valentines 2011
My little boy is now 6, and he wants to be involved in the creation of his valentines. C is a pretty creative kid, and loves to draw, so we decided to make a little portrait of each of his classmates in first grade. It took a little time, so we spread it out over a few days.
I was inspired by this spread in our Doodles book (a coloring book I highly recommend). I showed it to C and pointed out all the different hairstyles and clothes and facial expressions and how each person is unique. With the help of C's class photo, he was off and running.
I drew a little template, with a head and shoulders drawn in, and a frame where he could write each child's name. This helped make all the portraits roughly the same size, and gave him a starting point for each drawing. Our valentine's fold in half with a little spine (that says Happy Valentine's Day 2011) and then C wrote on the back "A Portrait by C..". I've made a PDF that you can use, which fits four valentines to a page, just fold and cut to make your own. We're stapling a little bag of treats inside, because my kids know a valentine is only worth it's weight if it involves a little candy.
I love how they turned out. And I can honestly say the C loved making them. He spent so much time making sure each picture looked just like the person he was drawing.. copying their shirts and hairbows and smiles as best he could. He's so proud to pass them out to his friends, but I am a little sad we have to give them all away!
02.11.2011
Reader Comments (96)
Wow. This is the best idea I have ever seen.
You're so amazing.
Thanks for the pdf!
Awesome coloring book. Super awesome valentine :) thanks for sharing!
I love this! Thanks for sharing! Will C be entering the Doodle 4 Google contest, I hope? http://www.google.com/doodle4google/info.html
Brilliant!
Hi! I love this idea. I'd love to do this project with my son and I would keep a copy of the little artist's drawings! So cute to remember how he saw his classmates!
They're adorable! What a good idea. He's so good at drawing!
Those are so awesome! I'm totally using that idea at my son's next birthday party as part of the favor. So clever!
Ingenious, thanks for sharing the PDF!
Cool! i'll try
Cool
This is absolutely adorable. I love your craft ideas.
My boys will love this! Thank you so much!
How fantastic!
We don't do class valentines here in Australia but my boys would love this just as a drawing exercise I'm sure. I love the way you've supplied the basics so that its quicker and more fun to fill in the rest :-) Susie
Fantastic idea - congratulations, these are lovely!
Oh this is super cute too! You are so creative. Love it!
Thank you so much for this great idea! We're up to our ears in Chinese New Year festivities, but my daughter (10) wanted to do something creative for Valentine's Day. This was perfect. Lexie had a great time capturing that "certain something" for each of her classmates, and I can't wait to see her teachers' faces when they get theirs!
This is great! Came across it on http://wewilsons.blogspot.com/2011/02/vegan-valentines.html
I am definitely going to try this idea with Boys and Girls Club kids. I don't think I can wait until Valentines day next year though.
This is such a wonderful Valentine idea, and I love that he put so much work and consideration into them. I think this is something that my son would really love to do himself, although sadly, we didn't actually get a class photo to work from. I hope his friends love them as much as we all do!
This is great! My 5 year old son hates to color, but needs to improve his pencil control. I think he's also a perfectionist and isn't happy with what he can produce. I look forward to trying these templates with him to see what he can do and if it makes a more rewarding experience for him.
Thanks!
What an adorable idea. You are so crafty!!! I must get the doodle coloring book. Thanks!