My kiddo and I love unicorns! We’ve been reading a lot of unicorn books and we are becoming slightly obsessed 🙂 We decided to make a unicorn craft. I really like toilet paper roll crafts. They are usually easy to make and I always have empty toilet paper rolls sitting around. We made a blue toilet paper roll unicorn craft because my child loves the color blue. Be creative with your unicorn and make it whatever color you want! Pick out fun colors of yarn for your mane and tail. Ribbon also works if you don’t have any yarn.
Supplies Needed:
empty toilet paper roll
construction paper
yarn
googly eyes
marker
scissors
glue
stapler (optional)
Unicorn How To:
Pick a color for your unicorn from your construction paper supply. Then, measure the size of your toilet paper roll and cut out a rectangle shape to completely cover your toilet paper roll. Glue on your construction paper. You can also use glue dots or staple your construction paper onto your toilet paper roll.
To make your unicorn’s face, you need to cut out a triangular horn (we used yellow paper), 2 triangular ears, and an oval for the snout. Since my child is 3 years old and new to scissors, I did the cutting. Draw a mouth and nostrils on the oval. Glue the horn, ears, and snout onto the toilet paper roll. Stick on your googly eyes.
Cut yarn into short strips and glue around the horn. We glued the yarn on the inside of the toilet paper roll and then draped it around the horn. For the tail, cut your yarn into longer pieces and glue on the back. You can also staple the tail on if that works easier for you. Now you have your own awesome toilet paper roll unicorn craft!
More Unicorn-ness!
–U is for Unicorn Craft: I was working with my 3 year old on learning letter U and I wanted a craft to go with our letter of the week, so we made this U is for Unicorn craft.
Unicorns are amazing! Who wouldn’t want to read a unicorn story? There are so many unicorn books available now and my son and I have read a ton of them! We have narrowed the list down to our top 15 unicorn books (and that was hard to do!).
This is my son’s favorite unicorn book! It’s hilariously told from the viewpoint of a goblin, whose own magical greatness is overshadowed by unicorns. (He can turn a piece of broccoli into broc coli-flavored ice cream and socks into slugs!) The goblin grumbles about his unicorn neighbors, proclaiming that they are the worst, that is until they save him from a dragon.
This rhyming, brightly illustrated story is a fun read! A class on a field trip to the zoo try and catch a unicorn. Silly antics and faulty unicorn traps ensue. But thanks to the zoo animals’ help and a bit of unicorn magic, the kids are the ones who find themselves caught in the traps! This is my son’s favorite in the “How to Catch” series. He thinks it is so funny how the unicorn outsmarts the kids!
This a beautifully illustrated story about a little girl who discovers a young unicorn. Margaret’s family moves to a cottage by the sea where Margaret sees unicorns springing from the water! They disappear as quickly as they arrived, all except for a baby unicorn who got stuck. Margaret saves the baby unicorn and cares for it during the fall and winter. These two form a loving friendship and the unicorn helps Margaret feel more at home in the cottage. Spring arrives and it is time to reunite the unicorn with its family even though Margaret will miss it so much. There is a warm cozy feel to this story and you will find yourself reading this one over and over again.
Uni the unicorn is a magical unicorn who believes that little girls are real! The other unicorns insisted that little girls were make-believe. Uni was certain that there was a little girl waiting to be her friend. In this beautiful story, Uni imagines all of the fun and wonderful things they would do together! At the same time, a little girl was out there believing the unicorns are real and was waiting to make one her new friend. Check out this read-aloud from Brightly Storytime!
Get ready for cuteness overload in this book! Kitty thinks she’s a unicorn and she sets out to prove it. However, when she meets a real unicorn, she doesn’t feel very unicorny anymore. Unicorn surprises everyone by saying that he is really a kitty-corn and unicorn whips out his cute fluffy kitty ears and puts them on his head! Now both of them are kitty-corns.
Is it a unicorn or a narwhal? A young unicorn named Kelp lives under the sea with a group of narwhals. Kelp feels like he doesn’t quite belong under the sea. One day, he meets a bunch of unicorns on land and they are just like him! These unicorns teach him all kinds of cool unicorn stuff. So while being with unicorns is awesome, Kelp misses his narwhal family. He returns home to tell them that he is actually a unicorn, not a narwhal. His family new that the whole time, but it didn’t stop them from loving him! In a beautiful display of love, family, and friendship the narwhals and the unicorns all get together at beach where Kelp can be with everyone at the same time. Preschoolers will love the beautiful illustrations throughout this book.
