Years back we discovered that clothespins make a great tool for painting projects. They are the perfect since for toddlers and preschooler to grasp. We often use them to paint with pom poms. Recently we used them to make a simple DIY heart stamp set. Kids can use them to create Valentine’s art, cards for others, and murals.
FIND EVEN MORE VALENTINE’S DAY ACTIVITIES IN OUR PRINTABLE LESSON PLANS
ABOUT VALENTINE’S DAY AND HEARTS.
Make Your Own DIY Heart Stamps
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Use a hot glue gun to attach the end of a clothespin to a foam heart. Simple as that!
We used foam hearts (similar version) from our local craft store. You could also cut out your own hearts (or any other shape) from foam sheets.
Create Heart Art
We tested our stamps on a practice surface before creating our art project. It helped to experiment with the amount of paint to put on the stamp and how to roll the stamp. We found that if we put the top of the heart on the surface first and then gently rolled down the rest of the heart, it gave us the most distinct heart design.
Tinker had fun experimenting and creating her heart mural.
She was really focused on getting a distinct heartprint, and when she did she flashed a brilliant smile. 🙂
On this day we simply enjoyed the process of making hearts. You could hang these on the wall as is. 
They’d also be great for making Valentine’s Day cards or Mother’s Day cards.
Extend the Learning
If you’d like to incorporate this art activity into a larger theme, it might also be fun to…
- Read the book Heartprints. After reading the book make heart art and write about ways you can leave heartprints behind like the book describes.
- Use the heart stamps to make patterns.
Continue the Valentine’s Day Fun and Learning
PRINTABLE VALENTINE’S DAY THEME LESSON PLANS
Save time and get right to the playful learning with our printable lesson plan sets. Each set includes over 30 playful learning activities related to the theme, and we’ve provided different versions for home preschool families and classroom teachers so all activities are geared directly toward your needs.
VALENTINE’S DAY THEME
GET YOUR VALENTINE’S DAY THEME LESSON PLANS
Also available on Teachers Pay Teachers.
HEART THEME
GET YOUR HEART THEME LESSON PLANS
Also available on Teachers Pay Teachers.
Lauren
What a fantastic idea! We have a jar of random foam shapes and this is the perfect solution for how to use them! Thanks for sharing!
Shaunna Evans
Exactly! I think we’ll be using this approach for a lot of different foam stamping. Have fun!