Caroline
Have fun celebrating Valentine’s Day with kids by making some adorable animal Valentines! These cute paper Valentine’s Day animal crafts are super easy for kids to make and they can be given as a gift to someone they love for Valentine’s Day.
Whether make these cute love themed animals at home or school, they are sure to be a hit!
We’ve created five different animals for you to choose from: A koala, skunk, panda, fox or raccoon. Fair warning, you’ll probably have so much fun making your first animal craft that you’ll decide to want to make all five!
Read our simple how-to instructions for making each of the animal Valentines below, and make sure to catch our full video tutorial inside this post.
Easy Paper Animal Valentines for Kids
We’ve designed these darling animals holding a red or pink 3-D heart in it’s hands. If you are making this fun Valentine Day craft with toddlers or preschoolers and feel the 3-D heart is too complicated for them to make, simply omit that step and have them glue one single heart on their animal.
This is also a great option if you want to write a personal message on the heart your animal is holding. You could also write a message on the back of the animal.
NOTE: If you are in the EU, please visit our TpT Store to purchase any of our templates.
Supplies needed for making your Animal Valentines:
- Animal Valentines Templates <—– Get the printable pack in our shop!
- colored cardstock paper or construction paper
- large googly eyes
- black marker (or crayon)
- scissors
- glue
- pencil for tracing (optional)
How to Make a Koala Animal Valentine Craft
Koalas are a favorite animal amongst children so it makes them a fun choice for making an animal Valentine. This cute koala craft is super easy for kids to make and it is simply adorable!
Step 1: Print out the koala craft template. Cut out each of the pieces from the template and use them as a pattern to trace and cut out each of the pieces on colored cardstock or construction paper. You can also print out the pieces directly on colored cardstock, or have children color the pieces with crayons.
Step 2: Create the 3-D heart for your animal to hold. Start by folding each of the five hearts in half. Add glue on one folded side of each heart and glue the halves together to create a 3-D heart shape.
Related: 20+ Paper Plate Animal Crafts
Step 3: Glue the 3-D heart at the bottom of the koala body. Close the 3-D heart and add glue to one side. Open it back up, position it in the center of the body and glue it down in place.
Close the 3-D heart again to reveal the unglued section. Add glue to it, open the 3-D heart again and press the glued section down onto the animal body.
Step 4: Glue the koala head at the top of the body. Then glue the koala nose onto the koala face.
Related: 40+ Best Valentine’s Day Crafts for Kids
Step 5: Use scissors to cut small slits around the perimeter of each of the koala ears. Add glue to each of the ears and glue them on the koala.
Step 6: Glue two large googly eyes on the koala. Then add glue on the back of each of the arms and glue them on the koala body inside the 3-D heart so it looks like the koala is holding it.
How to Make a Skunk Animal Valentine Craft
You don’t typically think of stinky skunks as adorable but by golly, this skunk might be my favorite of all the animal Valentines we are sharing today. The contrast of the black and white against each other along with the bright 3D heart makes this animal craft stunning.
Step 1: Print out the skunk craft template. Cut out each of the pieces from the template and use them as a pattern to trace and cut out each of the pieces on colored cardstock or construction paper. You can also print out the pieces directly on colored cardstock, or have children color the peices with crayons.
Step 2: Create the 3-D heart for your animal to hold by following steps 2 and 3 in the koala craft tutorial above. Then glue the 3-D heart at the bottom of the skunk body.
Related: Robot Valentine Craft
Step 3: Glue the skunk face at the top of the body. Add glue to the back of the white face strip and pink nose and glue them on the skunk face.
Step 4: Glue the ears at the top of the skunk.
Related: Newspaper Polar Bear Animal Craft
Step 5: Glue large googly on your skunk face. Add glue on the back of the white tail stripe and glue it onto the tail. Then glue the tail on the side of the skunk body.
Step 6: Add glue on the back of each of the arms and glue them on the skunk body inside the 3-D heart so it looks like the skunk is holding it.
How to Make a Panda Animal Valentine Craft
Have a polar bear fan? If so, they are going to love making this cute panda Valentine craft. Just like in the skunk, the contrast of the black and white mixed with the colorful pink heart makes this craft beautiful.
