Valentine Critter Crafts: Heart-Shaped Animals

My students' favorite days in the library are those in which they get to make something to take with them.  As students file in and take their seats for storytime, they quickly look around hoping to see an example of a craft they will get to create after our weekly read-aloud.  I have found that, given our limited class time, the crafts that work out best are easily assembled using a few pre-cut pieces and a glue stick.  This way we can knock out a cute craft in less than ten minutes with very little mess.

Some examples of these easy storytime crafts that have been popular with my students (and readers) are owls and penguins, which both include just a few simple shapes.

In February, we are making animals using heart shapes.  I had no idea how many animals could be constructed using hearts.  Turns out there are bunches.  Here are some ideas we will be using, plus a few extra cuties.

Next week we're going to read Happy Valentine's Day, Curious George by N. Di Angelo and Mary O'Keefe Young.  After the story, we'll be making these monkeys from the Fiskars Project Gallery that use a heart and hole-puncher to form the eyes.

Last week, for Groundhog Day, we made these heart-shaped groundhog faces.

Some other adorable animals that can be made from hearts:
1. Instructions for this heart-shaped kitty, as well as a heart-shaped puppy companion, can be found at Learn Create Love.
2. This Valentine owl from Naturally Educational come together with eight hearts and a tiny triangle.
3. I spotted these simple and super-cute ladybugs outside a smart kindergarten teacher's classroom at my school.  They have big red heart bodies with little black heart spots.
4. Learn Create Love has a free printable template and instructions for this adorable heart elephant.