Updated January 21, 2024
Are you looking for an adorable Valentine’s Day craft for kids?
Today we share an easy Valentine Cat Craft that is perfect for toddlers and preschoolers!
It is one of our favorite February activities!
I’ve included a free printable template and the rest of the materials are ones you probably have on hand.
Cute Valentine Cat Craft with Free Template
Get ready to spread some love with these charming and easy-to-make cat crafts for Valentine’s Day!
Perfect for kids and cat enthusiasts alike, these crafts are a fun way to celebrate the day of love.
With just a few simple supplies, you can create a colorful clowder of love cats!
What You Need:
- Free cat craft template (available for download on the blog)
- Cardstock in yellow, pink, green, or any color you fancy
- Scissors
- Glue
- Googly eyes for added cuteness
- Optional: Felt hearts for decoration (available at dollar stores)
- Black marker to draw the mouth
Instructions:
1. Download and print out the free cat craft template from our blog.
Valentine’s Cat Craft Free Printable Download
2. Cut out the template pieces and trace them onto your chosen cardstock colors.
You should cut strips to make whiskers at this time too.
I chose to do them in pink, but your child can do them in any color they would like.
3. Carefully cut out your cardstock shapes.
These will form the body, head, ears, and tail of your cat.
4. Glue the pieces together according to the template guidelines to create your cat’s body.
5. For a touch of whimsy, add googly eyes to give your cat personality.
6. Adorn your cat with a heart.
You can color in a heart from the template or glue on a felt heart for a textured look.
7. Draw a smile and whiskers to finish off your cat’s face.
8. Repeat the process to create as many cats as you’d like to complete your Valentine’s Day menagerie.
These cat crafts are not only perfect for Valentine’s Day but also make adorable decorations, heartfelt gifts, and creative activities for any day of the year.
So grab your supplies, and let’s make some purr-fect Valentine’s crafts!
Skill Level and Age Appropriateness
Skill Level: Easy
Age Range: Toddlers and Preschoolers (ages 2-5)
This cat Valentine craft is designed with our littlest crafters in mind.
It’s a fantastic hands-on activity for toddlers and preschoolers to celebrate Valentine’s Day while developing their fine motor skills and creativity.
Here’s how to ensure it’s a fun and safe experience for them:
- Preparation: Pre-cut all the pieces from the template yourself. For toddlers especially, cutting can be tricky, so having everything ready to go makes the craft session flow smoothly. With older preschoolers I let them cut out the pieces. It is an easy fine motor activity.
- Supervision: Always supervise the little ones during craft time. Even if they’re just gluing and placing the hearts, it’s important to guide them and make sure they’re not putting small pieces in their mouths.
- Glue Choices: Use child-safe glue sticks or white school glue. These are less messy and easier for small hands to manage than liquid glue or glue guns.
- Simplicity: Keep the craft simple. For toddlers, the process of gluing and sticking the pieces can be the main focus. Don’t worry too much about perfect placement – it’s all about the process and having fun!
- Customization: Let the kids choose their favorite colors for the cats. They can also use crayons or washable markers to draw on additional features or decorations.
- Interactive Play: Once the craft is done, these cute cats can double as puppets for storytelling or be used in a Valentine’s Day display.
Variations and Customization Ideas
Unleash your child’s creativity with these fun and easy customization ideas for our cat Valentine craft.
Each kitty is unique, just like your little one, so encourage them to make a cat that reflects their personality and preferences!
- Colorful Choices:
While we’ve chosen classic Valentine colors like pink, yellow, and green for our sample cats, feel free to explore the whole rainbow!
Let your child pick their favorite colors for their cat or use patterns and multicolored cardstock for a funky feline.
- Texture Exploration:
Add a tactile element by using materials with different textures.
Instead of cardstock hearts, use felt, foam stickers, or even fabric scraps.
This not only makes the craft more sensory but also adds a 3D effect.
- Sparkle and Shine:
Who doesn’t love a little sparkle?
Use glitter glue or sequins to add some shimmer to your cat’s heart or ears.
Stick-on jewels can also make for mesmerizing cat eyes.
- Sticker Fun:
Allow your child to decorate their cat with stickers.
Stars, moons, flowers, or themed Valentine’s Day stickers can add a personal touch.
- Furry Friends:
If you have yarn or cotton balls, they can be glued on to give your cat a fluffy appearance.
This is especially fun for creating whiskers or a furry tail.
- Personal Messages:
Have your child think of a special message for their Valentine and write it on the cat’s body or on a separate heart attached to the cat’s paw.
- Interactive Elements:
Attach a piece of string or a small magnet to the back of the cat, and it can become a hanging decoration for the fridge or a mobile for the room.
- Mixed Media:
Combine coloring and crafting.
Have your child color the template with crayons, markers, or paints before cutting and assembling for a mixed-media masterpiece.
Why do crafts with toddlers and preschoolers?
Our cute cat Valentine craft is not only about creating something adorable (though that’s a big part of it!), it’s also packed with sneaky learning opportunities.
Here’s how your tot will be learning without even realizing it:
- Fine Motor Skills:
As your kiddo handles the scissors (with your help, of course) and maneuvers the glue stick, they’re giving their little fingers a workout.
This is fantastic for developing those fine motor skills needed for writing later on!
- Color Recognition:
“What color should our kitty cat be?”
This simple question during craft time helps reinforce color recognition.
Making this cat Valentine craft is a great opportunity to introduce new shades like ‘coral’ or ‘turquoise’ and watch their colorful vocabulary expand!
- Shape Sorting:
Our templates are designed with basic shapes perfect for a fun game of name-the-shape.
It’s like a mini geometry lesson with arts and crafts!
- Following Directions:
“First, we glue the head, then the body…”
Each step is a mini-lesson in following directions and understanding sequences.
Perfect for preparing for school routines!
I try not to guide my kids too much in this way.
I want them more interested in the process than in worrying if they are doing it “right”.
Feeling the different textures of cardstock, felt hearts, and maybe some fuzzy yarn whiskers is a delightful sensory play.
It’s all about touching, seeing, and doing, which is how our little ones learn best.
- Emotional Intelligence:
Crafting together is a moment to chat about feelings and friendships, which is what Valentine’s Day is all about.
It’s a cozy time for your child to express love through their creation and even practice empathy by considering what would make their friends happy.
Valentine Day Books
A sweet story featuring the beloved Llama Llama, this book is a warm and fuzzy tale about showing love to friends and family, perfect for little hands to hold and enjoy.
From the team that brought you “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie,” this book follows Mouse as he makes Valentine’s Day cards for all his friends. It teaches about friendship and appreciation in a way that’s relatable for young children.
A lovely board book with an interactive puppet feature that allows parents and kids to act out the heartwarming “I love you” game between Little Nutbrown Hare and Big Nutbrown Hare.
This playful lift-the-flap book has babies and toddlers joining in on the hunt for Baby’s Valentine. It’s a fun way to explore the concept of searching and finding, with the joy of revealing surprises on each page.
In this adorable book, a young boy believes he is the best at giving hugs and sets out to hug everyone and everything in sight. It’s a humorous and sweet story that encourages affection and warmth, aligning beautifully with the spirit of Valentine’s Day.
If you make this Valentine’s Day Cat Craft please let us know in the comments!