Little Miss Sophie is a self-proclaimed unicorn expert. She dresses her toys, dog, and little brother as unicorns and then teaches them all about unicorns. She seems to know a lot about unicorns, but is so busy being the teacher, that she doesn’t notice when a real unicorn sneaks into her group. My son loved to point out the “real” unicorn in the illustrations and laugh as Sophie misses her new student. Preschoolers will love the cute pictures!
We love Bob Shea’s humor and illustrations! This book is full of humor, rainbows, cupcakes, and lots of fun! In this book, Goat is feeling insecure after Unicorn moves into the neighborhood. We’ve all felt like this at one point. Now Goat is questioning whether his bike is cool. When Goat and Unicorn bond over goat-cheese pizza, Goat learns that everyone feels insecure sometimes, even unicorns. Great story for illustrating the message that everyone has their own talents.
We love the Sparkle books! In this first one in the series, a little girl named Lucy responds to an ad for a unicorn. She sends in her money and waits for her unicorn to arrive. Lucy imagines the perfect unicorn and just can’t wait for her new friend to get here. However, when her unicorn arrives, it is not all what she pictured. Sparkle isn’t very tall, is not pink, and looks like a goat.
Peppa Pig and unicorns, preschoolers say, “yes, please!” Suzy and Peppa are playing with Peppa’s wooden horse, but they think that playing with a unicorn would be even more fun. Peppa tries using her imagination, but Suzy wants a real unicorn toy. The girls add rainbow ribbons to the horse’s tail, and then it looks a little more like a unicorn, but not still not enough for Suzy. When they go to bed, Daddy Pig transforms the horse into a pretty unicorn! Wow! Preschoolers will love seeing their T.V. pals in this book and will enjoy the sparkly book cover.
A unicorn appears in this cute interactive book! Unicorn is sad and it is up to the reader to help unicorn feel better. By waving out fingers to make magic dust, swishing the book, telling unicorn jokes, and being a good friend, the reader helps make unicorn feel better. A sweet story about the power of talking to a good friend.
This Ten Minutes to Bed series is the cutest! In this one, little unicorn isn’t sleepy even though dad says it is ten minutes to bed. Little unicorn uses her remaining minutes to explore her Ancient Forest home. This is a magical place with unicorns and a gnome mushroom village, trolls, dragons, a magical transporting rainbow! Little unicorn makes it home just in time and quickly falls asleep. Preschoolers will love the rhyming text and adorable, bright illustrations!
Do unicorns only reveal themselves to people who believe? In this book, you be the judge to whether it is a horse in a hat or a unicorn hiding its horn. The author poses a series of scenarios as to help determine whether it is a horse or a unicorn throughout the book. It’s just a horse having a bad hair day so that’s why it is in a hat, right? In the end, the author suggests that perhaps you have to believe in unicorns in order to see them. Your child will love guessing if it is a unicorn or a horse.
This “Never Let a Unicorn” series is perfect for young unicorn lovers! We’ve read quite a few of these. In this series a young girl has a toy unicorn that her imagination brings to life. In this story, the girl doubts the claims to never let a unicorn scribble and decides to give her unicorn a crayon. The unicorn promptly eats it! The little girl doesn’t give up so easily so she shows unicorn how to scribble by making some drawings with crayons. since unicorns don’t have hands, the girl ties a crayon to the unicorn’s horn. The MAGIC horn! A colorful eruption of scribbles fly out of the horn and all of the girl’s room! Uh-oh. Maybe that’s why you should never let a unicorn scribble. Fortunately, it is just the girl’s creative imagination that makes a mess, and her bedroom is exactly the way it was before. There are several more books in this series to enjoy too!
Yay, it’s unicorn day! A day to do awesome unicorn-stuff, be with friends, and have lots of fun! This book is filled with all of the awesomeness that you’d expect from unicorns–sliding down rainbows, singing, cupcakes, and a glitter fight! Everyone is having such a great time that no one notices the brown unicorn with a string tied under its chin. Wait a minutes, that’s a horse! The horse is so disappointed that its horn fell off because it was enjoying unicorn day and doesn’t want to leave the celebration. The unicorns, however, tell the horse to stay because they don’t care that this new friend is a horse. They have all been having lots of fun together and that is more important than whether one is a horse or a unicorn. My child enjoyed this story and loved the illustrations (especially the glitter fight!).
Can’t get enough unicorn-ness?
Unicorn Crafts:
U is for Unicorn Craft: create a unicorn from construction paper shaped like the letter U.
Try these unicorn exercises:
-Are you ready to practice being a unicorn?!? Let’s begin by stretching each leg. Stretch each leg 10 times, and neigh with each stretch.
-Now, it is time for unicorn jumps — jump up and down 10 times with your hands together on top of your head pointed up, making a unicorn horn.
-Let’s do some Hoof Hops — hop on each foot 5 times, rotating hooves.
