is one of the easiest ways to protect your photos without needing to purchase an external storage device. Depending upon how creative you would like to get, your Valentine's Day card can feature slideshows of your family photos, photobooks, and even music. You can get the basic Smilebox themes for free, if you want creative themes or other designs, you will need to upgrade your basic membership to the Club Smilebox membership. In order to create a Smilebox digital Valentine's Day card is to create your basic membership account. Then you need to pick a design and drag and drop your photos into the design template. Once you have changed around the design of the card, you need to save your template and then you can mail it to your friends and family members. Your friends and family members do not need an account with Smilebox to view your Valentine's Day card. If you have a blog, you can upload your digital card to it and share it with more people. You can even upload your Smilbox creation to a social networking site like Facebook and MySpace. To make a fun Valentine's Day card, you should have some family pictures available that you can upload to the site. If you don't have any recent snapshots, grab your digital camera and start snapping some. Your pictures don't always need to look professional and posed, sometimes candid shots make the best memories. A lot of families like to go with a theme for their family pictures. You can all wear the same shirt, or change up the colors of the shirts by gender. For example, all the boys can wear brown and all the girls can wear purple. This makes your family photo look nice and professional. Be sure to upload some fun family pictures like when you spent time at the beach or when you headed out for a day of snow skiing. You should even upload some pictures of the kids playing at the park or wrestling in the house. Grandparents love pictures of their grandkids so try to upload a bunch! A fun way to let your loved ones know that you care about them is to hold up 'I love you' signs in the pictures or 'Happy Valentine's Day' signs. It's a cute way to plan out your message to all the people you care about on Valentine's Day. Once you upload the photos, try to keep the digital card short. Most cards that go over 10 seconds will not maintain attention for long. You need to keep it under this limit so that your loved ones will actually appreciate the card. http://www.valentinesdayfun.net/digital_valentines_day_cards-42526.php http://www.valentinesdayfun.net/digital_valentines_day_cards-42526.php Homemade Valentines blog digital_photos email family_pictures loved_ones photobook Smilebox upload_pictures Valentine Valentine's_Day_card Sat, 14 Nov 2009 06:33:28 -0800 Valentine's Day is a weird holiday. Do you remember you first Valentine's Day? You probably didn't understand what was going on. People giving gifts to the people they love-but particularly to the ones that they have some sort of romantic attachment with. When you were young you probably could not figure out what was going on. You didn't know what a romantic relationship was or meant. Your teacher probably had to show you what the holiday was all about. If they taught you well then you knew what it was all about. If not then you were probably confused and didn't care. Most teachers teach their students using various types of aides. One is the bulletin board. Bulletin boards are great teaching devices that teach and entertain. Most teachers know that they are part teacher and part entertainer. A well made bulletin board manages to do both. It makes learning fun and it excites the children. So how will you come up with some great ideas for elementary school kids to teach them about Valentine's Day with a bulletin board? Here are a few ideas that I came up with that should help get you on the right track: 1. Try a candy board. Kids love candy, and for much of their younger lives they will just want candy at Valentine's Day. They won't expect to have a special admirer find them a treat, but they will like it if you can give them some candy that you like. So ask all the children the day before Valentine's what their favorite candy is. Then make some sort of special card with their names on it. Then buy the candy and attach it to each card. When the children come in in the morning they will look up at the bulletin board and see their name and their favorite candy attached to it. This will not only excite them, but also let them know that you care about them. They will know that Valentine's Day is about giving things to people that you care about. 2. Creative boards. Elementary age kids love to create things and to make things with their hands. And what better way to give yourself a break than to allow the kids to do the work and to entertain themselves. Assign each child in the class another child to write about. Make sure that it is clear that they can only say something nice about the other person. Then allow each child to write a message on the bulletin board. 3. Heart shaped envelopes. On a large bulletin board you paste envelopes. Each envelope has a child's name written on it. The heart shaped envelopes are places for the other children to put valentines for each other. This allows the children to express kindness for each other. 4. Valentine's Day games. The bulletin board can also be transformed into game center, complete with several different games. There could be a memory game with different cards. You could also do a pin the tail on the heart game. There are all sorts of possibilities that will help to keep the children entertained and excited about valentine's day. These are just a few different ideas for Valentine's Day bulletin boards. There are all sorts of great ideas for bulletin boards out there. Be creative and you are sure to hit a home run with your Valentine's Day bulletin board. Remember that the kids are sure to know if you put some time and thought into your board. Good luck in that classroom! http://www.valentinesdayfun.net/elementary_school_aged_valentine_bulletin_board_ideas-42433.php http://www.valentinesdayfun.net/elementary_school_aged_valentine_bulletin_board_ideas-42433.php Crafts bulletin_boards class_decorations elementary_school valentine's_day_bulleting_board_ideas Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:06:02 -0800