5 Christmas Crafts for Kids

The kids are home for Christmas break and are bored already.  The weather is cold, wet and nasty.  What do you do?  Keep them busy making something with their hands, instead of you tearing your hair out.  Here are some fun ideas that kids will love.

1. Christmas cards are always a great craft.  Provide the kids supplies like construction paper, card stock, scissors, glue, glitter (the bottles of glitter/glue in one package are a very nice low-mess way to dress up a project), pencils, crayons or markers and old Christmas cards.  Let the kids use their creative energy to make wonderful handmade cards that can be shared with family and friends.  By cutting pictures out of old cards, even the younger children can make something really nice (and recycle at the same time).

2. Snow globes are a favorite.  If you want to make your own, gather glass or clear plastic containers, like baby food jars or mustard or mayonnaise jars.  Wash and dry them completely.  Gather small plastic Christmas or winter decorations. Try to find some that float. Winter themed stickers or small foam cutouts are also nice. Decorate the outside of the jar with stickers or glue a few of the foam pieces on it.  Attach a couple of the floating pieces (things like snowflakes or stars work well) to string and glue a figure to the inside with the string underneath the figure to anchor it (which will become the base).  Fill the jar with water and some glitter. Carefully glue the lid in place using waterproof glue and let dry.  Once dry, shake it, set it lid down and watch the glitter swirl around.

3. Candy crafts can be fun, as well as a tasty gift. A train can be a quick craft that can be used as a decoration or gift.  Use a roll of hard candy (like Lifesavers) for the main part of the train.  Use individually wrapped round candy, like peppermints for the wheels. For the front, glue a square candy, such as a caramel or a Starburst with a Hershey kiss on top.  If you add a string, they can be used as a tree decoration.  Experiment with other kinds of candy to create other things, like robots, animals or even angels.  

4. Garland trees can be a great project for the kids, especially if there is limited room for a Christmas tree.  Take a large piece of green poster board and cut a circle, with a slit out to make a cone.  Tape it with clear packing tape.  Take an artificial pine garland and wrap it around the cone, completely covering it to create a small tree.  Fasten the ends in place so it doesn't unwrap.  The tree can be decorated with lightweight paper ornaments that the children can also make.

5. A cozy fireplace can warm up any room but not everyone has one.  Let the kids make one. Find a large cardboard box and cut an opening in the one side for the fireplace.  Using sponges, paint bricks on the box, leaving space in between to be the mortar.  Paint the inside black if you want.  Paint flames on the inside back section of the box. Use paper towel rolls to stack up in the fireplace as logs.  Decorate the top to look like a mantel.

Get creative and think up your own Christmas crafts as well.  Children will love the fun involved in creating these crafts and so will you.  You can even give the crafts as a gift which will warm even the scroogiest of hearts.

Fun Nativity Crafts

The nativity is one of the central themes of Christmas.  Nativity scenes are depicted on church lawns, in Christian plays, and outside of homes.  Learning about the nativity can be fun for kids when you use crafts to teach them.

The birth of Jesus Christ is the focus of the Christian nativity.  He was born to Mary and Joseph in an animal stable because there were no rooms available in the nearby inn.  Using a water trough filled with straw for a bed, Mary gave birth to the savior and laid him there.  After the birth, the Christ child was visited by shepherds, wise men, and a host of angels.  The men followed the North Star to his location in the east.

These are the basic elements of the story.  Read the story to your children first to give them an idea of who was involved in the scene.  From there, the crafting can begin.

Kids can make their own manger.  Using Popsicle sticks and glue, fashion a manger for the baby Jesus.  If you don’t want to use real straw, Spanish moss will work just as well.  A small baby doll can portray the baby Jesus.  Kids may want to paint the manger to make it stand out.  Display their mangers in a central location for everyone to enjoy.

