Easy DIY Valentine’s Day Pop-Up Card for Kids

Valentine’s Day looks different in every household, but I try to use it as a special day to help my children show God’s love to others even more than usual. I came up with this easy pop-up greeting card for them to make this year. You can make these for grandparents and other family members or even leave them on your neighbors’ doorsteps. The card is very simple to make and does not take long, which is perfect for toddlers.

All you need to make this card is a piece of cardstock paper, a paper heart cut-out, tape or a glue stick, a pen or marker, and whatever you choose to decorate it with. Here is how we did it!

Easy Kids Craft: Pop-Up Greeting Card

First, take the piece of cardstock paper and fold it in half widthwise. Be sure to line up the edges and press firmly to create a good crease.

Then, unfold it and fold it in half lengthwise, again pressing firmly.

Now, draw two lines centered between the edge of the paper and the widthwise crease and have your child cut along the lines. Depending on how large your cut-out heart is, these lines will need to be 1-2″ apart and 1-2″ long. Ours were 1.25″ long and 1.5″ apart.

The cut lines will create a flap. Push that flap toward the inside of the folded paper and crease the edges. Now, fold the paper down widthwise so that the back of the pop-up flap is covered. We taped ours down to make the card a little more sturdy.

Next, we taped a heart onto the pop-up flap, and I chose to write “Happy Valentine’s Day” on the front and “Jesus ♥ You! And so do I” on the inside of our cards because, as I mentioned above, I wanted to use this in a lesson with the kids about showing Christ’s love to others. You could always write “I ♥ You” instead. Next, I had my son sign his own name. Grandparents just eat that stuff up.

Finally, it’s time for your little one to embellish their card with whatever they’d like – crayons, markers, glitter glue, etc. My kids opted to decorate their cards with stickers. They are excited to put them in the mailbox next week!

And yes, that is my daughter in a dirty camo shirt – God gave her a down-to-earth country girl heart, just like her mama, and she loves playing outside, getting dirty, and taking bows out of her wild, curly hair. No sense trying to cover that up for the sake of a blog post…

Valentine’s Day always reminds me of this verse: “We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). Janine has used that verse with her kids to create a Valentine’s Day Bible Craft, and she also offers a free printable of hearts with Bible verses about love on them for craft time with your kids as well. Be sure to check those out! You could even use those free printable hearts on the front or back of your pop-up Valentine’s Day cards. They fit perfectly!

I hope this card inspires you to encourage your children to share God’s love with others this Valentine’s Day.  Do you have any more simple ideas for kids or families to spread the love of Christ on this holiday? Please comment below!