Simple Christmas crafts to do with your kids
For me, the best part of the holidays is the time spent with my family getting ready for the big day. Creating handmade decor and gifts is always a special part of our holiday preparation. I love that crafting is something parents and children can do together, and today, I’m sharing some of my favourite Christmas crafts for kids.
Festive crafts don’t need to be complicated. In fact, there are many wonderful creations that can be made using something we all already have in our homes: paper.
Draw a simple picture
(such as a reindeer, Santa, or Christmas) on a piece of white paper, colour the picture, cut it out, and glue the picture to a coloured piece of cardstock. Then, dip a Q-tip in white paint, and use it to add “snowflakes” to the background of the picture.
Another fun piece of paper artwork can be made by simply drawing a Christmas tree, colouring it, and decorating it in fun ways. Young children will love decorating their trees with Cheerios, stickers, glitter, and crayons.
Young children also love making paper Christmas tree ornaments, which make wonderful gifts and keepsakes. Cut an ornament shape from heavy paper, colour it, decorate it, and add a yarn or twine hanger. Adding a photo to the front of the ornament makes it extra special.
Consider adding a 2020 “twist” by creating paper ornaments wearing masks. Cut a reindeer or gingerbread
person from cardstock, add decorations and a felt mask, and hang the ornament from a piece of twine or yarn.
Popsicle sticks are another fantastic and inexpensive crafting material. With a little paint, paper, glue, stickers, fabric scraps, and yarn, popsicle sticks can be transformed into adorable Christmas tree ornaments. In the past, my boys have used popsicle sticks to create elf, Santa, and snowman ornaments.
Popsicle sticks can also be made into a Santa hat ornament by painting three popsicle sticks red, gluing the sticks into a triangle, and adding some cotton ball trim with
white glue.
A Christmas tree ornament can be made by painting three popsicle sticks green, gluing the sticks into a triangle, adding a paper trunk, and decorating the tree with sparkly stickers.
Ideas for older kids
Older kids can get involved in Christmas crafting too, but tweens and teens prefer working with more sophisticated materials like yarn and fabric.
Making yarn hat ornaments is one of my all-time favourite projects for older kids. You can find the full tutorial on my blog (www.EastCoastMommy.com), but basically, you: cut a paper towel roll into half-inch strips, cut
40-50 10-inch strips of yarn, fold a strand of yarn in half, make a loop, and insert it into the strip of cardboard tube.
Then, take the two ends of the yarn, pull them through the loop, and pull tight. Continue this process until the entire cardboard ring is covered. Push the yarn through the ring to create a "hat brim".
Use a long piece of yarn (approximately 12 inches) to tie the top of the hat, and stuff some filling or cotton balls into the hat. Finish by trimming the pom pom on the top of the hat and using the string you used to tie the top of the hat to create an "ornament hanger".
Older kids can also make hand-stitched felt light bulb ornaments in a variety of colours and yarn-wrapped reindeer ornaments with clothespin antlers.
Crafting really is a wonderful way to spend time together as a family preparing for the holidays. I hope you find an afternoon to create one or two special handmade creations with someone you love this Christmas.