This activity gives children a different surface and materials to experiment sewing with.

Materials

• Burlap (We went with this garland size so it was easy to hold, you could also use an embroidery hoop to help with the process)
• Ribbon
• Bias tape
• Embroidery floss
• 2 needles (one for the embroidery floss and beads and a plastic one with a large eye for ribbon etc.)
• Beads
• Cord
• Scissors

Other alternatives you could use:

• Yarn
• Strips of fabric
• Cord

Directions

• Cut a piece of ribbon or bias tape about two lengths of your arm.  Tie a knot at one end (we found we needed to tie it about 3 times based on the space sizes in our burlap).  Thread the needle on the other end.

• Pick a spot and sew outward in a flower shape, leaving a space in the centre.  Knot the end on the bottom (underside) when you have reached a desired fullness.  Repeat until you have as many flowers as you would like.

• Using embroidery floss, sew your beads in the centre.

• We also trimmed and sewed the ends of the runner for a more polished look.

• Enjoy  your runner at your holiday table!

Purpose

• Learning to sew with various materials
• Developing one’s fine motor skills
• Creating keepsakes for celebrations

Safety Notes

• Use a needle and scissors with care and adult supervision.
• Yarn, ribbon etc. can be a strangulation hazard so use with adult supervision.
• Beads can be a choking hazard and therefore are not intended for children ages 0-3 or those that tend to put things in their mouths.

• This activity was featured on The Crafty Crow!  Looking for other handmade holiday items?  Check it out!

http://www.thecraftycrow.net/2014/12/peg-doll-family-snowglobe-diy.html

• It was also featured on Margaret Bloom’s (author of Making Peg Dolls) site, We Bloom Here as part of a collection of tutorials for children on making peg dolls.  Her two books are beautifully inspiring and we have given them as part of a kit with supplies to make peg dolls to friends.  http://webloomhere.blogspot.ca/2014/12/pegdoll-families.html

Materials

Peg People

• Peg people (You can find these unfinished at craft stores or online stores such as Etsy)
• Beads (*Optional: for example you could glue green ones together to make a tree or use a small, medium and large one, painted white to make a snow person if you wanted to include something like that in your wintery world.)

Painting 

• Acrylic paint
• Paint brushes (we used a flat shape)
• Painter’s tape
• Scissors
• Pencil/erasers
• Stylus or toothpick
• Paint palette
• Craft tray
• Smock

•  Acrylic gloss (optional finish)

Embellishments Here are a few suggestions:

• Fabric
• Felt
• Beads
• Fabric glue

“Globe”

• Ceramic paint
• Artificial snow
• Cloche or jar

Directions

People:

• Tape off your body and paint your head to match your family’s skin tones if you like.  We decided to leave them unfinished.

• For painting peg people we found it helpful to use painter’s tape and paint in layers.  So for example we covered the head and the pants area with tape (and a section for a shirt logo/design) and then painted the shirt.  Let this dry overnight.

• Peel off the tape for the pants area, tape the shirt area and paint the pants etc.

• To make the eyes we dipped a stylus in paint to make dots or you could use something similar like a toothpick.  You could also use a thin tipped paint pen.

• Sketch a hairline and paint it in.

• When we were finished all the painting and it was dry, we covered the people in a layer of acrylic gloss.

• We then added details with fabric and felt. (Note: This a perfect way to cover up any imperfections that may have occurred!)

Globe:

• We put little snow dots on our glass enclosure using a paint pen.

• We then filled the bottom of our “globe” with artificial snow.

• Arrange your family in the globe and add your lid.

• Display somewhere special in your home or carefully wrap and give as a keepsake.

Purpose

• Learning how to use painter’s tape
• Painting small objects
• Representing one’s family

Safety Notes

• Use scissors with care and adult supervision.
• Be sure to wear a smock and use a craft tray to prevent potential damage to surfaces and clothing from paint.
• Beads can be a choking hazard and are not recommended for children 0-3 or those that tend to put things in their mouths.

Materials

Painting

• Shirt box or grocery bag
• Craft paint
• String or yarn
• Shallow containers
• Scissors
• Craft tray
• Smock
• Cloth or paper towel (*this can be a messy one!)

Yarn Bow

• Yarn
• Scissors
• Cardboard
• Clear tape

*A fun alternative to the yarn bow which we included in the photograph might be rick rack used as ribbon!

Directions

String Painting

• Cut enough yarn pieces to use one with each colour of paint.  We used a size that about half the length of our arm.

• Don your smock.

• Put the lid portion of your box into your craft tray.  If you are using a brown grocery bag, cut up the side seam (have an adult help with this process), cut off the bottom and turn it inside out so you have a rectangular surface with out print to paint on.  You could also use kraft paper from the post office.

• Put some paint into shallow containers.

• Dip your yarn into your containers, making sure it is saturated (This is the key to the activity effectively working!)

• Arrange it carefully on your box or paper.  Allow it to sit for a few seconds to absorb if need be.  You may need to gently touch it with your finger to assure contact.  Remove it slowly and apply another colour, wiping your hands in between.

• When you are done, allow it to dry over night.

Yarn Bow

• Cut a little window out of your cardboard as shown in the photograph.  (You may need an adult to do this as cutting cardboard can be tricky!)

• Tape one end of your yarn down on one side of the window.

• Wrap your yarn around until you reach a desired fullness.

• Take another piece of yarn, knot it around the middle and wrap it around, through the window, knotting the end.  Trim any excess yarn off.

• Gently slip your bow off your cardboard.

