Valentine’s Day Bumblebee Footprint Craft

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Sophie made two different Valentine’s Day crafts this year! The first one was a handprint “blowing kisses” valentine, which I shared in this post, and today I’m sharing the second one we made!

I love bumblebees and I think they’re so cute in crafts. 🙂 This is an easy craft you can do with your baby or toddler, and it fits the theme of Valentine’s Day just perfectly when you add “Bee Mine” to the final product!

RELATED: Baby Footprint Heart Valentines & “Blowing Kisses” Handprint Valentines

Valentine’s Day Bumblebee Footprint Craft

Materials:

  • Black markers (one thick, one thinner)
  • Yellow paint
  • Any color construction paper (I chose pink)
  • White paper or card stock
  • Tape
  • Scissors
  • 5″x8″ or 6″x9″ envelopes, depending on how large your valentines end up being

Optional Materials:

  • Paper towels
  • Small bowl
  • Aluminum foil
  • Cookie sheet

Baby Preparedness Steps 😉

Since I was dealing with wet paint and a wiggly toddler, I like to take a few steps to combat crazy messes!

I got out a cookie sheet and lined it with aluminum foil. This is where I squirted the red paint and where I could spread it all out.

I also got several paper towels pretty damp and set them in a small bowl. I wanted to have this on hand close by so that I could quickly wipe Sophie’s painted foot off! I had a roll of dry paper towels nearby as well.

We do messy crafts like this on our linoleum kitchen floor – it gives me more elbow room to work with Sophie, and I feel more “in control” of the craft when we’re sitting. Plus, the floor is very washable, which always puts me more at ease. 😉

Additionally, I have Sophie pretty much in a diaper when we do paint-related projects, to save us from having wet paint on our clothes! (And I wear older clothes that I don’t mind getting paint on.)

I also sit down and make a quick list of friends and relatives we’ll be making valentines for. That way, I know how many valentines we’ll be making and therefore how many footprints we’ll need!! (I always, always make more prints than needed. There are a lot of “oops” prints that happen, so making a lot boosts your chances of having beautiful footprints to choose from later!)

Directions:

Start by squirting the yellow paint onto the aluminum foil-covered cookie sheet. Make sure you have the sheets of construction paper nearby. (I count out a little more than the number of valentines we’ll be needing.)

Hold your child in your lap and stick their foot in the paint. Then press their foot firmly onto the construction paper, pausing for a second for them to relax their toes and to get a good “stamp” of the foot. (I did two footprints per sheet of paper.) Continue this for all of the paper, assembly line style. I can usually get at least two footprints done before needing to re-dip her foot in the paint. When you’re done, use the wet paper towels to do the initial foot cleaning before washing your child’s foot more later!

Let the footprints dry – it only took ours maybe an hour to be completely dry. Then cut each footprint out, leaving a big rectangle around each. (Basically, you’re cutting the large sheet of paper in half.) Just make sure it’s a size that’ll fit in your envelopes!

With a thin black marker, draw on the antennae and wings, and make dashes below the foot that lead to your cute phrase – something like “Bee Mine!” 🙂 Then, with a thick marker (I used a very thick poster marker), make several thick black stripes across your bumblebee, and add eyes and a smile.

Cut out some white card stock that is slightly larger than your valentine. Tape that under your valentine to create a nice layer!

There you have it! This is the perfect valentine idea for your little one to send to loved ones – it’s so cute! If you missed the “blowing kisses” handprint craft, be sure to check that one out, too!!

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