How to Make Decorative Straws for the Holidays - A Children's Craft

Some people find that the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is their busiest time of the year. There are presents to buy and wrap, decorations to put up, baking to be done, school programs and parties to attend, not to mention hosting a holiday party or two of your own. With all those other events going on, preparation for hosting a holiday party can be daunting. One way to limit your preparation time is to enlist the help of your children. Children love parties and can be a great help in many areas, one being with the party decorations. One decoration that is ideal for a children's holiday party is decorative holiday straws. Not only are you getting a festive decoration for your party, you are also giving the children a fun and easy task that keeps them entertained while you are free to do other party preparations.

Items Needed to Make Holiday Straws

-Assorted color of foam sheets
-Box of straws (non-bendable)
-Small holiday cookie cutters (snowman, Santa, Christmas tree, star, bell)
-Craft glue
-Scissors
-Pencil
-Assorted colors of markers

How to Make Holiday Straws

Have the children place a cookie cutter near the edge of a foam sheet and trace around it with the pencil. You will want them to use a pencil and not a marker so as not to leave any permanent marks on the cookie cutter. Have them cover an entire foam sheet with cookie cutter images. After they have a foam sheet full, they can cut out the images.

The children can use the markers to draw a face on the Santa, ornaments on the Christmas tree, or a design on the bell. They can write names on the straws of the children who will be attending the holiday party. The children should be careful not to smudge the designs they create.

After the foam images have dried, it should be positioned about one-inch from the top of the straw and glued in place. After the glue has dried, the straws are now ready to use.

Holiday Straw Variations

If you cannot find foam sheets, you can use construction paper, card stock or old Christmas cards.

Use red straws with green Christmas trees, white straws with red Santas or blue straws with golden stars.

Avoid using glitter or sequences on the foam cut outs as these may fall in the children's drink.

Source: Personal Experience