• Attach it to your present.

Purpose

• Re-purposing materials
• Thinking of others
• Using a variety of materials to paint with

Safety Notes

• Be sure to wear a smock to protect your clothing and use a craft tray to protect work surfaces.
• Use scissors with care and adult supervision.
• Yarn can be a strangulation hazard so use with adult supervision.

Materials

• White balloons
• Twine, ribbon etc.
• Orange permanent marker
• Black permanent marker
• Other coloured permanent markers (optional)
• Clear tape
• Bowl
• Smock

Directions

• Have an adult blow up your balloons.

• Don a smock to protect your clothes.

• On your balloons, draw a face with marker.  To make it easier for younger children, stabilize your balloon in a bowl for drawing.  One technique our son taught us for the eyes was to draw a circle, make a cross and then fill in 3/4 of the sections!

• Add any other details you may like with marker.

• Tape the twine on top of the snow person’s heads.

• Hang your garland and enjoy!

Purpose

• Drawing on various surfaces
• Recognizing symbols associated with different seasons

Safety Notes

• Balloons can be a choking hazard.  Be sure that an adult blows them up.
• Wear a smock to protect your clothing when using permanent markers.

Materials

• Food colouring
• New spray bottles
• Water
• Craft tray
• Smock
• You may want to wear old snow gear to avoid stains

Additional option

• Ice cube tray

Directions

• Purchase new spray bottles.  We recommend industrial ones as they hold up better and are easy to spray with mitts on.  You can buy them inexpensively at Home Depot.  As children often eat snow (I know, gross, but realistic!), we strongly urge you not to wash out and re-use bottles that previously housed chemicals for safety reasons.

• Fill your bottles with water.

• Don your smock and put your bottles over a craft tray.  Add food colouring until you get your desired shade.

• Secure your sprayer.

• Don old snow gear (in case of staining).

• Spray the snow with your water solution.

• The next day once the water has frozen, dig out the pieces of coloured snow (you might water to wear water resistant, dark coloured mitts for this play) and enjoy imaginative play with your “jewels”.

• If you want to simplify the process, simply fill ice cube trays with water, add a few drops of food colouring, freeze overnight, take outside and enjoy!

Purpose

• Ideas for imaginative play
• Encouraging outdoor play
• Opportunities for colour mixing

Safety Notes

• Exercise caution when using food colouring as it may stain some surfaces.
• Use new spray bottles, rather than washing out ones that held chemicals.

Materials

Base 

• White felt
• Large piece of felt for the background
• Various colours of felt
• Fabric scissors

Kit Materials (for the child to personalize the snow person)

• Various colours of felt
• Fabric scissors (optional)

Storage

• Plastic shoe box or similar container
• Zippered plastic bag
• Label (Cut it out with scissors and attach with clear tape) decorate-a-snow-person
• Ribbon
• Clear tape

Directions

• Cut three snowballs out of white felt.  One being small, the next medium and the last large.

• Cut out some basic elements of a snow person- carrot nose, coal for the smile etc.

• This will form a basic snow person for the person to personalize or “decorate”.

• If you are giving this as a gift, print out the tag entitled “Decorate a Snow Person” and attach it to a plastic shoe box with clear tape.  Put your background inside, along with your 3 snowballs.  Put your nose etc. in the zippered bag.  Include felt for the child(ren) to make their own additions to the snow person (such as turning it into a mermaid!).  You may want to include a pair of fabric scissors.  You could include embellishments for them to glue onto their felt such as buttons and therefore you might want to include a tube of fabric glue.

• Give it to a friend and see what they come up with!

Purpose

• Developing one’s creativity (taking a basic idea and extending it)
• Making items for play

Safety Notes

• Use fabric scissors with care and direct adult supervision as they tend to be sharp.
• Be sure to wear a smock when using fabric glue so as to not damage your clothing.
• Buttons and small embellishments can be choking hazards.  Be sure to keep them out of reach from children 0-3 or those that tend to put things into their mouths.

Materials

• Ribbon
• Felt
• Fabric glue *Optional, however, we went with this method. You could also use sewing instead.
• Fabric scissors
• Embroidery floss/ needle
• Buttons
• Template button_bib_necklace_template
• Smock

Directions

• Print the template, pin it onto the felt and cut it out twice (to make a top and a bottom) or make your own base in a shape you like.  As you can see, we experimented with two slightly different shapes in making two of the necklaces.  However, the method is the same.

• Make two small slits on top base piece.  We did by making a slight fold and then making a small snip, as seen in the photo.

• Sew a basic stitch around the perimeter of your top base.  You could do this for both the front and the back pieces for a more polished look.

• Sew the buttons onto the top base. You could tie off each button or for younger children, they could sew between the buttons if that is easier (as this will be covered up by the backing.)

• Cut two pieces of ribbon that would be long enough to tie together to make a bow at the back of your neck.

• Don your smock.

• Slide the ribbon through the slit on the top base and glue the ends down on the back with fabric glue.

• Glue the bottom base onto the back of the top base with fabric glue.  Allow your necklace to dry overnight.

• Tie your necklace into a bow and snip off any excess ribbon.

• Enjoy!

Purpose

• Re-using/ re-imagining materials for a new use.

Safety Notes

• Ribbon can be a strangulation hazard- use with direct supervision.
• Remove your necklace for play (e.g., at the playground) for this reason.
• Buttons can be a choking hazard and are not recommended for children 0-3 or those who tend to put things in their mouths.
• Be sure to wear a smock to protect your clothing when working with fabric glue.