I admit it, I can be a perfectionist and that isn’t always the best trait when it comes to children and craft projects. There have been more times than I can count where I struggled to resist the temptation to tell my boys the ‘right’ way to do a project. One way that I found to give Nugget and Goose the freedom to create on their own terms is a ‘Creation Station’. This is simply an intentional collection of themed items that encourage kids to be creative. Today’s Valentine’s Creation Station is an invitation to create valentine’s cards and artwork and my boys have had so much fun with it!

What to Include in Your Valentine’s Creation Station:

Like any good Creation Station, I began by gathering a large assortment of materials that I felt could be used creatively for Valentine’s Day cards. My Station included the following:

• Crayons in shades of pink, purple, and red (with a house full of boys every card would be camouflage otherwise!)
• A variety of Valentine’s themed stamps with red and pink ink pads
• Pink & white heart shaped doilies
• Assorted Valentine’s cardstock
• Heart & Valentine’s themed stickers
• Markers in shades of pink, red and purple
• 3D lovebug embellishments
• Assorted plastic gem stones
• Small foam conversation heart stickers
• Glue & glue sticks
• Scissors

The most important thing was to set the tray out and then let the boys choose their own paths for card making. It would have been easy to attempt to guide them into a more traditional card style, or even to demonstrate what I determined to be the ‘proper technique’. This really would defeat the purpose of a Creation Station. The idea is to encourage creativity which means there is no wrong way to do a project.

Project Review:

After 2 weeks, this Valentine’s Creation Station is still a huge hit! Most evenings while I cook dinner the boys use the Creation Station to make cards. I love seeing the focus and effort that they put into each card – and the pride when they complete their work!

Word of warning: introduce ink pads with care! I thought Nugget had it under control … until he didn’t! He decided stamping is more fun for faces than cards *eek!* Fortunately this ink is VERY washable.

Looking for some books about Valentine’s Day? Click Here!