"I love you, you love me…" This line from Barney's song may be one of your Sproutlet's favorites. The words convey a message of love and acceptance that help your child feel secure and special.
Barney and his friends know that time spent together is one of the best ways to say "I love you."
Our do-it-together Valentine projects invite you to share your love in a meaningful way. Each activity reinforces the "you" in "I love you." Try one or more with your Sproutlet to reinforce why she is so lovable.
Look into the mirror with your child. Talk about your child's hair and eye color, freckles, dimples and special features. Encourage her to draw a picture of herself and tell you about it. Write down these details and read it back as a story.
Painted Hand Prints
Hold your child's hand and give it a loving squeeze. Then brush a thin layer of tempura paint (poster paint) onto your child's hand and press it carefully onto a piece of paper. How many fingers do you count?
All About Me
Together, create an "all about me" poster. Draw pictures, paste items or cut out pictures from magazine that relate to your child's interests. Help your child discover what makes her unique.
Find some photos of your child at different ages. Work together to cut and paste them onto a piece of paper in age-by-age order. Tell a funny story about a time when your child was a baby.
Dress up in silly clothes, allowing your child to choose what she will wear. Make funny faces and take photos. Print the photos and hang them where everyone can see them and admire them.
Help you child draw a picture of a favorite memory. Invite your child to tell you the story as she remembers it and write her thoughts on the back of the paper.
On small pieces of paper, invite your child to draw pictures of her favorite things. You might suggest a favorite place, a pet, a toy, a food or a color. Out of construction paper, cut out a large heart and write your child's name at the top. Arrange the things that she loves and talk about each one as you glue it to the heart.
Use colorful ink pads to make fingerprints on a sheet of paper. You can make flower petals with each finger or embellish fingerprints with a pen (silly faces are always fun). Talk about how we are all unique; that nobody has fingerprints just like these.
Create a list of things you love about your child. Write them on a card, but don't show your child yet. Do the same for others in the household (mom, dad, sibling or pet). When the family is gathered, spotlight everyone by making it into a guessing game: "This card is for someone who wakes up with a smile…"
Print a coloring page from the Barney web site. Write the words to Barney's "I Love You" song, but write your child's name in place of the word "you." Sing the song together.