Holiday treats for the boys classmates generally become a bigger production than I would like. I just can’t help it…I always have the urge to make something crafty. With 30 students in my son’s kindergarten class, I wanted to make something crafty, but easy and quick.
In assembly line fashion with a 5-year-old and 2-year-old helping me, we made 30 of these in under an hour. I bet I could have finished them in 30 minutes by myself, without helping a 2-year-old count and keeping him from eating all the chocolate :) To make it easier for the boys, I pre-sorted all the hugs and kisses into bowls by color.
I have seen a few versions of Valentine’s tic-tac-toe with smaller candies, but I got obsessed with using hugs and kisses. I thought up the “XOXO, Tic-Tac-Toe” and I was hooked. For extra cuteness, we signed the Valentine’s “with hugs and kisses, José”.
I quickly created the design for the paper insert and sized it to fit inside sandwich bags. I was only able to print 2 per page. I kept it simple with all black, so I could print them all off on my laser printer. I trimmed them down to fit into the bags.
The boys helped count out 5 kisses and 5 hugs for each bag. Players can play XOXO Tic-Tac-Toe as many times as they like, until they succumb to eating the candy.
To top off the bags and add a little Valentines color, we used washi tape. I wrapped the tape around the top of the sandwich bags to cover up the tell-tale double zippers.
We made 30 Valentines for under $15. The only thing I had to buy was 5 bags of hugs and kisses, of which we ate many while working :) I had the sandwich bags, printer paper, and washi tape on hand.
My son is now counting down the days until he gets to hand these all out to his friends!!!
Free Printable
Still need to make your own Valentines? Click here to download the XOXO Tic-Tac-Toe inserts! Just sign your child’s name after “with hugs and kisses”.
XOXO!
Thanks so much, Jackie, for reading my mind this morning knowing that I better get started on my son’s preschool treats. These are precious and he’ll love giving them out to all of his friends at school. And what a treat to have the work done for me . . . Thank you! Hugs and kisses to you for this!
Wendy
Glad to help Wendy! I have another easy Valentine idea coming up tomorrow for my two-year olds preschool buddies :)
Love this. I will be making a total of 60 for my two daughters. Can’t wait to see what you came up with for preschoolers as my 2yo will need treats as well. Thanks so much. Your blog is such an inspiration. Glad I found you:-D
Thanks Patrina! Hope your daughters and their friends love these!!!
What a super cute idea! A game and candy. The winning combo, for sure! :D
Oh this is such a wonderful idea. I used to teach first grade and it is such a fun memory to see the children hand out their valentines. They’ve just been learning tic Tac toe so his game and candy will be a big hit. How fun. Hope you guys play a few games too !!
Enjoy these fun memories. I miss them.
Jackie,
I pinned this last year and am now using it for my first grade daughter’s Valentines. Thanks for making it so easy!!!