made with love! a Valentine card shop for Littles!
- Our Grand Lives
- 9 hours ago
- 8 min read
Tuesday, January 29, 2026
In a world of instant messages and store-bought convenience,
there is a quiet magic in something handmade.
For our Littles, a Valentine isn’t just a piece of construction paper;
it’s a tangible expression of "I love you!"
Today’s blog post is twofold!
First, we take a look at play centers and why
they are a valuable experiences for Littles,
for your own kids, for those you care for or teach or, like us, for your grandkids!
We’ll share simple ways to create play centers at home…
SURPRISE!
It’s easier than you think!
Then, we’ll share a favorite play center,
one we love to set up this time of year.
It’s one that celebrates the pure, messy, and heartfelt joy Littles find
when creating handmade gifts
and most especially Valentine cards for those they love!
A Valentine Card Shop transforms everyday supplies into a space
for pretend play, creativity, and big-hearted fun!
It’s a place where Littles get to create, imagine, and share love
in their very own special way!
No rules, no pressure—just paper, play, and plenty of heart!
Today, Laurie shares the Valentine Card Shop she set up for her Littles,
including the set-up and all that followed!
I’m blessed to take care of my grandkids - my Littles - one or two days each week.
I cherish this time together!
One of my favorite activities is to set up a monthly play center for them,
one they visit over and over again for weeks!
Oh, the days of restaurants, pizza shops, ice cream shops and pet hospitals! I’ve always been a big believer in them and, as a kindergarten teacher, I always fought the change as more curriculum demands were added to our plates and our cherished playtime was taken away.
One year the administration announced that play centers were to be eliminated. (Along with “free play” so we would have more time to focus on reading and math curriculum.) The custodians removed the little wooden kitchens, tables and shelves we used and the days of interactive play, exploration, and opportunities for conflict resolution with others were over.
Both Laura and I believe, through our own education and then years of teaching Littles, that play centers offer young children more than a place to stay busy! In the early years of teaching kindergarten we’d each set up monthly dramatic play centers because we knew that these areas provided essential developmental experiences for our students. Through role-playing and pretend scenarios, these centers gave young children permission to explore, imagine, and learn at their own pace.
We also know that play centers are a quiet powerhouse for social-emotional learning. Through open-ended, child-led play, Littles can naturally practice skills that matter far beyond the activity itself! They learn to problem solve, to cooperate, to consider others’ ideas and to express themselves. In play centers, these skills aren’t taught through instruction — they’re lived, practiced, and felt, which is why they tend to stick.
Thankfully, during these days as GRANDS,
we can take advantage of the opportunities play centers provide!
During our teaching careers, Valentine’s Day and its focus on love, family, friendship and kindness, was always a favorite one for Littles - our own and the students we taught! In turn, setting up a Valentine’s Day Card Shop was a well loved classroom activity! You wouldn’t believe how much reading, writing, and math we snuck into the fun (then tell me it isn’t useful)!
Now that I’m a Grammy, I am free to do whatever I want!
So I set out to create a simple card shop for
Little D (age 4) and Little P (age 2).
And, while setting up a center might seem a bit overwhelming,
it really is easier than it might look!
My Littles really have no mental picture yet of what Valentine’s Day is.
Four-year-old Little D may have a few memories from last year
but Little P, at two years, has virtually none.
Their awareness, obviously, will grow as they get older
but when creating the card shop,
I provided some important background information.
I told my Littles that our “shop” was a place
to make cards for the people they loved.
Red and pink are big “love” colors, and so are hearts!
Many times cards are something they can hold and color and write on,
unlike on a phone or tablet..
The Set Up!
You don’t need a big space. In fact you could use your kitchen table. Keep everything in bins and lay them on the table. Simply stack them and set aside when the table is used for other things! I have a small space in our family room with a low table I am able to use. I’ve also been known to use the hearth of our fireplace, as an alternative! Finding a “spot” for materials makes the center feel extra special for your Littles!
Shop Supplies!
Here’s an idea of the materials I gathered to put in our Valentine Card Shop! I searched the house for any empty container I could find to house the supplies. Empty tupperware containers work well!, too
❤ Red, Pink & Purple Writing Utensils - Markers, pencils, pens, highlighters, crayons. Having different writing tools is so motivating for Littles to write with.
❤ Glue Sticks
❤ Scissors
❤ Stickers - regular and foamies are wonderful… a MUST for a 2-year-old!
❤ Plain Colored Paper
❤ Valentines Purchased from a Store (the sets sold at dollar stores work well!)