Coloring books and children’s websites have free printable coloring sheets that depict the nativity.  Give each child a piece of poster board or a cardboard presentation board to work with.  After coloring the Nativity pictures let the kids come up with their own nativity scene and paste it to the cardboard.  If the children want to paint things different colors, it’s ok.  Let them, even if baby Jesus turns out to be purple and Mary and Joseph are green.  Let them express themselves through their crafts, no matter how out of the ordinary it may be to you.

A fun nativity craft that the entire family can enjoy is the making of an Advent calendar.  “Advent” is the time of the holiday season that is represented by special programs at church on each of the four Sundays before Christmas.  Each day beginning with the first Sunday after Thanksgiving, the focus is on the Nativity story.

There are a variety of ways to make an Advent calendar.  Each day of December through Christmas Day, families do something special pertaining to some aspect of the birth of Jesus Christ.  Children can decorate each space on the calendar with a symbol of the Nativity.  At the end of each day, the family will gather to look at the symbol for the day and study a certain part of the Nativity story.

The Nativity is important to understanding the spiritual reason for celebrating Christmas.  Allow kids to express feelings about the Nativity through their crafts.  You can join in too and make it a family affair.


Felt Christmas Stockings


The Christmas stocking is a holiday staple for families with children.  Kids love to get up on Christmas morning and see what kinds of goodies Santa has left them!  Small stockings are also great for decoration, and they're ideal for holding small gifts to give to your friends and family.

Making felt stockings is very easy, and it's a great family project.  Here's how to do it:

What You Need

* Felt
* Cardboard or card stock
* Marker
* Scissors
* Straight pins
* Needle and thread
* White faux fur and other embellishments

Instructions

1.  Draw a stocking shape of the desired size on a piece of cardboard or card stock.  Cut out.

2.  Place the cardboard shape on the felt, trace around it, and cut out.  Make two pieces for each stocking.

3.  If you want to sew buttons, fabric or other embellishments on the stocking, it will be much easier to do so before you sew it together.  Just make sure to sew them onto the side that will be facing outward.

4.  Pin the pieces of felt together, wrong sides facing out, and sew around the edges with a sewing machine or by hand.  Be sure not to sew the top closed.

5.  Turn the stocking inside out so that the seams are now on the inside.  Decorate the outside using fabric paint, glitter, beads, or anything else you like.  Sew a strip of faux fur to the top if desired.

6.  Cut a strip of felt an inch or so wide and 3 or 4 inches long.  Fold it in half to make a loop and sew it to the top left corner of the stocking.

Letting the kids decorate their own stockings gives them an opportunity to express themselves.  They could add charms that reflect their interests and hobbies, make pictures with beads, or use finger paint to add handprints.  Tubes of fabric paint or glitter glue make it easy for them to write messages to Santa and add their names.

Scraps of holiday fabric are great for adding a decorative touch to stockings.  You could cut out shapes such as Christmas trees, angels, or reindeer and sew or glue them to the front of the stocking.  If you want a different look, you could even use a sturdy fabric such as canvas instead of felt to make the body of the stocking.

Making and decorating your own Christmas stockings is lots of fun, and it's very inexpensive.  Whether you're making them to hang on the tree, fill with gifts for friends, or place on the mantle for Santa to stuff, it's a wonderful way to get the family creative together during the holidays.

Fun Santa Crafts

If there’s one thing that kids love to do it’s create things.  The holidays are just the right time for them to have free reign with crafts.  Since everyone is hard at work decorating the house, kids can lend their creativity to the moment by creating their own decorations of Santa Claus.
When you mention Christmas kids think of Santa Claus.  The bearded man in the red suit has fascinated young ones for decades.  Show the kids how to make fun Christmas crafts that feature Santa.

Before you buy anything, check around the house.  Primary colors for Santa Claus are red, white, and black.  Go on the hunt for materials that match this description.  A bag full of cotton balls can be turned into a white beard for several crafts.  Pipe cleaners, wooden clothespins, pieces of fleece or felt, and Popsicle sticks are excellent for many holiday crafts and Santa crafts are no exception. 

