Easy DIY Valentine's Day Photo Booth for Kids (Using Instaprint Camera + Dollar Store Props)
Updated: Apr 6
This year, I wanted to something simple, but special for my daughter's Valentine's Day party at school - without spending a ton of money or overcomplicating things.
I also didn't want to be that mom who sent 26 kindergarteners home with heart-shaped trinkets (or in my opinion = crap lol😅💕).
I ended up putting together a super easy DIY photo booth using an Instaprint camera and a a few dollar store finds...and it turned out SO cute!
If you're looking for a fun, low-effort activity for your child's classroom party, this is such a
good one.
***This post contains affiliate links. If you click and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support***
What You Need
Instaprint camera or bluetooth photo printer (Amazon)
Valentine's props (Dollar Tree/Target dollar spot)
Simple backdrop (plastic tablecloth + garland)
Basket or bin for props
How I Set It Up
Sooo, first things first, don't arrive late with a toddler in tow like I did!
Techinically, I wasn't late, but my name wasn't on the teacher's sign-up sheet for whatever reason, so my son and I had to wait in the office for ~10 mins to get checked into the school!
But once we made it into the cafeteria, set up was easy peasy🫛 lemon squeezy🍋
I taped a $1 pink table cloth to the wall, and then taped my DIY heart garland at the top.
I placed a basket of props - including heart sunglasses, sparkly headbands, flower bouquets, beaded necklaces, tiaras, stick balloons, and firefighter hats (for the boys) - next to my station too.
Lastly, I connected a bluetooth photo printer to my phone and we were GOOD TO GO!
Why The Kids Loved It
Honestly, my station wasn't a hit with the kids at first!
They were drawn to the cookie decorating and finger-painting - which I can't blame them.
It wasn't until my daughter brought her friends over to our photo booth that the kids (...and even other parents) started to understand what was happening at our station.
The girls had so much fun playing dress-up and taking both solo pictures and group pictures. Even the teachers and other parents wanted to snap a fun picture with the kids!
The boys in my daughter's class enjoyed the photo booth more than I thought they would too. It helped that when we went to the Dollar Tree, we made sure to pick out both girl and boy-friendly props.
For example, if we got pink heart sunglasses, we also picked out a pair of black aviator sunglasses. My daughter picked out a princess stick balloon, but we also made sure to grab a spider man balloon too.
That way everyone had fun picking out props to use in our DIY photo booth!
Tips If You Try This
I learned a few things from this photo booth experience, such as:
I would recommend to hang up your backdrop with command hooks rather than packing tape like I did. The tape held on pretty good for a while, but ended up coming down towards the end after the kids were standing up against the wall. I think command hooks would have held up against the 5/6 year olds better!
Also, I purchased a mini bluetooth printer because it was cheaper than getting a instant/polaroid camera. However, the printer didn't print as fast as I would have liked for the kids. I told the children that they had to come back to get their photo which left some kiddos feeling a little disappointed in the moment. The quality of the printer was good, but I had to finish up printing the majority of pictures at home and have my daughter pass them out the next day at school.
Just make sure you give yourself enough time to set up...unlike me lol
In Conclusion
This ended up being one of those simple things that felt way more special than I expected. How cute will it be to look back at these photos of your child with their elementary school classmates?!
And I was also happy to not send home the kids with a bunch of pink & red crap lol.
I kept all of my supplies, so I may just become 'the photo booth' mom at school parties. Definitely something we'll be doing again (...think Halloween, Christmas, birthdays).
Comments