Step 1: Print out the panda craft template. Cut out each of the pieces from the template and use them as a pattern to trace and cut out each of the pieces on colored cardstock or construction paper. You can also print out the pieces directly on colored cardstock, or have children color the peices with crayons.
Step 2: Create the 3-D heart for your animal to hold by following steps 2 and 3 in the koala craft tutorial above. Then glue the 3-D heart at the bottom of the panda body.
Related: Rocking Paper Plate Love Birds Craft
Step 3: Glue the panda face at the top of the body.
Step 4: Glue the two black eye patches on the panda face and the nose. Glue a large googly eye in each of the face patches. Then glue the ears onto the panda.
Related: Bear Valentine Card Idea
Step 5: Use a black marker (or crayon) to draw a mouth on the panda.
Step 6: Add glue on the back of each of the arms and glue them on the panda body inside the 3-D heart so it looks like the panda is holding it.
How to Make a Fox Animal Valentine Craft
This fun fox Valentine might steal the show with it’s cuteness. The body of the fox leaves enough room that you can easily write a small message on it to give to someone special as a Valentine. You could also try making your fox pink, red or purple to add to the Valentine’s Day theme.
Step 1: Print out the fox craft template. Cut out each of the pieces from the template and use them as a pattern to trace and cut out each of the pieces on colored cardstock or construction paper. You can also print out the pieces directly on colored cardstock, or have children color the peices with crayons.
Step 2: Create the 3-D heart for your animal to hold by following steps 2 and 3 in the koala craft tutorial above. Then glue the 3-D heart at the bottom of the fox body.
Related: Cutest Cactus Valentine
Step 3: Glue each of the ears at the top of the fox body.
Step 4: Glue the two white eye patches on the fox face. Then glue the black nose on the fox..
Related: Paper Plate Unicorn Valentine Holder
Step 5: Glue two large googly eyes on the white fox face patches. Glue the white tail patch on the end of the fox tail. Then glue the tail at the bottom and side of the fox.
Step 6: Add glue on the back of each of the arms and glue them on the fox body inside the 3-D heart so it looks like the fox is holding it.
How to Make a Raccoon Animal Valentine Craft
This cute raccoon craft is a perfect companion to our cute fox craft. Both have almost identical components to each other and are super cute made alone or together. Get ready to make someone’s day with this adorable raccoon Valentine.
Step 1: Print out the raccoon craft template. Cut out each of the pieces from the template and use them as a pattern to trace and cut out each of the pieces on colored cardstock or construction paper. You can also print out the pieces directly on colored cardstock, or have children color the peices with crayons.
Step 2: Create the 3-D heart for your animal to hold by following steps 2 and 3 in the koala craft tutorial above. Then glue the 3-D heart at the bottom of the raccoon body.
Related: Butterfly Valentine’s Day Mailbox
Step 3: Glue each of the ears at the top of the raccoon body.
Step 4: Glue the two black eye patches on the raccoon face. Then glue the pink nose on the raccoon.
Related: Love Bug Valentine Craft
Step 5: Glue two large googly eyes on the black fox face patches. Glue the three black tail stripes on the raccoon tail. Then glue the tail at the bottom and side of the raccoon.
Step 6: Add glue on the back of each of the arms and glue them on the raccoon body inside the 3-D heart so it looks like the fox is holding it.
Related: Hippo Animal Valentine Craft
More Animal Valentines Your Kids will Love
Hedgehogs are one of the most adorable little creatures in the universe, don’t you think?! If so, you are going to adore this fun hedgehog Valentine Craft.
Sloths are all the rage lately and I can see why, because they are oh so cute! Get in the Valentine’s Day spirit by making this fun paper sloth Valentine craft. Our printable template helps to make this craft super easy for kids.
Want to make someone feel lloved a whole llot? This colorful llama Valentine is the perfect choice. Our free template for this craft makes prep time a breeze.
The love birds popping off the page sitting on a tree branch are adorable and the musical heart popping out above them adds a perfect finishing touch to this pop up love birds card.
