I love to do crafts with Tatum, but for some reason Christmas time is my favourite time of the year to get crafty. I’m not sure if it’s because of the frigid temperatures outside and we need to occupy ourselves indoors, or if it’s the yearly tradition of making crafts to decorate the house with, but either way I love this time of year for crafting.
Tatum and I have done our fair share of Christmas crafts, so I thought back to our favourite ones we’ve done and narrowed it down to ten cute and simple crafts for little ones to do. We’ll be doing a few of these over again this year because we loved doing them so much in previous years!
Take a look at our 10 favourite crafts, and as always, share with us any cute Christmas/holiday crafts you’ve done or plan to do with your children!
This adorable yet super easy wreath from Rhyme Time is the perfect craft to do with your kids (or to let them do on their own!). Cut out the middle of a paper plate, have you or your child paint it green, and let them go crazy with decorating it. This is where you can get rid of all of those little odds and ends that are lurking in your boxes of craft stuff. Pom poms, glass beads, sparkles, tissue paper, whatever you can scrounge up is perfect. Add a bow on top and you’ve got a cute handmade wreath!
Candy Cane Reindeer
These are the candy cane reindeer that Tatum and I made last year. This is another let-the-kids-go-crazy type craft. Grab a box of candy canes, some googly eyes, brown pipe cleaners and something red for a nose — either a sticky bead like the ones we used in the picture, little red pom poms, etc. and you’ve got your reindeer! I have these little guys hanging around all over the house.
Tatum and I have done this craft from Kaboose for the last two years and we’ll do it again this year! This is exactly a holiday craft but it is still very seasonal, and I like to keep it up throughout the winter time. This is another easy craft using items you probably already have in your home (construction paper, brown paint, and a sprinkle of sugar) and can also be a special keepsake. Each year we do one, I write Tatum’s age on the back of it so I can see how her little hand grows each year. You can improvise and add whatever else you have lying around — real twigs, cotton balls for snow, or sparkles to make it your own.
I love to decorate with natural materials, and using things like pinecones, acorns and branches during the winter are some of my favourite ways to add some seasonal cheer to our home. Tatum and I love going for nature walks any time of the year, and she brings along a little basket to collect things on our walks. Going out for a walk and making it a goal to find the best pinecones to make a pretty garland like this one from Grow Creative is a fun activity and craft to do with your little ones. You can go all out and add some festive spray paint and bows, or you can do what I do and leave the pinecones as is.
This is one of my favourite crafts that Tatum and I have done together. Your little ones can get messy mixing the ingredients together for these homemade Christmas ornaments, and the end result is delicious smelling decorations for your tree! We made these three years ago with this simple recipe from All Recipes, and still have them. They still smell amazing too. You probably already have cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg lurking around your spice cabinet, and with the addition of some applesauce and glue you will have adorable handmade ornaments to decorate your tree. We also made a bunch for Tatum’s cousins one year and used them as gift tags.
I promise you that these paper snowflakes from Today’s Parent are MUCH easier to make than they appear in this picture. Otherwise I would not have attempted them. These paper snowflakes are a fun twist on your regular cut-designs-out-of-folded-paper snowflakes, and look especially pretty when hung in front of a window. All it requires is some cutting and folding, and you’ve got professional-looking snowflake crafts for your home!
I’ve been deciding over the last few days about whether or not to make our own Advent calendar this year, and when I saw this cute and unique calendar from Spoonful I was sold! Print out the tree template provided, turn them into cone-shapes, add the numbers and you have yourself an adorable Advent calendar. Hide little treats or small gifts underneath each tree for a special treat for your kids each day until December 24th!
Do you have any crafts that you do each year with your children? Are you planning on trying anything new this year?
{Franki}
