Create Valentine’s Day Finger Puppets

February is the perfect month to share your heart and celebrate love in all forms.

One creative way to do so is to dig into a new craft inspired by hearts of every size. We’ll be making unique Valentine’s Day Finger Puppets together. There’s no limit to what you can create if you reimagine your favorite animals, creatures, or faces using hearts as your primary shape.

They’re cute, playful, and fun!

Watch this video to see two sweet siblings, Brittyn (7) and Cullen (5), from our child care family as they make the most of the activity at home. Then, gather your own supplies. Remember, the items will vary depending on what you have within reach and your personal inspiration, so just have fun with it!

At a minimum, you’ll need:

• Colored construction paper or felt
• Safety scissors
• Crayons, colored pencils, or markers
• Glue stick or Elmer’s school glue
• Cheap winter glove(s)*

Optional items:

• Googly eyes (for added personality!)
• Heart-shaped craft supplies (like stickers!)
• Pipe cleaners (great for whiskers or antennas!)

*You’ll be cutting the fingers off to make simple finger puppet sleeves. If you don’t have any gloves you’re willing to part with, check the dollar store. Each one will provide five individual finger puppet sleeves. A glove that’s missing its match works great! A pair will give you the ability to make 10.

Let’s start crafting!

1. Begin by cutting the fingertips off each glove. Leave a couple of inches of length on each so you have room to attach the finger puppets you’ll be creating. This makes them easy to slide on and off for playtime.
   Note: If your children can work independently, have them put a glove on and make a marker line at the bottom of each finger and thumb. This will act as their cutting guide once the glove is removed.
2. Prepare a pile of different-sized hearts for your creative crafters. Cut bigger hearts to use for faces and bodies. Cut smaller hearts that can be used for eyes, ears, gills, hands, spots, noses, or anything else you can imagine!
3. Piece together different creatures or animals using your materials. Glue as you go or arrange it all to create the final puppet before gluing it all together. As you saw in our video, we created a fish, frog, penguin, dalmatian, cat, chicken, cow, and more! What heart-inspired animal will YOU dream up!?
4. Now add embellishments or draw additional details on each one to give them even more personality. Maybe you need to add scales or spots? How about nostrils or a smile?
5. That’s it! Look at the magnificent zoo you just made! Now it’s time to put them on and play. Try making up a silly Valentine’s Day story or read a book together using different voices for each one. We suggest Love Monster or The Day it Rained Hearts, of course.