Share the love with your preschool class with our free counting hearts printable book! It’s one of the many great free preschool printables that you’ll find on Fun-A-Day.
Preschoolers adore getting to be authors and illustrators as they make their very own books. And they get to explore so many early learning skills along the way!
Get your own copy of the counting hearts printable book at the very bottom of this post.
Counting Hearts Printable Book
Your students are going to love getting to practice early math and literacy skills with the hearts emergent reader. It’s a great addition to several themes including shapes, friendship, or family. And it would be an excellent addition to some other valentine activities for preschoolers!
Related: Valentine Heart Art Projects for Kids
Materials for the Hearts Emergent Reader
You only need a few materials to put together the counting hearts printable book. And once the book is complete, there are a few different ways the kids can interact with it. So you might need a few additional materials for that. Even so, the materials list is still pretty short and that’s a win in my book!
This is what you need to assemble the book:
- Counting hearts printable book (grab your copy at the bottom of the post)
- Printer
- Printer paper
- Stapler
- Staples
As I mentioned a moment ago, you might want some additional materials for when the kids start using the books. I say start with what you already have on-hand. If you’re looking for additional ideas, though, I’ve got you covered:
- Crayons, colored pencils, and/or markers
- Heart-shaped stickers
- “Real” heart stickers
- Heart stamps
- Ink pads
- Watercolor paints
- Heart-shaped buttons
- Acrylic hearts
- Heart erasers
- Kid-friendly tongs
- Candy hearts
- Dry-erase markers
- Laminator
- Hole punch
- Yarn
How to Assemble the Counting Hearts Printable Book
Now that you’ve got the materials you’ll need, it’s time to make the counting hearts emergent reader. I personally love making books like this with the kids because it is SO fast and SO easy!
First, you’ll need a copy of the candy hearts book. Grab yours from the bottom of this post. Print out however many copies of the book you need. Then, fold each page in half along the black line, making sure that the pictures are facing out. Next, place the pages in order with the folded edges to the right-hand side. Finally, staple along the left-most edge of the stack. And that’s it!
Reading the instructions probably takes longer than making the actual book. Here’s a quick video to show you what I mean:
I prefer this method of book-making because you don’t need to cut anything. Just print, fold, and staple. If that’s not your preference, you can always cut the pages apart and staple them. That works, too!
Using the Valentine Printable Book with Your Students
I love having access to resources that can be used in multiple ways. And the candy heart book certainly fits the bill. There are two versions of the book, and a few different ways to use each one. Read below for some ideas on how to do just that.
Black and White Version
The first version of the book is black and white. Each page has an empty jar and a sentence about how many hearts are in the jar. This version of the book can be used so many different ways. You can print off a copy for each of your students and let them draw hearts in the jars with crayons, colored pencils, or markers.
Related: Valentine Sensory Activities to Engage the kids
But you can also get a little more creative with this activity. And this is where those extra materials might come into play. Let the children draw the hearts with a white crayon and then paint the jars with red, pink, or purple watercolor paints. The kids will be amazed with how the hearts magically appear!
Or maybe you have some heart stickers lying around. Using the correct amount of heart stickers to fill jars is a great way to practice counting and fine motor skills. You could even lay out some anatomically correct heart stickers. I think the children will get a kick out of putting “real” hearts in their books!
Stamps are always fun to use in the classroom as well! Get out the ink pads and heart-shaped stamps and let the children have at it. Better yet, teach the children to create the hearts with their thumbprints, just like we did with the fingerprint heart magnets! They can dip their thumb in an ink pad and then place them onto the paper twice, forming a heart shape.
Full Color Version
The color version of the book can be just as much fun! Other than color, the only difference is that the hearts are already printed in the jars. Set out some heart-shaped items, like buttons, erasers, or acrylic hearts to use as math manipulatives. The kids can count and place the hearts in their counting hearts book. For an added challenge, let the children use tongs to place them. Take this activity to the next level by using real candy hearts! Yum!
Or perhaps you’d rather print out one master copy of the book that will be available to the entire class. In that case, print out whichever version of the book you’d prefer (or both!). Then, I’d recommend laminating the folded pages and use a hole punch and yarn (or binder rings) to bind the edges. The children can use dry erase markers to draw hearts in the black and white version. And, in the color version, they can use manipulatives – like I mentioned above.
If you’d prefer, you can turn the printable into math mats by cutting them down the middle and laminating them (or placing them in dry erase pockets). It’s all up to how you want to use them. See what I mean about one printable being used multiple ways?!
There are so many options to using this resource, and I’ve only just covered the tip of the iceberg with the activities I’ve suggested. Can you think of some other ways to use the counting hearts printable book in your classroom? Please share all of your wonderful ideas in the comments below!
What are the Kids Learning?
As I may have mentioned a time or two, creating homemade books is a great way for children to learn and practice so many preschool concepts.
Here is a list of just a few things children can learn and practice with the counting hearts printable book:
- Basic book knowledge (front and back of the book, cover page, title, author)
- Directionality (we read left to right, top to bottom)
- Concept of word
- Punctuation
- Sight words
- Letter-sound correspondence
- Context cues
- Fine motor skills
- Color identification
- Counting
Wow! There are so many skills and concepts concisely wrapped up in this one simple activity. And as an added bonus, the printable is free and easy to set up with very little prep time! I hope you all will include the counting hearts emergent reader in your yearly rotation of printable books for the classroom. The kids are going to love them!
Done-For-You Preschool Resources
Teaching preschool can be lots of fun and super rewarding. But planning and preparing for each day in the classroom can really be a daunting task. And that’s exactly why we started Preschool Teacher 101! We have created a ton of themed preschool lesson plans and supplemental teaching resources to help teachers just like you.
We offer a wide range of themes that will teach fundamental preschool concepts and skills while also playing off the interests of preschool-aged children. In fact, we even have lesson plans devoted to hearts that the counting hearts printable book will pair really nicely with. Click on the image below to learn more about the heart-themed lesson plans.
If you like this product, you’re in luck! You can join the waiting list to become a member of The Pack from Preschool Teacher 101. Click on the images below to learn more about some of our other products that are a great addition to a Valentine’s Day theme.
Get Your Copy of the Counting Hearts Printable Book
This printable is available to members of Fun-A-Day’s (free!) email community. Just add your email in the form below to get the download links sent to your inbox. Make sure to save the printable to your computer, as the links may change in the future.
If you’re not a member yet, that’s okay! Enter your information in the form below to join us. Then you’ll receive the emergent reader as a welcome gift.
Please note that some school districts have strict firewalls that interfere with this form. If that’s the case with your district, I recommend using a home computer and personal email address.
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Remember . . . save the file to your computer. And check out my printing FAQ if needed!
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