Let the Kids in on the Christmas Card Fun

One of the most tedious tasks of the holiday season is the endless holiday greetings cards, filling out a unique greeting for every cousin, third cousin, close cousin in law that just happened to be at a family barbecue, and then there's all your friends, and friends of your husband, then the people at work. However, the stress of filling out card after card can all be dispersed by simply adding a much more relaxing element of fun. All you need is a few big boxes of crayons, a couple kids, some family photos, stamps, and a huge packet of red and green construction paper.

Kids are especially restless during the holidays, and excited. Instead of keeping them elsewhere and out of the way, put them to work with a fun activity. That will help you out as well.

First off, set them down, and let them know that they're in charge of Christmas cards this year; a sense of responsibility gives lets them know they're being trusted, and make them more satisfied with the results. Give your children all the crayons, a list of names, --if they're old enough, if not, just sign the cards yourself later, and all the construction paper needed. Then just have them draw, stencil, trace whatever Christmassy things they'd like to, on both the front and back of the paper, for friends and relatives.

For extra fun, provide glue, sequins, and glitter. Be sure to supervise though, and help with the glue. Outline designs with stick or Elmer's glue, sprinkle on glitter, and shake off the cards over newspaper. Be sure to let them completely dry before folding them, or putting them in envelopes. Also, using very small, thin amounts of glue helps to ensure fast drying as well. Stick glue sometimes does not dry completely and glitter or sequins may fall off later. After all your cards are completely dry, all you have to do is fold them, sign your family's name and the artist's name as well.

When your cards are all folded and ready to go into the envelopes, insert a recent family photo into each of them, and indicate which child, on the back of the photograph, was the artist. This is a much more fun way to go about filling out and selecting Christmas cards this year, and also provides a sense of accomplishment for your children as well. Most children will be grateful for being able to 'help out' for Christmas. And when your relatives receive their custom drawn and colored Christmas cards, they'll also know who to thank.