# Valentine Potato Print Hearts
> Carve raised heart stamps from halved potatoes and print red and pink hearts all over white paper. Add heart cookie cutters to stamp outlines and make concentric hearts.
- URL: https://www.funlittles.com/valentine-art/
- Ages: 2–5 yrs · Difficulty: easy · Mess: medium
- Time: prep 20 min, activity 20 min
- Works for: one-on-one, small group, whole class · one batch serves about 2 kids
- Skills: printing, patterns, fine-motor, colors

## Materials (one batch)
- 1 piece Potatoes (household)
- Paint in reds and pinks (plus any colors kids want, e.g. green)
- 1 sheet White paper
- 1 piece Paper or foam plates for paint (household)
- 1 piece Sharp knife (adult only) (household)
- 1 piece Pen or marker (household)
- Heart cookie cutters (optional) (household)

## Safety
- Adult does all the potato carving with a sharp knife, away from the kids.
- Supervise toddlers closely so paint and raw potato don't go in mouths.
- Use washable, non-toxic kids' paint and cover the table.

## Before you start
- Halve the potatoes and draw hearts of different sizes on the cut faces.
- Cut away the potato around each heart so the heart is a little raised. This is your heart stamp.

## Steps
1. Adult: cut a potato in half and draw a heart on each cut face, one big and one small.
2. Adult: cut away the potato around each heart so the heart stands a little raised.
3. Pour red and pink paint onto plates.
4. Dip a potato heart in paint and press it firmly onto the white paper.
5. Stamp away! Make patterns with the hearts and try to cover the whole sheet.
6. Dip a heart cookie cutter in paint and stamp heart outlines.
7. Stamp potato hearts inside the cookie cutter hearts to make concentric hearts.
8. Use the potato as a painting tool and "paint" all over your stamped hearts.
9. Let the prints dry, then turn them into Valentine's Day cards or a booklet, or hang them on the wall.

## Tips
- Stamping with household objects captures toddlers' interest immediately. They have seen mom or dad use that object for something else, so they're instantly curious.
- Mine started off stamping one heart over the other. As she watched her older sister make patterns and cover the whole white sheet, she tried to imitate that. It's good to have siblings to encourage kids to try new activities.
- Let kids explore the potato stamp fully. My toddler ended up using it as a painting tool, and that's part of the fun.
- Not every kid is big on themed colors. My preschooler said, "I want my hearts to be green." Have a non-Valentine color on hand.

## The original post by TurkeyMom (2013)

Like many of you, we love playing with paint in various ways. We have painted with [**spaghetti brushes**](https://www.funlittles.com/paint-with-spaghetti-brooms/), explored [**resist painting**](https://www.funlittles.com/animal-resist-painting/) and have even painted trees. My toddler has a new found interest – printing with objects. Stamping or printing with household objects captures her interest immediately because she has seen mom/dad use the said object for something else. She is instantly curious. What’s more fun than making Valentine art with this new found love? The patterns thus emerging from the printing activity are such a treat to watch for young ones anyway. Seeing my toddler have fun printing, my pre schooler who is usually not into anything that requires doing the same thing over again was kind of interested. Good to have siblings to encourage the kids to try and experience new activities. For the Valentine art supplies needed are very basic. Potatoes and Paint. I first drew different sizes of hearts on 2 pieces of (halved) potatoes. I cut off the part surrounding the heart so that it leaves the heart to be little raised. This is will be your heart stamp.

 With reds and pinks, we stamped away.. It was interesting to see my toddler learn as the process evolves. Mine started off stamping one heart over the other. As she watched her older sister making patterns with hearts and covering the entire white sheet she tried to imitate that. I brought out the cookie cutters and we did concentric hearts. Potato hearts inside cookie cutter hearts gave this Valentine art activity a new dimension.



My toddler was all about fully experiencing the potato stamps and creating beautiful valentine art with it. After stamping she used the potato as a stamping tool and “painted” all over her stamped hearts using the potato as a painting tool.

 Here are all the heart prints. We have so many options :turn them into Valentine's day cards, booklet or simply display this Valentine art on your wall.

 My preschooler is not big on themed colors.. Here are our green hearts.."I want my hearts to be green."



Other [**Valentine's day crafts**](https://www.funlittles.com/category/holidays/valentines-day-holidays/) we have done.

- **[Rose Scented Play dough](https://www.funlittles.com/valentines-day-activities-rose-scented-playdough/)**
- [**Rose Scented Valentine's day cloud dough recipe**](https://www.funlittles.com/valentines-day-activities-sweet-smelling-cloud-dough/)
- [**Valentine's day hand print cards**](https://www.funlittles.com/thanksgiving-art/)
- [**Valentine's day straw blown cards**](https://www.funlittles.com/valentines-day-cards/)
- [**Valentine's Heart Butterflies**](https://www.funlittles.com/valentines-day-crafts-hearts-butterflies/)

Thanks for reading