Heart Activities

A Heart-y Surprise: Lessons With Heart!

I LOVE Valentine’s Day. It’s my favorite holiday. I wanted to design a valentine that you could use for more than just a Valentine.

There are lots of things you can do with this folded heart pattern.

I made an example of each one.

A Special Valentine:

First off, run the owl template off on white construction paper, and the “Me!” heart insert on red & pink,, if you want to give your students a color choice.

Students cut out their hearts and fold the large one on the dashed lines.

Children glue their red/pink insert in the center of the middle heart, which can be viewed when you open the flaps.

To make it more of a keepsake, print off a copy of your class composite.

Students glue their picture somewhere on the inside of their card.

Children sign their name and perhaps x’s & o’s, or repeat “I love you.”

The Alphabet:

You can also assign a letter to each one of your students. If you don’t have 26 you can ask who wants to make an extra one, or you can make up the difference.

Children write the uppercase letter on the left heart flap, and the lowercase letter on the right heart flap.

Students think of a word that begins with that letter and write it on the inside.

If you want, they can also draw a picture or find clipart or a sticker to put under the word.

This is a great Daily 5 “word work” activity, or send it home as a home-school connection.

When they are completed, each child shares their letter heart.

Collect and keep, so you have a nice set of cards for your students to practice sequencing with.

Compound Words:

The flaps are also perfect for compound word practice. I have a list of 1,718 compound words that you can use to choose for your students to work on.

Click on the link to view/download this comprehensive compound word list.

Each child does 2-3, writing the two words (1 on each front flap), and then what compound word the two make, when you open the flap.

If you want they can draw a picture, or add a sticker or clipart to illustrate the new word.

Contractions:

Just as with the compound words, contractions can also be reviewed in this fun way.

I’ve included an alphabetical list of 69 contractions to choose from. You could run off the page and cut the words out.

Toss them into a container and have students glue X number of contractions in that many hearts.

Students write the two words on the outside and then open up the Valentine to see the contraction.

Math:

Assign numbers to students and have them make a math heart.

Students can do addition or subtraction, by writing the equation on the front flaps: (1 + on the left side, 1 = on the right flap.)

When you open it up you will see the answer 2, and the word two and a group/set of 2 things.

Students can draw the objects, use stickers or clipart.

Practice spelling & writing.

Students could also have fun writing 2 spelling words on the front and then making up a sentence that includes the 2 words on the inside.

Paper love:

You can also just run off a variety of colored hearts and have students practice their fine motor cutting and folding skills, and then write “I love you,” or whatever other “secret” message they want to give their family.

My Y5’s enjoyed making “paper love” and hiding it around the house, and then telling me where they hid the PL, and the result when someone found their note.

Bulletin board:

Do an assortment, or all the activities and sprinkle them on a bulletin board with the caption: “We LOVE Learning.” Or “We have a heart for learning.”

Click on the link to view/download the Folded Heart Activities.

If you think of any other things you can do with the hearts, I’d enjoy hearing from you, diane@teachwithme.com, and then I’ll add them to this list.

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