This craft requires quite a bit of preparation from the adult, but with the striking final product, it’s well worth the work. 

You need: 

• A4 card
• Sticky backed plastic
• Silk paper
• Coloured cellophane
• Scissor 

Cut a heart shaped hole in the middle of the A4 card. Then attach a same sized piece of sticky backed plastic to it. Place all the materials on the table and ask the children to create a pattern of their choosing. 

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We gave the kids coloured cellophane, which we had already cut up into pieces. We also gave them sheets of silk paper and asked them to rip smaller pieces from it to make their patterns. This is great practise for fine motor skills and pattern making. When the kids were finished with their artwork, I cut the hearts into shape, leaving a small edge of the card. 

It was quite time consuming to prepare this craft, mainly because of the sticky backed plastic. It is however so cute that it is well worth the effort. 

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Cleaning tip for the cellophane: The cellophane has a tendency to gather static electricity and it then sticks to everything and everyone. To easily clean it up, just moisten a piece of kitchen roll. The damp kills the static charge and you regain some control 😉

Now just waiting for the sun to come out… 

Bonus: 

We had the middle heart from this craft leftover, so we decided to paint them and decorate the classroom with them. We gave the kids cotton swabs and a selection of paints.

What I like about using cotton swabs as an alternative painting tool is that it’s small and you can both paint and scrape with it. Even on a small piece of paper you can create beautiful colour patterns and when there is enough paint layered on the paper, you can scrape even more patterns on it.