Creating a simple heart craft is a fun and engaging way to support fine motor skill development while celebrating Valentine’s Day. It’s a great addition to your Valentine’s Day Occupational therapy activity ideas! As occupational therapists, we believe in using hands-on activities to help children build important skills through play and creativity.

Incorporating an easy heart craft into therapy sessions, classrooms, or at home can encourage children to strengthen their hand muscles, improve coordination, and practice scissor skills, while making something festive and fun.
From construction paper heart projects to cut folded paper designs, this page is filled with simple Valentine’s Day crafts for preschoolers that support fine motor development. Whether you’re looking for a heart craft to help with cutting skills, hand strength, or coordination, this activity is a great way to promote learning while celebrating the holiday with creativity.
We have other heart crafts here on the website you’ll want to check out, too.
Cutting a paper heart
Before we get into the craft, let’s talk about how a simple paper heart craft is an easy way to work on skills in an occupational therapy session.
I love to use an easy craft like, just cutting construction paper into a heart shape because we are working on so many areas! This activity naturally promotes scissor skills, as children must carefully hold and manipulate scissors to follow a curved cutting line.
Cutting along a folded edge provides a visual and tactile guide, helping children develop control and precision while strengthening the muscles in their hands. You can make the lines bold or thin. You can use thick or thinner paper…there are so many ways to individualize this one craft, which is perfect for the busy school based OT.
Additionally, bilateral coordination is required as one hand stabilizes the paper while the other operates the scissors, reinforcing the ability to use both hands together in a coordinated manner. This carries over into daily tasks like dressing, handwriting, and using utensils.
Beyond cutting, the act of folding the paper before cutting works on pinch strength and hand dexterity. Pressing the paper together and making a crease encourages children to use their fingertips and develop the small muscles of the hand, which are important for fine motor control.
Occupational therapists can use this easy heart craft as a tool to address different areas of need by adapting the activity to the child’s skill level. For children with weaker hand strength, using thinner paper or assisting with the fold can make the task more accessible, while those needing more of a challenge can try folding multiple layers or cutting intricate designs. By incorporating this simple craft into therapy sessions, school activities, or home play, therapists, parents, and teachers can provide a fun and engaging way to build foundational motor skills in a meaningful and festive way.

Paper Heart Craft
- craft paper to cover the table (this was essential with this craft!)
- red construction paper
- glue
- Pomegranate Bath Salt
(optional) You could also use glitter or skip this step all together.
I cut a few hearts from the construction paper. Baby Girl did this craft with me and she was excited to see the hearts.
I poured a little of the pomegranate bath salts into a little cup. They smelled SO good! This craft was turning sensory already.
Next, I used the glue to draw a couple of hearts and showed Baby Girl how to sprinkle the salts on the glue. She was hooked!

She LOVED this activity! She squeezed the glue and drew all kinds of decorations on our red hearts. Sprinkling the bath salts was a great way to encourage pincer grasp.
There were also times when she transitioned to a tripod grasp to sprinkle the glitter. Using the pointer finger, middle finger, and thumb to grasp with the ring and pinkie fingers tucked into the palm is a tripod grasp. She sprinkled the salts all over the glue. I had to cut more hearts because she wanted to keep making more and more sparkly hearts!

Valentine’s Day Craft with Fine Motor Skills

Looking for more Valentine’s Day activities? You may also like Valentine’s Day Goop Painting for more sensory and fine motor fun!

Colleen Beck, OTR/L has been an occupational therapist since 2000, working in school-based, hand therapy, outpatient peds, EI, and SNF. Colleen created The OT Toolbox to inspire therapists, teachers, and parents with easy and fun tools to help children thrive. Read her story about going from an OT making $3/hour (after paying for kids’ childcare) to a full-time OT resource creator for millions of readers. Want to collaborate? Send an email to contact@theottoolbox.com.