-All unicorns have to perfect their unicorn prance. Practice your unicorn prance and neighing for 1 minute.
-Magic Sprinkles — wave your arms and wiggle your fingers to spread magic all around. Try this 5 times to make sure that you get magic everywhere!
-Unicorns are great dancers — show off your best dance moves.
–Tail Swish — shake your tail 5 times!
Find the Differences Unicorn Scene:
Can you find 5 differences between these two magical pictures?
This unicorn graphing STEM activity is so much fun that your kiddo won’t even realize that it is math! We call it our unicorn game 🙂 My son and I take turn rolling the dice and placing our color tiles on the graph. We like to guess what color is going to reach the top first before we start each round.
unicorn graphing
How To:
First print this free template. The unicorn graphing template includes the dice, colored tiles, and graphing chart. I used regular printer paper; however, if you use cardstock, then your dice will be much sturdier.
Begin by cutting out the dice. Gently fold the gray tabs inward. Then begin to fold your squares into a cube shape. Add some glue to the tabs and glue them onto the underside of the squares as you form your cube. The very last tab is hard to glue and might require tape. Once your cube is formed, set it aside to dry.
Cut out all of the colored tiles. You will have 4 of each color–red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple.
Now it is time to begin unicorn graphing. Ask you child to gently roll the dice. What color unicorn is on top? Take a tile of the same color and set it on the graph above the corresponding unicorn. Keep rolling the dice and setting tiles in the correct columns until you reach the top of the column. Since you are not gluing the colored tiles to the chart, you can use this activity over and over again 🙂
Why STEM?
STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and math. It is important to introduce these concepts to preschoolers in a fun way so that as they get older, they are excited about STEM subjects. What are preschoolers learning in this activity? Preschoolers are learning their colors (science)! They have to identify the color on the dice, find the same color on the chart, and then correctly add the same color tile to the graph. Preschoolers are learning how to graph, an important math concept! Add some extra math into this activity by counting how many of each color tile is on your graph and how many tiles your have altogether. Preschoolers are also learning about engineering as they help build the dice!
More STEM Activities
If your child enjoyed this graphing activity, I made a free blank dice and graph template so you can customize it with your own pictures. You can add computer images, stickers, or draw whatever you want on the dice and graph for your child to practice more graphing skills.
We make a big deal out of holidays at our house and Valentine’s Day is one of my favorite holidays! It’s a day to show others how much they mean to you. Plus, there is chocolate! Since Valentine’s Day falls on February 14th, I have gathered up 14 of my family’s favorite Valentine’s Day books to read with your little loves!
Little Blue Truck’s stories are always so sweet! In this story, Blue makes and delivers Valentine’s to all his friends. Each card is perfect for each animal friend, as the thoughtful little truck made each one special. In turn, Blue’s friends make a fantastic Valentine for their favorite little truck! Preschoolers will love the shiny hearts and the bright pictures in this rhyming story. Be prepared for little ones to want to make some Valentines after reading this one!
Mouse from If You Give a Mouse a Cookie is back in this Valentine’s Day story! Mouse makes Valentines for all of his friends. He puts a lot of thought into each one, making sure that it represents what he loves most about each friend. I love that Mouse is highlighting the good in everyone!
Preschoolers love Pete the Cat! He’s a sing-songy, fun-loving cat who learns that Valentine’s Day is day to show your family and friends how much they mean to you! Pete and his friend Callie make cards for everyone (including the librarian!) and enjoy spreading love around. Callie invites Pete to a Valentine’s Day party at her house and he is excited to go until he realizes that he forgot to make a card for his best friend! Oh no! Not to worry, Callie is a true friend and tells Pete that cards aren’t what a makes a good friends, actions are. Pete has always shown that he is a good friend to Callie and that’s all she needs.
Natasha Wing does a great job writing holiday for preschoolers! Each book is written in rhyme and highlights the fun each holiday brings. In this Valentine’s book, this kids make cards to give their friends at school. They take their cards to school and find their classroom decorated for the holiday. The kids have a fun day getting their faces painted, handing out their cards, and enjoying yummy treats. Then when they think it can’t get any more fun, their principal dressed as Cupid appears in their class to add to all of the joy!
This is a fun lift-the-flap book that will keep preschoolers engaged in the story. George and his friend, the man in the yellow hat, invite a bunch of kids over to celebrate Valentine’s Day. We know what a curious monkey George is and how he always seems to get into trouble! But what trouble could he get into making Valentines?
