Christmas Crafts for Kids

Want some fun crafts to do with your kids for Christmas? Look no further! Please supervise your young children while doing these and all crafts.

Paper Bag Reindeer Puppet
You can make a very simple reindeer puppet using a small paper lunch bag. The antlers are made from handprints traced on construction paper.

Supplies needed: Paper bags
Deep red (or another color) construction paper
Glue
Scissors
Markers or crayons
Optional - googly eyes

Trace two hands on construction paper. Cut them out. These will be the reindeer's antlers.
Fold the two square edges of a paper bag under (at the dotted lines), to form the reindeer's head.
You now have the shape of the reindeer's head for the puppet.
Glue, tape, or staple the handprints behind the reindeer's head.
Cut out eyes from construction paper (or glue on googly eyes). Using red paper, cut out and glue on a large red nose. Glue them to the reindeer's face. Draw a mouth with a marker or crayons.

Make a Paper Wreath
from Little Hand Prints

Make an adorable wreath from your child's handprints.

Supplies needed: A lot of green construction paper
A piece of red construction paper or a red ribbon
Pencil
Scissors
Glue
Optional: Glitter or glitter glue

Trace the child's hand on a piece of green construction paper.
Cut out the hand print. Make about 10 paper hands for each wreath.

Glue the hand prints together in a wreath shape, with the wrists overlapping a little bit.
Glue on a red ribbon bow (or make one from red construction paper).
Optional: Decorate your wreath with glitter or glitter glue.

Paper Plate Angel

Turn a paper plate into a beautiful angel.

Supplies needed: a paper plate
pencil
scissors
tape or stapler
crayons, paint, and/or markers for decoration

Draw a pattern like this on the underside of a paper plate.
Cut along the lines, discarding the dark section.

Decorate the angel.
Overlap the edges of the angel's skirt slightly and tape or staple it into place.

Stand-Alone Star Craft

This 3-dimensional star decoration is made from 2 paper stars that are interlaced. These stars stand by themselves on a table, and make a great patriotic or Christmas decoration.

Supplies: Printer (optional)
Stiff paper (like card stock, oaktag or thin cardboard) or styrofoam meat trays
Scissors
Crayons or markers (optional)

Two paper stars are needed to make one 3-dimensional star. Either draw two identical stars on a piece of stiff paper or print out the star template. To go to the template, click here.
Decorate the two stars (if you like) on both sides, then cut them out.
Make one slit in each star. On one star, the slit goes from an inner corner to the center point of the star; on the other star, the slit goes from an outer corner to the center point.
Slip the two stars together through the slits you just cut. For stability, you may have to tape the stars a bit where they meet at the slits.
You now have a great three-dimensional star decoration that stands by itself on a table.

Brown Paper Christmas Stocking

Make a great Christmas stocking from a brown paper grocery bag. You can hang it from your mantle and stuff it with Christmas goodies.

Supplies needed: Thick brown paper (like grocery bag paper) or brown felt
Pencil
Scissors
Glue
A holepunch
Yarn
Markers or crayons

Draw a large stocking on thick brown paper (or brown felt).
Cut out two copies of this stocking.

Glue the two stockings together around the edges (make sure you don't put any glue along the top opening).
Punch holes around the edges of the stocking.
Weave yarn in and out of the holes. Leave a loop of yarn at one end, and tie it in a knot.

Decorate your stocking with crayons, markers, stickers, construction paper cut-outs, or glitter.

Hand and Foot Reindeer Craft

This cute reindeer is made from your child's handprints and footprint, cut out of construction paper. It makes a cute Christmas decoration.

Supplies: Brown and tan (or orange) construction paper
Pencil
Scissors
Glue
Googly eyes (optional)

Trace around the child's foot using brown construction paper. This will be the reindeer's head.
Trace around the child's hands using tan construction paper. These 2 pieces will be the reindeer's antlers.
Glue the handprint "antlers" to the top of the reindeer. Add a bright red paper nose, a paper (or drawn) mouth, and googly eyes (or paper eyes) to the reindeer's head.
You can now decorate your house for Christmas with these cute reindeers. Don't forget to put the child's name and age on the back of the reindeer.

