Easy Valentine Doily Craft for Kids

Let’s make this easy valentine doily craft using colorful Do-A-Dot markers (or paint)! No two pieces are the same, and they’re gorgeous every time.

a finished easy valentine doily craft made with colorful dots.

This easy valentine doily craft is fun for all ages

Here’s how this all started: we had a pack of doilies that had to have been from at least 1993 that had just collected dust. So every year I thought, “I’m going to use those this year!” and then one thing led to another, and one million years a row, they were still unused.

But in 2019, everything changed. *cue dramatic music*

My sweet, brilliant friend Katy (her Instagram account @prekwolfpack is glorious) shared this project…and then we ran out of doilies.

Related: You’ll love this collection of 25+ of the BEST Valentine’s Day activities for preschoolers.

two kids work on their project, one smiles toward the camera, the other smiles at her piece of art.

Look no further for the best easy valentine doily craft

If you’ve been here for a while, you probably know that Valentine’s Day is my favorite holiday.

Because it’s my favorite holiday, I absolutely can never, ever get enough Valentine’s Day projects! I have done soooo many.

From candy heart smashing to DIY Valentine’s Day crayons, I’ve done MANY valentine projects, and these doily hearts are always near the top of my favorites!

Looking for more fun Valentine’s Day crafts for kids? We love these ideas!

Two kids are about to start peeling off their doily from the background paper.

Materials

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Heart doilies – any size, but make sure they’re smaller than your white paper
Do-A-Dot markers
White paper
Tape

A child peels her doily off the background paper and little paper bubbles are left behind to be removed soon after.

Directions

Tape down the doily: you don’t want it to move around while you’re working, so first begin by making a couple of tape bubbles, stick them to the underside of the doily, and press + smooth onto your white paper.
Daub your heart out: time to add the color! Invite your littles to use the Do-A-Dot markers to add color all over the paper. Make sure that color is added all the way around the heart, too.
Lift doily to reveal heart: Time to see the heart! Have your child lift the heart doily off the white paper and audibly gasp at the gorgeous heart left behind. This whole process is a blast! Most of our students ask to make more than one of these because they’re very fun (and that reveal always feels a little magical).

This whole process is a blast! Most of our students ask to make more than one of these because they’re very fun (and that reveal always feels a little magical).

A finished easy valentine doily craft made with many warm colors.

What kind of art is happening here?

This type of art is called negative space.

When looking at a finished paper, the subject of the piece (the thing you immediately “see”) is the heart…but you didn’t actually make a heart. Instead, you added color around the heart, and by doing so, you created a negative space heart.

Isn’t that so cool?

These blue tape snowflakes are negative space, too!

A child smiles and holds up her finished doily craft.

What if I don’t have doilies?

Just cut a heart shape out of paper!

Doilies are beautiful for this project because they have pretty, intricate designs around their edges, but making a negative space heart with Do-A-Dot markers works just as beautifully with a plan heart cut out of paper.

In fact, you could make ANY shape! For example, maybe your child would love to cut out the shape of a cat, a house, a race car, or a…