In this sweet story, young Emma wants to help her family, the Valentines, with their gift shop business. Not only is Valentine’s Day Emma’s favorite holiday, but it is a super busy one for her family. She tries blowing up heart shaped balloons to decorate the shop, making cards, and making chocolates, but finds that she is too little to help. It seems that no one needs her help around the shop, but then she discovers a lost puppy. Emma bathes the pup and ties a cute bow around its neck. Then she and grandma and grandpa make special Valentine dog biscuits. Emma and her new pup set up a stand to sell dog treats, and the treats are a hit! Even though she is little, Emma found that she can help too 🙂
We love Sparkle and Lucy stories! These books are the perfect mix of funny and sweet. In this story, Lucy makes Valentines for those she cares about, but tells Sparkle not worry because no expects a valentine from a unicorn. Sparkle wants to make Lucy a Valentine to show how much he loves her, but it’s kind of hard to do when you have hooves instead of hands! Sparkle is determined and finds a way to make a Valentine. He is so excited about his Valentine until he sees all of the ones the kids made. Sparkle learns that it isn’t what your Valentine looks like that counts, but how someone feels that really matters.
This book is a little on the long side, but it is a very sweet story. Mr. Hatch, a lonely and grumpy man, mistakenly gets a Valentine that was meant for someone else. Mr. Hatch thinks it is for him and his whole outlook changes when he believes that someone cares about him. He pays the love forward by helping others. When it is discovered that the Valentine was actually meant for someone else, Mr. Hatch gets really sad, thinking no one likes him. The town comes together to show Mr. Hatch that is loved! It just goes to show how a little kindness can really make someone feel great.
In this short story, a little girl and her puppy, Biscuit, are out delivering their homemade Valentines to friends and family. Human friends and dog friends are happy to get Valentines! When Biscuit and the little girl visit Grandparents, Biscuit just can’t resist the yummy treats. Oh Biscuit, what a silly puppy! Unfold the pages for fun surprises throughout the book 🙂
This puppy Clifford book is adorable. Clifford and Emily Elizabeth make Valentines together, with Clifford helping in his own special way. They take the Valentines to the post office to mail, but poor Clifford gets lost down the mail chute! Everyone begins sifting through the huge carts of letters for the lost pup. Suddenly the mail barks — it’s Clifford! Yay, he’s rescued! Emily Elizabeth is so happy to have her Valentine, Clifford, back safe.
My son is huge Little Critter fan! I think little kids can relate to Little Critter who always tries his hardest, but still messes up sometimes. It’s all part of the learning process that kids go through, but it is great that they can see it mirrored in these stories. In this Valentine’s Day book, Little Critter’s class is celebrating Valentine’s Day. They decorate the classroom and make V alentines. It is the best day! Little Critter makes a special card for his special Valentine. Who could it be? It’s his mommy 🙂
Little Duck is excited for Valentine’s Day. She makes valentines for everyone, hangs decorations, and gets the barn ready for the Valentine’s Day party! All of the farm animals (except the cows, who were going to a ball) come to the party. Duck is the DJ and the barn is filled with music, dancing, food, and fun! A young fox hears the noise and follows the decorations to the barn. Curious about the party, the fox goes inside. Suddenly the music and dancing stop. Yikes, there’s a fox! Little Duck gives the fox her last valentine and the fox is excited to celebrate Valentine’s Day. The fun starts up again and everyone dances until the cows come home. Filled with sparkly pages, cute illustrations, and lots of animals sounds, this book with be a hit with preschoolers!
The silly old lady is back in another holiday story. This time she is eating a rose, lace, glitter, candy, a jewel, hearts, and a Valentine’s Day card! Why did she swallow all of this stuff??? Well it brought her so much happiness that she smiled and blew a big kiss, and then everything flew out of her mouth. Happy Valentine’s Day from the Old Lady.
Preschoolers’ favorites Mickey and Minnie are here with a Valentine’s Day book! Mickey needs to come up with a Valentine’s gift for Minnie, but what should he get her? Mysterious Miss M. shows up at the Club House to help Mickey come up with the perfect gift! Help Mickey select the right tools from Toodles to make Minnie’s gift.
I hope you enjoy these Valentine’s Day books! My son and I found them at our library. I hope your library also carries them; ask your librarian for suggestions for other Valentine’s Day books too. I joined Amazon’s Affiliate program to try and help cover the costs of this site. If you buy something through one of my links on Amazon, then sometimes I get a small percentage of the sale (no extra cost to you). Thank you for your support! Happy reading 🙂
Valentine’s Day Crafts:
Lacing Heart: lace some yarn around your heart craft and add some stickers to really customize this craft.
Heart Dog Craft: print off the template, color the hearts, and assemble them to form a dog.
Wooly Sheep: Say “I Wooly Love You” with this cute pom-pom sheep craft!
Fingerprint Heart Craft: make a heart shape design with your little one’s fingerprints and a paper heart stencil.
