My funny valentines

The girls and I made some cute valentines for their parties at school later this week.  I think I saw this idea somewhere last year, or maybe even the year before, but I can't remember where.  If someone knows where the idea originated, please tell me so I can give that person credit!  Here!

To do this yourself, take a photo of your child with their hand(s) held out from their body.  The girls stood in front of a white wall so the background would be neutral - a red or pink wall would be super cute, too!  We took many photos with lots of different poses.  I let the girls choose their favorite.  After uploading the photo, I added text in Photoshop.  If you don't have Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, there are other photo editing programs like Picnik that are free.  Make sure you take into account where the lollipop will be on the card when you put the text on it!

Once I was satisfied with the layout, I printed the photos 2 up on card stock.  I made them 4" x 6", but you could certainly print them smaller, if you like.  After cutting the photos out, I used a craft knife to make an X above and below the hand.  You could use a hole punch instead of the X's if the hand is close enough to the edge of the card.  The girls wrote their friends' names on the back of the cards and then threaded the lollipops through the X's.

They were fun to make, easy and pretty fast, too.  I had everything I needed on hand with the exception of the lollipops.  I think the large bag cost about $3 making them one of the most inexpensive projects I have done in a long time.  For other ideas, valentines that we have made in the past can be seen here and here.

Anyone have a good game for a 4th grade valentine party? We are playing Bingo, but are looking for something else to do as well.  Maybe something a little active, but that doesn't take too much space (the classrooms are small)?  I was thinking some kind of relay, but I'd love any suggestions.