If you are looking for ideas to help your kids celebrate Valentine’s Day, I’ve curated a few ideas, whether you are participating at home or your kiddos are having parties in person at school. I hope you are able to celebrate in some way with your loved ones!
Part 2 – Fine Motor Fun
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Here at RS&C, we love getting chefs exploring foods in new ways. Our next idea for Valentine’s Day is a food focused game of tic-tac toe.
This board is a fun fine motor idea for some Valentine’s Week interaction with your kiddo. Of course, this game can be played all year long but we like to add a Valentine’s Day twist with using cardstock or foam hearts and seasonal washi tape.
This game is quick to set up and ideal for home use. I think it would also be really fun to include as a Valentine’s Day card for the classroom. Follow the directions below and include fun sized bags of candy or fruit snacks.
There are so many opportunities in this game setup for working the muscles in little hands: cutting the hearts, taping the Washi tape, preparing the game pieces and playing the game! Scroll down for some visuals and for the full game instructions.
Choosing and placing the Washi tape
Playing the Game!
The player with the blueberry pieces (3 in a row) gets to enjoy all the treats 🙂
<- Here is an indulgent variation using M&Ms and chocolate chips!
Below are some of the supplies I prefer to use for this type of project. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
This is one of the best Washi tape sets I could find on Amazon. It includes both thin 8mm and thicker 15mm widths.
After these game boards are designed, you can use Washi tape for other heart based crafts or for their original use as decoration for daily planners.
GAME:
Tic Tac Toe
Supplies:
- Red, Pink and White Cardstock or Foam
- Scissors
- Washi tape or thin-masking tape
- Other themed decorations as desired
- Bite sized food: blueberries, cheese sticks, carrots, fruit snacks, etc.
Directions:
- Prepare the paper hearts: Draw large hearts on various colors of cardstock. Cutout shapes with kid-safe scissors.
- Create a tic-tac-toe 3×3 grid with washi tape or thin masking tape. Use coordinating washi tape in various colors. If you don’t have access to washi tape, use thin pieces of masking tape and decorate with markers.
- Decorate the rest of the board as desired with stickers, drawings and other food-safe embellishments.
- Prepare the food game pieces:
Cut ingredients like carrots and cheese sticks into round discs.
Wash and dry blueberries. Remove fruit snacks from packaging.
Separate each food into small dishes or cups. - Play the game. Youngest chooses their preferred food playing piece and goes first. Players take turns placing their food piece on the board. The first player to get three in a row (up, down, across or diagonally) wins. Keep playing until all 9 spaces are filled. Winner gets to eat all snacks on the board!
- Continue playing rounds until all snacks are enjoyed!
*For an indulgent variation of the tic-tac-toe game, play with M&Ms and chocolate chips. 🍫