❤ Envelopes - many sizes!
❤ Square Stickers (for envelope “stamps”)
These were housed on low bookshelves nearby.
❤ Name Cards
I downloaded this set from angie@glitterandglueandprektoo.com on Teachers Pay Teachers. You can add your own names and pictures.
You can find our post that explains how to use Teachers Pay Teachers here!
For my Littles I included the names of people/pets in our immediate family. For my classroom I had a large class list posted for the students to refer to. As you can see with my Littles’ cards above, I had a picture of the person, their name and the first letter of their name, highlighted in large print. My Little D is becoming quite experienced with her writing skills, but still tires easily with it… Sometimes she wrote the full name of the person and sometimes she wrote only the first letter.
❤ KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE! ❤
it is always easier for young children to track writing with their eyes
if the model they are looking at is right next to them
rather than having to look up to copy.
This way just worked better for us because Little P would take the cards
and scribble all over them, frustrating her sister!
❤ And finally - the best of all - THE MAILBOX!
The MAILBOX was definitely a favorite part of this center - it’s where our Littles delivered all the cards they had created!
I was lucky to have this paper organizer from my teaching days (found in the basement - teachers are known to keep everything) but you could use plastic bins, boxes, paper bags, etc. I attached the same name card in the opening slots of the organizer so my Littles knew where to deliver each card. I placed it across the room so they got to run over and mail it. In kindergarten each of my students had their own mailbox for everyday projects and papers.
In both instances, I think this is the best part of the shop!
As you can see from some of the photos above,
our Valentine Day Card Shop has been an absolute hit!
In addition to the photos shared above,
you’ll find a few more fun pics below…
These were taken once our card shop had officially opened this year!
Little P (2) made a couple “scribble” and “sticker” cards and even tried to sign them with a P, but also ended up just delivering plain paper to the slots for the fun of it!
She would always announce “For Mommy” or “For BaBa”. So proud of herself!
I modeled the procedure so they understood what the items were for. After that, they were off to create on their own!
They colored and they wrote messages (there’s nothing like a motivated 4-year-old who’s learned how to write I Love You!). They glued things together and stuffed envelopes. I sat with them and made some of my own cards too. They spent 15-20 minutes here and there, coming back to it multiple times during the day.
The best part?
When mom and dad and Auntie M and Uncle D showed up for dinner that evening!
The Littles got to show them where their mail was!
Look what we made!
Uncle D is so happy!
Remember what we said at the beginning of this post?
Depending on the age of your Littles
OR
how big of a production you want to make of things
you can also give them a bin filled with all kinds of art supplies
to make their Valentine creations!
We’ve been known to check out our cupboards at home or at school and collect anything and everything we think our Littles might enjoy using - different kinds of paper (including scrapbook paper), foil, a variety of markers and crayons, stickers, stamps, beads, glitter, lace, buttons, old cards that can be recycled, tissue paper, doilies, sequins, paper shreds… the possibilities are endless! We’ve also added a few stencils of various sizes (cookie cutters work well for this) and glue or glue sticks! A great way to foster creativity in your Littles!
Do you love play centers as much as we do?
If so, you may want to check out a few of our past Instagram posts!
Have you created play centers for the Littles in YOUR life?
If so, we’d love to hear more!
Feel free to comment at the end of this post!
Also, if you’d like for us to share more of our
simple play center set-ups with you all,
please let us know that, too!
THANK YOU!
If you enjoyed this post,
we’d love to stay connected!
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so you don’t miss future posts!
That would be simply GRAND!
We’ll be back early next week with a new post for you all!
We hope you’ll join us!
At its heart, a Valentine’s Day Card Shop play center is about so much more than cards and craft supplies. It’s an invitation for Littles to experience first hand the power of kindness!
Whether their cards are covered in dozens of stickers
or just one giant, sparkly heart,
the pride our Littles feel in gifting something handmade
is a memory that sticks long after February 14th for all involved!
.
When we make space for play that is thoughtful and child-led,
we’re not just supporting learning…
We’re nurturing connection, creativity, and the simple joy of sharing love,
one handmade card at a time.
Happy crafting, and may your Valentine’s Day Card Shop be filled
with big smiles and even bigger hearts!
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Oh yes, I hated to see play centers go in our kindergarten classrooms too; it's sad that they are only in our preschool classrooms now and since in our town preschool is only 1/2 day the kids rarely have time to use them at all since they have "must do" assignments each day and the excess play is seen as just "play." Play IS the work of childhood!