Celebrating Love and Friendship at Footsteps
At Footsteps, we love celebrating special occasions that bring joy, creativity, and learning to our children. Valentine’s Day was no exception! Our settings were filled with excitement as children explored the theme of love – not just romantic love, but the love we share with family, friends, and even our pets. Through a variety of engaging activities, we encouraged our children to express their feelings, develop fine motor skills, and, most importantly, have fun!
Exploring Fine Motor Skills with Heart-Themed Fun
To strengthen fine motor skills, our little learners carefully cut out heart shapes from dough, an activity that encouraged precision and patience. They also participated in a variety of heart-themed crafts, including card-making, mark-making, and painting. These activities allowed them to experiment with colours, textures, and patterns while expressing their emotions through art.
Bringing Stories to Life
Storytime played a big part in our Valentine’s celebrations, as we shared heart-warming adventures about love, kindness, and friendship. Through these stories, children learned about the importance of caring for others, sharing, and expressing gratitude – important life lessons wrapped up in engaging storytelling sessions.
Imaginative Play in the Valentine’s Café
Role play is an essential part of early childhood development, and what better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day than with a themed café? Children enjoyed pretending to be chefs, waiters, and customers in our Valentine’s Café role-play area. This activity sparked their imaginations, encouraged social interactions, and helped them practice valuable communication skills.
Sharing our love of cooking
We were sharing the love with some delicious treats. The children enjoyed decorating delicious biscuits and making Rice Krispie cakes topped with heart-shaped decorations. These activities not only delighted their taste buds but also helped refine their hand-eye coordination and creativity.
Sensory Fun with Tuff Trays
Our tuff trays were transformed into Valentine’s wonderlands, filled with coloured sand, shaving foam, and heart-themed props. These hands-on experiences allowed children to explore different textures, develop sensory awareness, and enhance their problem-solving skills while having a fantastic time.
Learning Through Play: Matching Games with Hearts
To incorporate early literacy and numeracy skills, we introduced matching activities using hearts. Children matched numbers and letters to corresponding animals, reinforcing their recognition skills in a playful and engaging way.
A Valentine’s Day Party to Remember
Our celebrations ended with a fantastic Valentine’s Day party packed with games, snacks and a lot of love for our friends. Through baking, crafting, storytelling, and imaginative play, our children embraced the spirit of the day while developing key skills that will support their growth and development.
We love creating magical moments like these for our children and look forward to many more special celebrations!
Happy Valentine’s Day from all of us at Footsteps.
