Through a grant from the San Bernardino County School system, Kathy Van Velzen was charged with the job of designing early childhood thematic units that incorporate the use of technology throughout. We found this adorable bulletin board idea in her "All About Me" unit and thought that it's message of friendship (as well as the heart theme) was a perfect fit for Valentine's Day!

Friendship Heart Activity

Begin by scripting student names onto pieces of scrap paper. Ask for a student volunteer, inviting them to come to the front of the class and removing their name from the pile. Place the remaining names into a hat or basket, shake it up, and invite the student volunteer to choose a slip of paper. Record their name and the name that was drawn. Invite the volunteer to take the basket of names to the student whose name was drawn and have them draw their own name. Continue this process until all the names have been drawn. [NOTE: The child whose name is drawn last will, by default, be given the volunteer's name slip.]

After each student has been "paired" with another, have your students write something about their friend. To get things started you might give them a few writing prompts to choose from:

• "I like ____________ because ______________." (Example: "I like  Ashlee S. because she's funny and makes me laugh.")
• "I like to _____________ with ______________." (Example: "I like to play tag with Ashlee S.")
• "_____________ is my friend because ___________." (Example: "Ashlee S. is my friend because she plays with me at recess.")

Help your students script these nice messages onto a cutout heart, then take a picture and, once developed, add the photo to the heart. [NOTE: Because these hearts will be used to make a "train" on the bulletin board, make sure there is a tab on each side of the heart cutout. See photo below.]

Doily Heart Print Making Crafts

To spice up the bulletin board, the designer then had students create doily heart prints! Super simple and fun to do, all you'll need are heart doilies, pink and white craft paper, low tack glue sticks, some craft paint in Valentine's Day shades, and small foam roller paint brushes. To begin the craft, invite students to place small dabs of glue onto the doily and lightly press it to the construction paper. Next, have students use the brushes to roll on some paint and finish by peeling off the doilies. Invite students to cut out their heart prints or attach the entire sheet of paper to a piece of construction paper (in Valentine's Day colors of course!).

Our Class is All Heart Display

• Background: White or light pink background paper.
• Title: "Our Class is All Heart!" - The designer reinforced the heart theme by displaying the title on a giant red heart cutout, but you could also find other creative ways to display it as well.
• Border: Solid red and black wavy borders were used to create a layered effect. You might also consider using a Valentine's Day themed border.
• Decoration: Create a friendship heart "train" in the middle of the board using your students' heart cutouts. Then decorate the remainder of the board with their doily heart prints (or other crafts).