Make a Paper Tree
from Little Hand Prints

Make an adorable Christmas tree from your child's handprints. This makes a nice decoration to put on a door or a great bulletin board in a classroom.

Supplies needed: A lot of green construction paper
A piece of brown construction paper (for the tree trunk)
A piece of yellow construction paper (for the star)
A large piece of brown paper (or use another color)
Pencil
Scissors
Glue
Optional: Glitter, glitter glue, or paper ornaments to glue on the tree

Trace the child's hand on a piece of green construction paper.
Cut out the hand print. Fold the wrist over.

Make a lot of paper paper hands (the number you'll need depends on the size of your tree). If this is a class project, you may want to put each child's name on his or her hand print.

A nice touch, suggested by Peter Hesselmann, is to have each child write a Christmas wish for themselves on one paper hand, and a Christmas wish for the world on the other. Peter also did not tell his students why they were making the hands; he put the tree up, which surprised and delighted them. Peter also had the teachers and staff each write a wish for the world on a circular piece of construction paper - these were used for baubles on the tree.

Draw a tree shape on a large piece of paper.
Cut out a small rectangle of dark brown paper (this will be the tree trunk).
Glue the rectangle below the tree.

Glue the hand prints together in a tree shape, gluing the folded part of the wrist to the background. Start at the bottom of the tree. Starting with the second row, make the fingers overlap the next hand a little bit.
Cut out a yellow star for the top of the tree. Glue it on the tree.
Write a Christmas message around the tree.

Optional: Decorate your tree with glitter, glitter glue, or paper ornaments.
You can also make the tree on a triangle shape (so there is no background showing).

Snowman Necklace or Ornament

Make a snowman that you can wear as a necklace or use as an ornament.
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
White glue (like Elmer's glue)
Paper clip
Waxed paper
Scraps of construction paper: black, and orange
A hole punch (for cutting eyes, and buttons)
Scissors
Googly eyes (from a craft store) - optional
Tiny buttons - optional
2 very tiny twigs (for arms)
String or yarn (for hanging it)

Working on waxed paper, spread 2 or 3 blobs of white glue in the shape of a snowman. Unfold a paper clip into a V-shape (to use as a hanger).

Cut a tiny hat from black construction paper and put it on the snowman on top of the paper clip hanger. Put the ends of the paper clip into the glue at the top of the snowman. For the snowman's eyes, use black paper circles cut with a hole punch, or use googly eyes. Put the eyes on the snowman. Add a tiny orange (carrot-shaped) nose. Add a few paper buttons (or small real buttons) down the front of the body.
Let the glue dry - it will take a few days. When it dries, the glue will become transparent. When it is completely dry, peel it gently off the waxed paper. String the snowman on some yarn for a cool necklace or use a shorter string to use as an ornament.

Make a Snowman
from Paper Plates

Make a cute snowman decoration using two paper plates. This makes a nice decoration to put on a door or hang in a window

Supplies needed: 2 white paper plates
Construction paper (black, red) or wrapping paper
An orange pipe cleaner (for the nose)
A short length of yearn or ribbon
Hole punch
Marker or crayons
Scissors
Glue
Optional: googly eyes, large buttons

On one of the paper plates, cut off the outer rim, making a smaller plate.
Punch a hole near the rim on both plates.
Tie the two plates together, using the yarn (or ribbon).
On black construction paper, draw and then cut out a top hat and two boots. On colored construction paper (or gift wrap paper), draw and then cut out two mittens.
Glue the hat, boots and mittens on the snowman.
Either glue on googly eyes or draw eyes. Draw a mouth. For the nose, cut a short length from an orange pipe cleaner. Stick the pipe cleaner through the plate to secure it (if the plate is too tough, make a tiny hole with the tip of the scissors).
For the buttons, you can cut out shapes from construction paper, use round stickers, glue on real buttons, or simply draw them.

You now have a cute snowman decoration!

Pine Cone Christmas Tree

A easy-to-make pine cone Christmas Tree. Use it as a Christmas decoration or as a tree ornament. This is a simple craft that even young children can help make.

