Share your love with this silly Valentine! It’s a simple (and simply adorable) family activity to make with your kids. Write a message and give it to your loved ones – it will win and warm their hearts. Kids can have fun exercising hand-eye motor skills while modeling and putting their new friend in funny poses. Let’s have some fun!

• Template (download here)
• Felt
• Pipe cleaners
• Play-Dough/Modeling clay
• Stuffing
• Pens, markers
• Toothpicks
• Plain paper
• Pompoms
• Stickers
• Needle and thread
• Glue
• Scissors

Step 1
Print out My Funny Valentine template. Trace and cut out two felt hearts. Using a marker or pen, mark where the arms and legs will go on heart shape. Place two felt hearts centered together and start sewing straight stitches along the edges, from one arm mark to the other.

Step 2
Stop stitching. Open the felt heart and fill it with stuffing. Sandwich a 7″ pipe cleaner between the two felt sides for the arms. Stuff again, but not too much – just enough to make it a little fluffy.

Step 3
Continue sewing along the heart’s edge. Be sure to make the first stitches very close to the pipe cleaner. Stop stitching once you reach the first leg mark and fit a new 4″ pipe cleaner stem inside the heart.

Step 4
Continue stitching the heart’s edge to close the felt piece and to fix the stems in place.

Step 5
Now add a pompom for the nose. Pass the needle through the heart’s edge and poke it through from inside at the center of the heart. Pull the floss to the front, stab a pompom, and sew. Pass the needle to the edge of the heart and finish off the seams.

Step 6
Add stickers for the eyes and decorate.

Step 7
Mold boots and hands using play-dough. Use a toothpick to make a deep hole in each boot, then poke pipe cleaners into the boots.

Step 8
Roll up tiny play-dough balls for the hands, poke holes, and stick in pipe cleaner arms.

Step 9
Write your Valentine’s Day messages and greetings onto colored paper pieces. Make flags by folding and gluing the messages around the toothpicks. Stick the flags into the hearts’ hands and give it to the one you love.

Keeping your puppet standing all by itself will be a funny game to play. Hints: stick the boots to the floor or table surface, bend the arms or make smaller play-dough balls for the hands.

Now these are hearts it’s ok to play with :)