Simple Homemade Christmas Ornaments for Children

In addition to creating a tangible item, making Christmas ornaments is eco-friendly, budget conscious, and promotes family time. This craft can turn into gifts for others, or decoration for your own tree and can provide enjoyment for kids starting as young as age two. A quick trip to the craft store, into the woods, and/or through the supply box will provide everything needed to create homemade Christmas ornaments. Here are three easy and inexpensive ornaments to make.

Hanging Shapes

Supplies: pressboard shapes, paint, glue, pipe cleaners

Step 1: Visit a craft store and pick up small pressboard shapes. These can be anything from Christmas stockings to airplanes to squares. Basically whatever you like to see on your tree.

Step 2: Set out the paint and get to work decorating the shapes. Depending on who is doing the painting, the shape can be classic or quirky. Purple moose with yellow antlers look smart next to the traditional Christmas tree flecked with silver bulbs. Children can use the shapes as stencils, write their names, and let their imaginations go.

Step 3: While the paint dries, bend pipe cleaners into U shapes and twist the ends together. Then glue the twisted ends onto the back of the shapes. Hot glue works best, but simple craft glue is also effective. To help ensure the pipe cleaner adheres to the press board, use a clip to apply pressure while the glue dries. Once the glue is dry the ornaments are ready to hang from the tree by the pipe cleaners.

Pinecone Ornaments

Supplies: Pinecones, paint, glue, hanging hooks

Step 1: Walk through the woods and pick up assorted sized pinecones.

Step 2: Liberally apply paint to ends of pinecones. Using silver and white paint creates a faux-snow appearance, but anything goes.

Step 3: Once the paint is dry, loop hanging hooks through end of one of pine cones. If you are fortunate you will be able to pierce through with a hook. Otherwise, use glue to adhere the hook to the pinecone. Ready to hang!

Christmas Card Cut Outs

Supplies: Greeting cards, scissors, hole punch, string

Step 1: Gather greeting cards, preferably old cards from previous years.

Step 2: Cut out the images from the card, or interesting shapes the capture entire patterns.

Step 3: Punch a hole through the top of each cut out.

Step 4: Loop a 6-inch piece of string through the hole and tie ends together. The length of the string can vary depending on how long you want the ornament to hang.

Each of these homemade ornaments is simple, inexpensive, and relatively quick to make. A range of ages can make these ornaments, and with a little creativity the ornaments can double as decorations and child-gifts.