Happy holidays and let the festivities begin! We all have our favorite Christmas traditions that we participate in each year. Things like ugly xmas sweater parties, cookie swapping with the family, advent calendars and elf on the shelf.
Each one is unique and special.
Are you looking for something a little extra to do this year that your kids can dive right into? This year, let’s craft some great xmas things together!
Crafting is not only a great stimulation and activity for your child, but it also creates an awesome bonding experience and fun memories. So, let’s get out the arts and crafts for these 5 easy, and fun, Christmas crafts!
Snowflake Forest
Who is ready to make your home a winter wonderland? This is a perfect craft to not only bring a bit of snow to your neighborhood (if you live in a warm state), but to also let the beauty of snow enter your home if you live in a colder state! Super easy, lots of fun…just make sure you have a vacuum to pick up all the clippings.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Scissors (Multiple scissors if you have multiple children. We don’t want anyone fighting over scissors)
- Loads of paper! And if you want to spice it up a little, pick some white paper AND colorful paper.
- Pen (optional)
- String
- Tape
Steps:
- Everyone take a sheet of paper and start folding into a triangle over and over again.
- For those that need a stencil, draw some shapes or lines to have your child cut
- For those that don’t need a stencil, cut at will and use your creativity!
- After a few trimming, open up your beautiful and unique snowflake!
- Next, take a piece of string and cut it about 10-12 inches long.
- Next, tape one side of the string to the snowflake
- You can either tape your string to the ceiling and fill it up so you feel like snowflakes are sprinkling from above, or find some other creative spots to hang your snowflake (like on bedroom doors, above the shower, in the corner of a room, etc.)
The more snowflakes you make, the more wonderful and wintery your home will feel! Big and small snowflakes….no matter the size, you’ll be making some big memories with this craft.
Ornament Snow Globes
Snow globes are so beautiful and definitely mesmerizing! This craft is more on the delicate side, so be sure to provide assistance for little ones. These crafts will be used for years to come!
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Clear, glass ornaments
- Glitter, paint (pick a variety o f colors) and any other little things you want to fit inside
- Hot glue or super glue
- White Sharpie
Steps:
- Take your glass ornament and carefully remove the metal tip that connects the ornament to the metal hanger.
- Next, start pouring in paint colors and glitter (be carefully mixing too many colors…it may turn brown!) Pick two like blue and white, or yellow and orange. Some colors mix better than others.
- Once your ornament has glitter and paint, grab your hot glue or super glue and glue the metal tip back on. We want this sucker to be sealed tight!
- Then, shake your orb up! Fill it in with the paint and glitter!
- Last but not least, write your name with a white sharpie or the year - something to remember who did it and when!
All you have to do next is hang it on the tree! Make sure you hang it high so that it’s not in a busy traffic zone of wagging dog tails or running kiddos. We don’t want it to drop, break and spill paint!
All that to say, these ornaments will live on for years to come. Give them to your children when they get married so they have an ornament for their first tree, or keep them so that the family tree will always have these special features.
Xmas tree Tassel
This one is fun and provides a great decorative piece for your home! Little Xmas tree tassels are so cute and provide a fun craft opportunity with kids who love to make things. And you can spice it up with multiple colored trees!
Here is what you’ll need:
- Scissors
- Twine
- Green yarn (and get some other fun colors too!)
- Tack, pin, or tape
- Cardboard
Steps:
- Take the piece of cardboard and cut into a small rectangle
- Take the one end of the yarn and start wrapping it around the cardboard over and over again (see photo)
- Then cut a small piece of yarn and tie it around the width of the cardboard over the wrapped yarn. This creates the top of the tassel.
- Next, cut the bottom of the wrapped yarn (height) and take the tassel off.
- Tie each tassel to the twin and continue until full! Tape or pin the garland somewhere in your home to add a little extra xmas decoration!
Reindeer Clothespins
These little clothespins are the perfect craft for little ones who love to get silly!! Very easy, fun, and only a little bit of a mess (we promise, no glitter this time!). Plus, these clothespins can be used year round and for pretty much anything!
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Clothes pins
- Hot glue or Elmer’s glue
- Googly eyes
- Red Sharpie or red craft balls
- Brown pipe cleaner
Steps:
- Take your cosepin and have the mouth of the clothespin standing up.
- Next begin gluing the eyes on one side of the pin.
- Next, either draw the red circle nose or glue a red fabric ball
- Take the brown pipe cleaner, cut it short and begin to make/twist some antlers! Hot glue them on the top of the mouth of the cloethespin
- From here, you can continue to color in your reindeer or leave it as is!
Use your clips for chip bags, for the children’s rooms to hold photos, clip them to the xmas tree, or use them to hold their brown paper lunch bag tight. Such a fun craft that they will love!
Pipe Cleaner Candy Canes
This is the perfect craft for little bitty kiddos!! Easy, fun, produces great fine motor skills…what else could you ask for? We ask that you please supervise your children as there are beads involved and they could present as a choking hazard.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Pipe cleaner
- White and red beads
Steps:
- Begin adding beads to your pipe cleaner (alternating between red and white)
- Twist the bottom of the pipe cleaner to create a knot so that the beads do not fall off.
- Twist the top of the pipe cleaner (once full of beads) to create a knot at the top.
- Bend into the shape of a candy cane.
- Done!!
Decorate your tree, hang them on door knobs, hook them on your car rear view mirror - anywhere! These fun little candy canes make a great craft and they aren’t sticky candy!!
Enjoy this holiday season with your kids and have a blast making memories gathering together to create long lasting crafts.