Once you’ve turned the place upside down, head out to the store for the items that you are missing.  Using items that you already own saves money especially when there is more than one child and they want to make a lot of crafts. 

Let’s return to those cotton balls.  If you have some generic Christmas stockings lying around, give them a face lift.  Use a black marker to draw the face of Santa Claus on the stocking.  Attach a cotton ball beard, eyes, and a nose with non-toxic glue.  These items can also decorate Santa Claus hats and scarves.  Be sure to let the crafts dry completely before hanging or wearing them.

Paper bags are for more than just lunch sandwiches.  The end of the bag where it folds can be outfitted with a Santa Claus face to make a merry puppet.  Make hands and arms with extra felt pieces.  Let kids stand their puppets up on canned food cans to dry.  This idea also works well for sock puppets.

Red plastic cups or small terra cotta pots can be turned over and used as Santa’s body.  A Styrofoam ball can double as Santa’s head.  Give kids the space to decorate and dress Santa the way that they want to.  Get them to make enough of these Santa cups or pots and place them on your table as a small gift for each dinner guest. 

Using clothespins and pipe cleaners, you can create miniature Santa ornaments for the Christmas tree.  Remember, younger children will need more help and supervision no matter which craft they are making.  For older kids, spread the craft items out over the table and see what their imagination can conjure up.

Santa is a big part of the celebration of Christmas and therefore should be part of the household decorations and festivities as well.  Santa crafts are easy holiday fun that allows kids to contribute to the decorations and be proud of their completed work too, so let them show their creations off as much as they want to family and friends who come by to visit this holiday season.
 

Kids Crafts that Double as Gifts

If you plan on sending homemade gifts this year, get the kids to make some crafts that you can use for specifically for that purpose.  The kids will have a blast, you’ll enjoy the time together and the stress relief of doing it all yourself and the recipient will feel extra special knowing the gifts were made by the little ones.  Here are a few ideas to get your kid’s big imaginations started.

When it comes to kitchen items there are tons of crafts that kids can make and you can give as presents.  Craft stores sell blank aprons in various colors.  Kids can decorate these aprons using craft paints, stencils, and iron-on shapes.  For unique shapes, use the cut edge of a white potato dipped in paint.  Oven mitts, placemats, dishtowels, and napkin rings are other examples of kitchen crafts kids can turn into gifts with just a few simple decorations.

Do the kids like to sew?  They may not be ready to operate your Singer sewing machine yet but they can learn cross stitch and latch hook techniques.  Cross stitching uses colored thread and a needle to create designs on a pre-dyed pattern.  For Christmas, there are cross stitch angels, snowmen, Santa Claus, winter scenes, and other holiday patterns.  Completed patterns can be turned into wall hangings or framed for grandparents or other friends and relatives.

Potpourri is used at all times of the year, but more so around the holidays.  Take the holiday scent of dried flowers, leaves, and pine cones and give it to someone else.  Kids can make drawer sachets.  All that’s needed is some festive cloth, needle and thread, and the potpourri.  They can create a square sachet or a drawstring purse sachet so that the potpourri can be changed to other scents whenever the recipient likes.

Candles are a favorite of many.  At night it’s easy to light pine scented candles and feel like you’re sitting under the stars without the cold air of winter side effect.  Kids can make candles, too.  Purchase wax, wicks, and jars from a craft store.  Let the kids decide which scents they like.  Glass paint in red, green, silver, and gold will do for decorating the jars in holiday style or simply add stickers

Christmas ornaments go over well as gifts.  Let your kids make some of their own designs.  They can make Christmas stars or snowflakes out of Popsicle sticks or make paper ornaments.  Whatever they choose to use, have them write or paint the year on the ornament and sign their name as the creator.  Then you can keep them for years to come as a memory of the holidays and the time you spent together making them.

Encourage your child’s creative side this Christmas.  Everything from picture frames to holiday decorated socks are easy enough for kids to make on their own or with a little assistance.  Once they are through, they can give their creations to teachers, friends, and family members for Christmas presents.