Seasons > Ways to Celebrate Valentine’s Day > How to Make a Valentine Cootie Catcher

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Tickle me

kiss me

hug me

Tell me 3 reasons why you love me

Here is a fun way to show your kids love, no matter what their *love language is--adapt those cootie catchers you might remember from childhood. It looks complicated, but it’s not. Fold all 4 corners of a square piece of paper to the middle. Flip it over and do the same thing. That’s it! Then the fun begins--open it up so the middle square is showing, and write 4 ways to cuddle your child or verbally tell him that you love him. Then fold those flaps shut and write numbers or valentine related words. Or print out the cootie catcher below, fold it, and get busy  using it. (It is in black and white so it doesn’t use up colored ink, but you can have fun decorating it with stickers or markers.)

More ideas for things to write on the inside of the cootie catcher:

For this list, the kids operate and read the cootie catcher, the parent follows the instructions:

1. 1.If you can catch me, kiss me (love language: touch)
   

2. 2.If I say the word, “valentine” tickle me (love language: touch)
   

3. 3.Whisper to me what makes  me special (love lang. : words)
   

4. 4.Spin me around (love language: touch)
   

5. 5.Turn me upside down and spin me around (for bigger kids, Hold them under their knees instead of their feet)
   

6. 6.Hide a chocolate kiss in your hand. If I guess which hand it’s in I get to eat it (love language: gifts)
   

7. 7.Read me a story (love language: time/act of service)
   

8. 8. Tell me a story about me (love language: time/act of service)
   

9. 9.Tell me a story about how Mommy and Daddy fell in love (love language: time)
   

10. 10. Hide a chocolate kiss--if I find it, I get to eat it (love language: gifts)

For these ideas, the parent operates and reads the cootie catcher, and the kid follows the instructions:

1. 1.Tell me why you love me
   

2. 2.Thumb wrestle--winner gets a chocolate kiss
   

3. 3.Play rock, paper, scissors--winner gets a chocolate kiss
   

4. 4.Staring competition (loser is first to blink or look away)--winner gets a chocolate kiss
   

5. 5.arm wrestle--winner gets a chocolate kiss
   

6. 6.Draw me a picture
   

7. 7.Help me by _______________
   

8. 8.sing me a song

*Love languages,  are :

1. 1.Time
   

2. 2.Touch
   

3. 3.Words of Affirmation
   

4. 4.Gifts
   

5. 5.Acts of Service
   

For you children to feel loved, you need to speak their love languages. Try them all, and discover which one speaks the loudest to each child. To learn more, get the book, “The Five Love Languages” by Gary Chapman.

If you don’t have square paper, fold the paper into a triangle with one end edge against a side edge. Cut off the excess.

While you have it in a triangle, fold it in half once so you know where the middle of the paper is. Open it all the way to a square, and folds should form an “X”--where the two folds intersect is the middle point.

Step one: Fold all 4 corners to the middle

flip the folded paper over so the points are on the bottom.

Step two: As in step one, fold all 4 corners to the middle

Folding it in half.

Step 3: Write 4 words or numbers on the 4 outside flaps. Decorate if you want to.

Flip it over and write numbers or words on each triangle.

Open these triangular flaps and write 4 instructions to be carried out.

Now you are ready to “play the game.” Put your fingers in the 4 pockets and hold them in the shut position. Ask another person to choose one of the 4 words or numbers.

Depending on the word or number the person chose, open the cootie catcher in 2 directions, once for every number or syllable of the word.

When you stop, let the person choose one of the numbers or words from the inside of the cootie catcher, and open the cootie catcher in the same way as before, according to the new number.

When you stop, let the person choose one inside number again, but this time open that flap and follow the instructions.