Crafts

• Paper Plate Ornament: (Materials: 2 small paper plates, ribbon, paint, glue, glitter of assorted colors)  To begin, glue two paper plates together, front to front.  Let dry.  With a hole puncher, punch a hole at the top of the glued plates.  Then, paint both sides of the paper plate ornament and let dry.  Once dry, draw designs on the ornament with glue. Then add glitter to the designs.  Some designs to draw: Christmas tree, gift, large star, flower, snowman, lines and circles, etc. Tie ribbon through the punched holes and you're done!

• Reindeer Ornament: (Materials: ribbon, paper bag, reindeer pattern, glitter, glue, newspaper strips, plastic eyes, red pom poms, tiny sleigh bells) Trace reindeer pattern onto paper bag and cut out.  The result should be two reindeers.  Place the two reindeer together and glue from the tail to the nose, leaving the top open.  Let dry.  Take strips of newspaper and begin stuffing reindeer.  Glue the rest of the reindeer together.  Glue small red pom poms for the nose. Add one eye to each side of the reindeer.  Draw antlers using glue, then glitter with silver.  Attach a tiny sleigh bell to ribbon and tie around reindeer's neck.  Then punch a hole on top and tie with ribbon to complete the ornament.  Click here for a picture. Print reindeer pattern here.

• Christmas Tree:  (sheet of oak tag, cotton balls, glue, star, green spray paint) Using a sheet of oak tag, make a cone and glue/staple it together. Trim the bottom if necessary.  Then, cover the cone with cotton balls using glue. Add a yellow star to the top of the tree (you can also use a bow). Spray paint the tree with green paint.  Let dry.  If you like, add small ornaments, tinsel, etc.  Click here for a picture.

• Stockings: (Materials: different colored felt, cotton balls, glue, glitter) Trace a stocking pattern onto two squares of felt and cut out.  Glue the edges together to form a stocking.  Add cotton to the top of the stocking. Let dry.  Add a name using glitter and glue if desired.

• Large Christmas Tree for bulletin boards: (Materials: green construction paper) Trace two hands onto the green construction paper.  Glitter them gold, silver, or multi-colored.  Let dry.  Then use the hands to form a large tree for the bulletin board.  Click here for a picture.

• Acorn Tree: (Materials: acorns, green paint, star, small decorations, cotton snow) Paint acorn green and let dry.  Add construction paper star or star stickers.  At a craft store, buy tiny decorations such as gift boxes, bells, etc.  Place acorn tree on a square of cotton snow.  Glue small gift boxes to cotton snow. Add fake snow and other decorations to tree.

• Acorn Ornament: (Materials: acorns, paint, ribbon, bells) Use an acorn to create an ornament.  Paint acorn any color they like (or leave it as it is). Tie ribbon to the top of the acorn.  Glue bells or other decorations to the acorn.  

• Peppermint Candy: (Materials: paper plate bowls, colored plastic wrap/cellophane, twist ties, markers) Staple or glue two bowls together.  Draw lines  to create peppermint candy triangles.  Use markers to color in alternate triangles.  Wrap bowls with different colored cellophane and tie with twist ties.  Use a wall decorations.

• Gingerbread House [taken from Mailbox Magazine]: (Materials: milk cartons, icing, graham crackers, and candy). Clean milk cartons and staple the top together.  Cover the milk carton with icing and add graham crackers for walls.  Then glue (or use icing) to add candy to the gingerbread house. Let dry.

• Cotton Candy Cane: (Materials: red construction paper, cotton, glue, candy cane pattern) Make large candy cane by tracing a candy cane pattern on red construction paper and cutting it out.  Draw lines on candy cane and fill in with white cotton balls to create red and white effect. 

• Jingle Bells Bracelet: (Materials: jingle bells, beads, silver elastic): Give each student 3-4 jingle bells, beads, and some silver elastic to create a jingly bracelet.  They can put all the bells together or have your students create a pattern such as 3 beads and a bell 3 beads and a bell, etc.

   Activities

• Christmas Pop-up Book: Cut out pictures from circulars of things kids want for Christmas.  Create pages for pop-up book by folding a piece of construction paper in half, cutting two parallel lines at the folds, and inverting the square into the fold.  Open up construction paper....there should be a pop-up square in the middle of the fold.  Clue several of these pages back to front to create a book, or punch holes on the top and tie with ribbon/string.  Next, glue pictures onto pop-up squares.  Write 1-2 sentences for each picture.  Add a cover to the book using gift wrap.  Students can read their books aloud and can be kept in the library for others to read.

• Christmas Lights Word Wall: Cut out light bulbs from different colored construction paper.  Label each light bulb with a word that represents Christmas and other holidays.  Add string around a doorway, wall, or bulletin board.  Attach the light bulbs to create a string of Christmas lights--- and there is your word wall.

• Christmas Poems: There are several ways to write Christmas poems--- some can be acrostic or rhyming. For acrostic poetry, you can use the following words: Santa, Christmas, Gifts, etc. When doing a rhyming poem, have students pick several words from the Holiday Word Wall.  Have them find words that rhyme with the words they have chosen.  Then, create a poem using the list of words they have created.

• Play Hangman using Christmas words.

• Create a crossword puzzle or word search. (Check out Puzzlemaker from Discovery.com)

• Write a letter to Santa and then email it.

• Write as many words as possible using the letters in Merry Christmas.

• Christmas Word Search

• Christmas Scramble

 Online Activities for kids