For each Pine Cone Christmas Tree you will need: a large, open pine cone (pick one that is tree-shaped and stands upright easily)
Glitter
A few cotton balls
White glue (like Elmer's)
Dental floss and a needle
Small beads
A small bow or star to top off your little tree

Glue a few cotton balls to the bottom of the pine cone. These look like snow and help the "tree" stand upright.
Put a little dab of glue at the tips of the pine cone and then sprinkle on glitter.
String some small beads onto dental floss (about 1 to 1 1/2 ft or more, depending on the size of the pine cone). To string the beads easily, tie one bead securely to the string. Then give the floss to the child for stringing. Older children can use a needle to help with the stringing. When the stringing is done, tie off the last bead with a knot.

Wrap the beads around the pine cone and glue them to the tree.
Top off your tree with a small bow or other decoration.

Shooting Star Christmas Tree Ornament

A simple-to-make Shooting Star Christmas Tree Ornament.

For the Shooting Star Christmas Tree Ornaments you will need: A small piece of thick paper, felt, or other flexible, easy-to-cut material - one or two colors
Scissors
Pencil
Reinforcements (optional)
Glitter (optional)
Markers (optional)
Glue

Cut a circle from the paper, felt or other material. A good circle template is a coffee mug.
Starting at the edge, cut a spiral going to the center of the circle.
Decorate with glitter or markers.

Cut a small star, about 1 or 2 inches wide. Make a tiny hole in the star. The ornament will hang from this hole, so you might want to use reinforcements (these are doughnut-shaped pieces of plastic used to reinforce the holes in notebook paper and are available at stationery stores).
Decorate the star with glitter or markers.

Glue the star to the center of the shooting star.

Real Crystal Snowflake

Make an amazing snowflake from real crystal (borax). This is a beautiful project (and also demonstrates some basic principles of chemistry).

Supplies needed: Wide mouthed jar
3 white pipe cleaners
String
Scissors
Pencil
Boiling water (have an adult do this part)
Spoon
Borax (called 20 Mule Team Borax Laundry Booster - the product called Boraxo will NOT work)
Optional: blue food coloring

Make a giant snowflake frame from 3 white pipe cleaners and string. Twist the 3 pipe cleaners together in the center to make a 6-sided, spiky figure.
Make sure this figure fits inside the wide-mouthed jar.

Tie the string around the pipe cleaners to look like a snowflake shape. Trim the excess string.
Tie a few inches of string to one of the pipe cleaners. Tie the other end of the string to a pencil, so that the snowflake will hang from the pencil and dangle inside the jar.
Take the snowflake out of the jar.

Pour boiling water into the jar (have an adult do this part).
Add the 20 Mule Team Borax Laundry Booster to the hot water in the jar.

Keep adding the Borax until you have a supersaturated solution (you will see undissolved Borax at the bottom of the jar). You'll have to add about 3 tablespoonfuls of the 20 Mule Team Borax Laundry Booster to each cup of hot water in the jar.

Optional: Add a few drops of blue food coloring for a bluish snowflake.

Hang the snowflake in the jar and wait at least overnight.
In the morning, your snowflake will be covered with beautiful crystals.

As the supersaturated solution cools, the borax comes out of solution (less of the borax can dissolve in cool water) and forms crystals on the pipe cleaners and string.

You can do the same type of project using supersaturated sugar-water and a string, making edible rock candy (but the crystals take longer to form).

Note: One mother wrote about her son's severe allergy to borax (and any product containing it). She didn't know he was allergic to it until she used some borax in the wash.

Christmas Tree Card
You can make a simple tree card for Christmas made from construction paper.

Supplies needed: Printer
Cardstock or other thick paper for the card
Construction paper for the tree and trunk (brown, green, and yellow)
Scissors
A marker or pen

Fold a piece of cardstock or construction paper in half to form the card.
You will need to cut out a four green triangles (the boughs of the tree), a small brown rectangle (the tree trunk) and a yellow star (for the top of the tree).
To print out the tree template, click here

Tree template
Glue the brown rectangular to the lower front of your card - this will be the tree trunk.
Glue the green triangles above the tree trunk. Glue the yellow star atop the tree.
Write a Christmas greeting on your card. If you'd like, draw some ornaments on your tree (or use stickers).
You now have a festive Christmas card!

