Materials

• Child’s artwork (make sure that it is a piece that they are okay with being cut up.)
• Paper cutter or ruler/pencil/scissors
• Craft glue or a glue gun
• Clear tape
• Weight such as a rock or binder clip or paper clip
• Scissors
• Smock
• Craft tray

Directions

• Cut four strips of your child’s artwork.

• Tape or glue  the two ends of two strips together, making a loop with the artwork facing out.  Hold it together with a binder clip to allow it to dry.  You could also have an adult use a glue gun to do it for a speedy finish!

• Glue the inside mid-point (as seen in the photos).  To hold this down to dry (if you are using craft glue), sit a weight on top such as a rock or clip it with a binder clip.  We found it was helpful to glue the area in the loop where the two seams were to hide them in the finished project.

• Allow to dry overnight.
• Wrap another other strip around the middle of the bow and trim so that it is snug.

• Glue that loop together.  We suggest if you are using craft glue to use a paper clip or a binder clip to hold it in place while it dries.
• Cut your fourth strip in half and tape them to the the top of your gift in an upside down “V” formation as seen in the photo.

• Attach your dried bow on top and give it to someone special!

Purpose

• Re-imagining items
• Thinking of others
• Adding a personal touch to an item

Safety Notes

• A paper cutter is for adult use or depending on the age and abilities of your child, with direct, guided supervision.
• Use non- toxic products
• Use a smock to protect your clothing, should you need it and a craft tray to protect surfaces.
• A glue gun is for adult use.

• This post was featured on The Crafty Crow!  Want other fun holiday ideas?  Please check them out!

 http://www.thecraftycrow.net/2014/12/10-favorite-christmas-crafts-for-kids.html

• It was also featured on the Fun Crafts Kids site: http://funcraftskids.com/snowman-bead-bracelet-ornament/ .  Pop by and check out this fun-filled site!

Materials

• Unfinished wooden beads (We used a variety pack with small, medium & large sizes.  For smaller children, chose larger ones than those featured)
• White paint
• Paint brush
• BBQ skewer
• Floral foam
• Cord
• Thin markers (we used permanent markers)
• Scissors
• Smock
• Craft tray

Directions

• Put your beads on a BBQ skewer and stick the skewer into the foam, placing it on a craft tray.  This method makes them easy to paint.  However, a BBQ skewer can be sharp so exercise care or have an adult do it for you.

• Don your smock.

• Put a little paint into a shallow tray and paint your beads.  Allow them to dry overnight.

•  Once your beads have throughly dried, use your markers to add details to make your snow person.

•  Fold your cord in half, make a knotted loop (see video) and thread the two ends through your beads, starting with the small bead first, then the medium and finally the large.  Depending on your age, you may need an adult to help you with this.

•  Tie a knot at the bottom of your snow person and snip off any excess cord.

•  Voila!  A little snow person!  If you like, write your name and the year on the bottom of the large bead.

• We then formed a simple hat for our new version with a painted bead and button for the rim. What could you do to make your snow person unique?

Pin this idea

Purpose

• Thinking of others
• Developing fine motor skills (painting, threading beads, using a fine tip pen)
• Associating symbols with certain seasons

Safety Notes

• Beads can be a choking hazard.  Therefore, keep them out of reach from children 0-3 or those that tend to put things in their mouths.
• Cord can be a strangulation hazard so be sure not to play with it and use it with adult supervision.
• Exercise care with scissors and BBQ skewers. (We had an adult snip off the sharp end prior to use)
• Use non-toxic products.
• When painting or using permanent markers, be sure to wear a smock to protect your clothes and use a craft tray to protect surfaces.

Materials

• Cord, twine etc.
• Jingle bells
• Beads

Directions

• Tie a knot on one end of your cord.

• Lace your beads and jingle bells.

• Make additional knots and lace more bells and beads.

• Give your garland to a friend or secure it to a gift with clear tape.

