5 Christmas Crafts for Kids
Do you remember how you felt about Christmas as a child? In my family, the three of us—my brother, my sister, and I—could hardly fall asleep at all on Christmas Eve, and we woke up at about six in the morning, got our (exhausted) parents up, and sat in the living room with the tree, the copious presents, and our stockings.
Yes, presents are a big part of Christmas for kids, but for adults, the trappings of the season bring a sense of joy and wonder. Decorating your home is a great part of Christmas, and can be even more fun when you create those decorations with your kids. Here are five Christmas crafts to get you started!
Snowman Refrigerator
Think about it. A refrigerator, especially the usual style with a large refrigerator door on the bottom and a smaller freezer door at the top, kind of resembles a snow man. Most fridges are white, making this even clearer.
For this project, you’ll decorate the bottom part of the fridge as you would the body of a snowman, and the top as you would the head. The simplest way is to place a line of black dots (like coal) for buttons on the body section. For the head, you can use two black dots for eyes, a paper carrot for a nose, and black dots for lips.
A set of refrigerator magnets works great for those small coal buttons. Alternately, your kids could cut out black paper circles of any size and tape them to the fridge. Or, you could get that set of magnets, and glue each black circle to a magnet, then arrange it on the refrigerator.
You might want a stronger cartoon look for the eyes. For each, cut out a big black circle, about 2” to 3” in diameter, then a smaller white circle, then a small black circle. Paste the white circle in the center of the large black circle, and the smaller black circle into the white circle. Make two of these, and you’ll have perfect cartoon eyes for your snow fridge. Alternately, for the smallest circle, you could simply place one of the black 1” diameter magnets in the center.
The kids could get really creative with this. Perhaps they could make pink circles for rosy cheeks, a bow tie, and mittens.Christmas Card Collage
What do you do with your old Christmas cards at the end of the season? Do you throw them out? I know that for me, that can be difficult. People spend good money on those cards!
If you have a bunch laying around from past years, why not put them to good use and create a card collage? The idea here is simple. Get a canvas or thick board from a local art store. Paste or paint on a background. You may want to use Christmas colors like red, green, and white, or a solid color. If you use paper, pick pieces of paper in this color, cut them into fun shapes, and paste or glue them on the board or canvas until it’s covered. Once the glue has dried, cut around the edges.
With the base complete, cut pictures out from previous year’s cards. These might include images of Santa, reindeer, trees, snowmen, friends, family, and more. Glue them one at a time to the collage, layering them when appropriate. When finished, you can hang the image on the wall to remember wonderful past Christmases while preparing for the upcoming one.
Picture Tags
With your kids, create unique tags for Christmas presents. One possibility is to print photographs of the people the presents are for, and use those as the tags. So, a present for Grandma would have a picture of Grandma on it.
Another is for the kids to draw and color their own tags.These could be pictures of the people presents are intended for, or anything Christmas related.
Set aside the tags, and when the time comes to wrap presents, tape them to the outside along with a bow.
Printable Christmas Cards
If you have a printer, instead of buying Christmas cards this year, print some from the Internet and color them with your kids. There are many free designs online, from places like Greetings Island, The Balance, Blue Mountain, and Activity Village.
Your children can color with crayons, markers, or colored pencils. You may also want to get some Elmer’s Glue and glitter. Apply a light amount of the glue where you want to add a glittery highlight, sprinkle glitter on liberally, and then let it dry. Have your kids write their messages to family members in the cards, sign, and mail them off or add them to the appropriate gifts.
Make Your Own Wreaths
There are many ways to make wreaths, so this is an area where you can get highly creative. Here are a few suggestions, though you can find many others online.
Acquire a circular mirror in a frame. You can sometimes find small ones at dollar stores. Get cardstock of varying fall and winter colors, and cut out the shapes of leaves, flowers, snowflakes, or something similar. One at a time, hot glue the shapes to the outside of the frame. (An adult must use the hot glue gun, not a child!) Do this with a series of three to five circular mirrors and hang them up together on your living room wall for a festive effect.
For a larger wreath, get a cheap life preserver. Paint it read, then add a few pine branches to the top, tied together with a bow. You can hang this on a door, over a bed, or wherever you think it would add to a room.
To celebrate your family, print several dozen family photos. Purchase a wire wreath form and hot glue the pictures around the circle. You’ll end up with a beautiful circle of family pictures to hang anywhere you could put a wreath.
Now, use your imagination and come up with other ideas. The wire wreath form is a great base for a variety of wreath ideas. Wrap small, empty boxes like presents, and hot glue them to the form. Weave thin pine branches into the form. Purchase wooden circles, have your kids paint them, and hot glue those to the form.
We hope these ideas help you create a memorable Christmas for your children and your family!