Christmas Tree Card

You can make a simple tree card for Christmas made from construction paper.

Supplies needed: Printer
Cardstock or other thick paper for the card
Construction paper for the tree and trunk (brown, green, and yellow)
Scissors
A marker or pen

Fold a piece of cardstock or construction paper in half to form the card.
You will need to cut out a four green triangles (the boughs of the tree), a small brown rectangle (the tree trunk) and a yellow star (for the top of the tree).
To print out the tree template, click here

Tree template
Glue the brown rectangular to the lower front of your card - this will be the tree trunk.
Glue the green triangles above the tree trunk. Glue the yellow star atop the tree.
Write a Christmas greeting on your card. If you'd like, draw some ornaments on your tree (or use stickers).
You now have a festive Christmas card!

Puzzle Piece Picture Frame
This is really cute!

MATERIALS:
Old cereal box
Puzzle pieces
Red, green and brown paint (we use tempra as I have young children, but you can use acrylic if you trust your kids not to get it on their clothes)
Photo
scrap of red felt (and green for a holly leaf - optional) or small red pom pom
2 wiggly eyes (or you can make paint or paper ones)

INSTRUCTIONS:
Place the photo onto the cereal box to determine the size and shape you want (you can make it circular, square, oval, triangular, etc)

Cut out a shape from the cereal box at least 1 inch bigger than the photo (this is going to be your frame).

Cut a shape out of the center of your "frame" (without cutting through - this is a job for an adult). Again, you should end up with at least a 1 inch frame.

Paint your puzzle pieces (some red and some green) and let dry

Glue them onto your frame, overlapping the pieces.

Glue the photo to the back of the frame.

MAKE YOUR REINDEER:
Take 3 puzzle pieces (preferably one should be a bit bigger than the other two).

Paint the 3 puzzle pieces brown/ let dry.

Next take the two smaller puzzle pieces and glue them to the larger one in the corners only.

Then attached the wiggly eyes.

Cut-out a small red circle for the nose and glue.

Then in the corner of one of Rudolph's antler make a small holly leaf from green felt.

Glue the reindeer into the corner of the frame.

Desk Snow Globe

Materials:
Spray Paint (Dark Green or Gold are nice)
Clean baby food jar
Floral Clay
Glitter
Foil Figurines

Instructions
Spray paint baby food jar lids. I had a dark teal green so I used that. Gold would be pretty.

Used a little floral clay inside lids. The children liked spreading it around inside the rim.

Sprinkle some glitter and some foil figurines and fill with water.

Easy Blanket Idea
These blankets are very popular. They are usually made out of fleece material and VERY easy and fast to make!

Materials:
2 pieces of fleece, knit jersey, or another fabric that won't ravel when you cut it
( They should be the size you want the finished blanket to be plus an extra 4" all around
They can be contrasting, matching, or the same fabric)

Instructions:
Lay them out on the floor with wrong sides together. Trim if you wish, but the fabric edges don't have to *exactly* match.

Now cut all around through both layers - strips about 4" long & 1" to 1.25" wide (like fringe).

You will also have to cut a square out of each corner - you will have to judge how big.

Now just double-knot each pair of strips tightly all the way around.

That's it! Since the fabric won't unravel there's no sewing involved. And the finished blanket is machine-washable.

Tile Collage Craft
This is another very easy and fun craft.

MATERIALS
a tile
newspapers, magazines, or pictures
paintbrush
school glue

INSTRUCTIONS
Cut pictures out of the magazine that you like and letters too if you want to write something
(it looks cool if you have different sizes, fonts, etc.) Or you can use pictures of yourself or anything you want.

You glue the pictures onto the tile .

When that is dry, paint a layer or two of glue on it to keep it from coming off.

Remember kids just love spending time with you, and crafting makes every moment more memorable. Scoop up your child and make some lasting memories!