Here's a fun Valentine's Day craft idea that will make your child feel like a real artist! In the process, you can also teach about artistic balance and use of positive and negative space.

You'll need a piece of 12 x 18 construction paper in one color, a piece of 9 x 12 construction paper in a different color, scissors, pencil and glue. You might like to use Valentine's day colors, such as red, pink, white or lavender.

Fold the large piece of construction paper in to 1/8ths like this: hold the paper so the long side is facing you. Fold the top half downward to make a very long and thin piece. Fold this in half from side to side, then fold in half again from side to side. Unfold the paper and you will see eight sections marked by your fold lines.

Cut the smaller piece of paper into 1/4s that match the shape and size of the 1/8th sections on the large piece of paper. Choose a Valentine's shape (such as a heart) and cut it out of each shape. Be careful to cut just on the outline of the shape (do not cut from the edge of the paper inward-instead, poke your scissors through the line to start cutting). You should end up with four shapes and four pieces with the shape cut out of them.

Arrange the shapes on the large paper, one in each section. Many people find that an alternating pattern is pleasing, or you can experiment to see what looks best to you. The contrasting colors and the positive and negative spaces will add life to this design. When you have the pieces where you want them, glue into place for an unusual Valentine's decoration.