This Top Secret Valentine Writing Center was a huge hit with my kids (ages 6 and 10)! They spent an entire afternoon coding, writing, and trading Valentine messages back and forth. Special thanks to our friends at Melissa & Doug for sponsoring today’s creative Valentine activity post and supplying us with lots of crafty goodies. Here’s how to make your own Top Secret Valentine Writing center to inspire plenty of creative learning and playtime fun!
To make your own Top Secret Valentine Writing Center, you will need:
- Candy Hearts
- Melissa & Doug Top Secret Deluxe Decoder Activity Kit
- Heart Shaped Sticky Notes
- Markers (We love these non-roll markers from Melissa & Doug)
- Glue Stick (Highly recommend these non-roll glue sticks from Melissa & Doug)
- Mini Paper Heart Doilies
(optional)
The Top Secret Decoder Kit from Melissa & Doug comes with lots of inspiring activity books, but it also contains almost everything you need to create a Top Secret Writing Center!
Step 1: Choose It.
Invite your child to choose a candy heart.
Step 2: Code It.
Show your child how to code up the message using one of the following techniques:
- Decoder Wheel
- Invisible Ink
- Red and Blue Ink Scramble
Step 3: Build It.
Build your Valentines! Add a little glue to each sticky note and attach it to a paper doily.
Step 4: Trade It.
Encourage lots of trading and decoding fun! You may or may not choose to “eat” any incriminating candy evidence…
For invisible ink, use the included invisible ink marker to write your message. The receiver uses the decoder marker to write overtop and reveal the secret message!
For the red and blue ink scramble. Use blue marker to write your message, and draw scribbles overtop with red marker to scramble it up. The receiver uses the included red lens to reveal the secret message!
This was such a fun way to inspiring lots of writing practice, imaginative play, and fine motor skill development! Thank you, Melissa & Doug!
Have fun!!
