Valentines Heart paint dabbing activity

Valentines day is fast approaching and we have been looking at some fun painting activities we can do to make some Valentine cards.

I was looking for a painting activity that wasn't too messy and stumbled across this dabbing activity, where you could use a stencil and dab the paint around the stencil to create a beautiful picture. 

How to make a Valentines day heart using paint dabbing

1. We just used some plain A4 paper for our card, but proper card would probably last a bit longer. We folded this in half so we could open it up like a regular card.

2. Next we made the stencil. If you have a flat heart shaped item that you don't mind getting paint on then you are a step ahead! For my stencil I decided to use a piece of cardboard and cut the heart out. I am quite particular about things being symmetrical, so I folded my piece of card in half, then draw half a heart on it so it lined up with the fold. Keeping the piece of card folded I cut around the half heart shape and created a heart shape.

3. Next I placed my cardboard heart shape onto the front of my card. I just held onto my piece but you could use a bit of blue tac to try and hold it in place for extra security.

4. Now for the dabbing! We used the end of our paint brush to dip the paint in, but any small tipped shape would work. Holding the card in place I dipped the plastic end of the paintbrush into the paint then dabbed the paint all around the edge of cardboard heart.

You can go out away from the cardboard as much as you like to get the effect you want. You can also use more than one different colour to create a different look.

5. Once you are finished, gently pick up the cardboard heart and your card is complete!

You can add to this if you like by writing some text on the front or even by doing some smaller stencils around the outside.

Also, if you need a bit of a quicker activity, with even less mess, you could do this with felt tip pens. 

Have fun!