Painting by Cynthia Goldberg as it appears in her upcoming poetry book A Tale of Two Cynthias to be published in March.

Remember the old days when Valentine’s Day was all about red hearts and doilies? All the children knew how to trace hearts of all sizes on red paper and then cut them out. Then using doilies of all sizes and kinds the fun began. Knowing that you could cut out lace to add to your designs was half the fun. There were also a cadre of colored candy heart messages to use in different ways. Red paper, doilies, heart stencils, pencils, scissors, and paste (even home-made with flour and water) were the basics. The rest was left to sheer imagination!

Emergent Literacy!

While a school project is usually limited to having a whole class make the same card or decoration, hours of fun await you and your child with just a few simple supplies.