We all know Valentine’s Day is coming up, so I’m sharing a very simple paper heart craft from my childhood today! I think we called these Magic Hearts when I was little.
All you’ll need is a sheet of both red and white construction paper, scissors, a paint brush, and vinegar.
First, cut out your red paper hearts. Great scissor fine motor practice!
Next, using your paintbrush and vinegar, wet down your white construction paper. The wetter, the better! (Of course, we all know kids like to use a lot, but no puddles or it will take a long time to dry!) I know for some kiddos with dry hands the vinegar might sting. You can certainly do this with water, but the resulting color will be faint.
Then, press your paper hearts onto the wet paper and rub them down. Follow this by painting the hearts with vinegar. Again, the wetter, the better! (If you are using water, you’ll want to make sure both the heart and paper are saturated and reapply water several times before letting everything dry.)
Set them aside to dry.
Once dried, gently lift the hearts and you’ll see the color transferred to the white construction paper. If the color is not as dark as desired, simply repeat the process!
This paper is great with just an “I love you!” note written inside the heart, or use the paper and the hearts to make a card!
I think you can tell this project isn’t about the process or a glamorous finished product. Its a great activity to keep little ones busy using their hands! As always, adult supervision is an awesome idea!
Bonus: use the leftover vinegar for some bubbly projects like these: Inflating Balloon Experiment, or Exploding Paint Experiment.
I love this! I’m definitely going to have to try this with my boys! I’m all for simple projects that end up being a lot of fun and rewarding for my boys. Thanks for sharing! 🙂