Art Ed Wednesday is written each week by Rachel Johnston, early childhood art educator and fiber artist in Lincoln Parish. Today I have a few fun and simple ideas for making Valentine cards with children.

* Cut hearts out of construction paper or cardstock and let kids paint hearts with pink, red, and white paint.

* Cut coffee filters into heart shapes and have kids drip food coloring onto them. This works best for slightly older kids since food coloring doesn’t wash off skin very easily.

* Make Valentine collages with magazine cut outs, stickers, foam shapes, felt, etc.

* Make personalized Valentine bracelets with letter beads.

* String beads onto pipe cleaners, then bend each pipe cleaner into a heart shape.

* Recycle broken crayons by melting them in a heart shaped muffin pan. Children can sort crayon pieces into the pan, then an adult can take over and put them in the oven. Ovens vary, so set oven to medium heat and watch carefully. Take pan out when crayons are just melted and allow to cool and harden completely before removing crayons from pan.

Jessica's note: Last year my son's classmate sent the 'melted crayon heart muffins' for her classmate valentine treats. It was very special for my son, and a nice break from the candy-overload.

* Set up a Valentine card station by putting out paper, crayons, paint, glue, felt, foam, pom poms, and any other art supplies you have on hand. See what the kids come up with on their own! (Some children are more comfortable with fewer options though, so don’t overwhelm them with choices if they don’t enjoy lots of supplies at once.)