Cardboard Pom Pom Valentine Heart Craft

Last Updated on January 26, 2024 by Sheryl Cooper

Inside: Recycle cardboard to make this Valentine heart craft. Toddlers love the feeling of pom poms as they press them into tinted glue. Add some ribbon and hang!

If you are looking for a super easy and fun Valentine’s craft for toddlers (and preschoolers!), you are going to love this activity.

We’ve been having so much fun with different Valentine’s Day heart activities, such as painting hearts with cars (seriously fun!), then painting them with marbles (fine motor!), and we

even froze hearts and painted them!

For this simple Valentine heart craft you will need to grab some recycled cardboard, paint, glue, and pom poms. It’s perfect for small hands to make!

Cardboard Pom Pom Valentine Heart Craft

What you will need:

• Cardboard
• Pink and/or red washable tempera paint
• Silver tempera paint (optional)
• White washable glue
• Pom poms in Valentine colors
• White ribbon
• Xacto Knife

Preparing this activity:

Trace hearts onto cardboard (I used a heart cookie cutter as a template) and use the knife to cut them out.

Pour paint into small containers. I added silver paint to give the hearts some shimmer, but it’s optional.

Then, squirt some white glue into the paint. This will make it sticky so that the pom poms can adhere to the painted cardboard.

Cut the white ribbon into approximately 5  inch lengths, so you have 1 for each heart.

Making Your Pom Pom Cardboard Valentine Craft

Step 1: Paint

Invite your children to paint their cardboard hearts.

I first covered our table with butcher paper because I knew they’d want to continue painting right off the hearts.

This is especially so with toddlers who love to make big movements with their paintbrushes.

However, you can also use trays to keep the paint contained.

Brushing the paint on the hearts is a fun fine motor activity, too!

Step 2: Add the Pom Poms

Once your children are finished painting their hearts, remove the container of glue and the paintbrush.

Give them a handful of pom poms.

They can use their fingers and thumb to pinch the pom poms, pressing them onto the sticky hearts.

See what I mean about the paint moving off the heart and onto the paper?

Step 3: Add the Ribbon

Once the cardboard pom pom Valentine hearts are completely dry, it’s time to add the ribbon.

Simply make a loop with the ribbon at the top of the heart, securing both ends on the backside with glue.

Now they are ready for hanging!

Such a sweet and simple decoration for your home or classroom.

More Valentine’s Day activities:

Valentine’s Classroom Ideas

17 Skill Building Preschool Valentine’s Activities

Giant Collection of Valentine’s Day Ideas