How to Use Painted Foil Hearts for a Science Exploration

Painted Foil Hearts are an easy Valentine’s Day craft that toddlers and preschoolers will love. After making the hearts, use them to explore the difference between shiny and dull surfaces. It’s a simple sorting activity that introduces a bit of new vocabulary to your child. I get commissions for purchases made through the affiliate links in this post.

Ollie’s Valentine by Olivier Dunrea

Ollie’s Valentine was the inspiration for our painted foil hearts and the science exploration that followed. Ollie is a little gosling who is searching for a valentine. All of his friends have beautiful valentines (shiny foil hearts in different colors). Who will give Ollie a valentine? As we read this book, my daughter loves to say the color of each of the gosling’s valentines. There’s a surprise at the end. You’ll find a heart-shaped mirror. You get to give Ollie a valentine heart.

Painted Foil Hearts

Supplies Needed:

Aluminum foil
Clear glue
Liquid watercolors
Cotton swabs
Heart shape cookie cutters
Scissors

Place a piece of foil on top of a cookie cutter. Press down to get the shape of a heart. Cut around the heart and foild the edges under.

In a disposable container, mix a few drops of liquid watercolors with clear glue until you get the color you want. Use a cotton swab to paint the mixture onto a foil heart. The glue helps the watercolor stick to the heart and keeps it shiny.

Cover the entire heart with a layer of watercolors and glue. Allow it to dry.

Use different size cookie cutters to get different size hearts. You could also just trace a heart and cut it out. I found the cookie cutter to be easier.

I am really thrilled with how these look. The colors are vibrant and the foil is still shiny. I cut the hearts out for my daughter (she’s almost 3) and she painted them. Older kids could probably handle this project on their own.

Exploring Shiny and Dull Surfaces

Once you have the shiny foil hearts, use them for a science exploration. They make for a great lesson in exploring shiny and dull surfaces and introducing a bit of vocabulary.

Collect an assortment of shiny and dull objects from around the house.

Talk to your child about what the words shiny and dull mean. Ask her what objects are shiny? How can we tell? The shiny objects reflect light. We did the activity next to a window, so it was easy to see what was shiny. You could use a flashlight to help you out if there’s not enough light.

Sort through the objects placing them into two piles.

What else do you see around the house that’s shiny?

More Valentine’s Day Science Ideas

Make a valentine themed discovery basket for baby – It’s a great way to explore different colors, sounds, and textures with a fun Valentine’s Day theme. Toddlers will enjoy this one, too.

Valentine’s Day Science Experiments and Activities

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This post was originally published on February 8, 2017 on Read Science.