Valentine's day craft: stick puzzles

My kids and I enjoyed this fun Valentine's day craft the other day--puzzles made out of Popsicle sticks.

It really was a fun craft to do with them--nothing like getting messy painting. We pretty much have a standard routine of painting followed directly by a bath. :)

And amazingly enough, I had all the supplies on hand to make this with them. 

It was as easy as 1, 2, 3: 

1) First, we painted some popcycle sticks and let them dry. 

2) Then, we painted Valentine's Day patterns on them. 

3) Finally, we played with our puzzles. :) 

They were a bit too tricky for my almost 3-year-old but fun and age-appropriate for my 5 1/2-year-old.

They wanted to make more, More, MORE, but alas, we were out of sticks. I think I may get some more though come our next holiday. :)