Best Christmas Crafts for Children

Christmas is fast approaching. Where has the year gone? In this time of stress and constantly being on the go, what's better than taking a moment to slow down? That's where Christmas crafts for children come in handy. They give you the opportunity to relax and enjoy spending some quality time with your kids.

The first Christmas craft for children is the Hand Print Wreath. Children love it when you trace their hands so they will enjoy this craft. You will need glue, scissors, green construction paper, a pen or pencil and red construction paper or red ribbon. Trace your child's hand and let them cut it out. You will need about ten paper hands for each wreath that you want to make. Next you should glue the paper hands together, overlapping the wrists, in a circle wreath shape. You can then draw out a bow on the red construction paper. Have you child cut it out and glue it at the bottom of the wreath. Or you can use a real red ribbon bow for the bottom of the wreath. Once the wreath is dry you can let your child decorate the wreath with glitters or just coloring with crayons.

The next Christmas craft for children is a String of Gingerbread Men. This is a great craft to use when decorating doorways of any room in your house. For this you will need brown construction paper, crayons or markers, scissors, glue or tape and a long piece of yarn. Start by drawing out a gingerbread man onto the brown construction paper. Add a rectangle to the top of his head that will be used to hang the gingerbread man from. Draw as many men as you would like to hang onto the piece of yarn. Have your child cut these out and then decorate them with the crayons or markers. Fold over the little rectangle tabs on the top of the gingerbread men and attach them to the piece of yarn with tape, glue or even staples. Now your String of Gingerbread Men is ready to hand anywhere for your holiday enjoyment.

Up next is the Santa Handprint. My older two girls both did this Christmas craft during their kindergarten school year. For this craft you will need construction paper of your color choice (light blue usually looks great), red and white paint (I prefer fingerpaint but poster paint works too), black and red markers, scissors, hole punch and ribbon. Next comes the messy part. Have your child hold out their hand and begin painting your child's hand in the following paint pattern. Start with painting white on the tip of the thump, red on the ball of their hand with a little white under the red, mix some red and white to make pink and paint it on the palm of your child's hand. Then paint white down the four fingers. Lay your child's painted hand down onto the construction paper firmly. Make sure that all finger are straight, next to each other and that the thumb is right next to the fingers. Paint one finger tip with white paint to make a puff ball at the end of Santa's hat. Once Santa is dry use the markers to draw Santa's face. Have your child cut out a big circle around Satna, punch a hole at the top and thread riddon through. Now your Santa Handprint is ready to hang anywhere to display.

Lastly is the famous popcorn garland but with a new twist. Of course you can always do the traditional popcorn and/or cranberries but why not make it a bit easier for your child to handle? Instead of popcorn you can use Cheerios or any other cereal with a hole in the center of it. These are much easier for the little ones to thread. You will need a long need, scissors, cereals and a strong thread or fishing line (I like to use yarn and a big plastic needle). Thread the cereals onto the thread until you have the perfect length of garland. Tie off the ends and enjoy hanging the garland anywhere.

During the stressful, busy holidays it's always nice to stop, take a breathe and enjoy some good, quality, crafting time with your children.