Purpose

• Developing fine motor skills through tying knots, using a needle, threading beads etc.
• Thinking of others.
• Making items that are used for more than one reason.

Safety Notes

• Beads and jingle bells are a choking hazard, so be sure to keep them our of reach from children ages 0-3 or those that tend to put things in their mouths.
• Use a needle with adult supervision and care.

Materials

• Fabric strips (you could cut or rip these for a more rustic look)
• Embroidery floss
• Needle
• Scissors
• Beads

Directions

• Cut a long length of embroidery floss.

• Tie a knot on one end.

• Lace your needle.  Some children might find a threader helpful for this process.

• Fold your fabric back and forth on its self as seen in the photos below.

• Put your needle through the centre of the fold.

• Push your fold down to your knot.

• Add a few beads on top of the fold.

• Leaving a bit of distance, make another knot.

• Thread another fabric strip down to the next knot and repeat, until you have an entire garland filled with fabric folds.  Add any beads in between that you may like.  Or double up the fabric strips.  If your child is younger you may want to go with shorter lengths and knot them together.

• Give your garland to a friend or secure it to a gift with clear tape.

Purpose

• Developing fine motor skills such as tying knots, using a needle, threading beads etc.
• Thinking of others.
• Making items that are used for more than one reason.

Safety Notes

• Beads are a choking hazard, so be sure to keep them our of reach from children ages 0-3 or those that tend to put things in their mouths.
• Use a needle and scissors with adult supervision and care.

SIMPLE POM POM GARLAND

Materials

• Pom Poms
• Embroidery floss
• Needle
• Scissors

Directions

• Cut a long length of embroidery floss.
• Tie a knot on one end.

• Lace your needle.  Some children might find a threader helpful for this process.

• Put your needle through the centre of the pom pom (you will know where this is as you will get a bit of resistance as you push through.)

• Push your pom pom down to your knot.

• Leaving a bit of distance, make another knot.

• Thread another pom pom down to the next knot and repeat, until you have an entire garland filled with pom poms.  If your child is younger you may want to go with shorter lengths and knot them together.

• Wrap your pom pom garland around a gift should you like, securing it with clear tape.

Purpose

• Developing fine motor skills such as tying knots, using a needle, threading beads etc.
• Thinking of others.
• Making items that are used for more than one reason.

Safety Notes

• Beads and jingle bells are a choking hazard, so be sure to keep them our of reach from children ages 0-3 or those that tend to put things in their mouths.
• Use a needle with adult supervision and care.

Materials

• Felt (We used white and a tiny piece of orange)
• Thread or embroidery floss
• Needle
• Fabric scissors
• Small beads
• Fabric glue
• Elastic headband (You can purchase these at dollar or drug stores)
• Cardboard
• Smock

Directions

• Cut three circles out of your white felt- one small, one medium and one large.

• Sew on beads for eyes, buttons etc.  Be creative- make a necklace for your snow person or a hat!

• Add a small orange carrot nose from felt.

• We decided to sew a little border around each of the elements along with around the balls to practise our sewing skills with thread.

• Put your elastic headband over a piece of cardboard to hold it taut.

• Don your smock and put fabric glue along your headband where you would like your snow person to be.  Attach your snowballs in ascending order.  Allow to dry overnight.

• Give your headband to a friend!

Purpose

• Developing fine motor skills.
• Taking a basic idea and extending it.

Safety Notes

• Use a needle and fabric scissors with adult supervision.
• Be sure to wear a smock when using fabric glue so as to protect your clothes.

Materials

• Cardboard
• Craft glue
• Paintbrush
• Scissors
• Pencil/eraser
• Cord, twine, ribbon
• Craft tray
• Paper
• Smock
• Tape

Optional Elements:

• Embroidery Floss
• Beads
• Jingle Bells
• Rick Rack
• Ribbon
• Bias Tape
• Branch

Directions

• Have your child draw out a message they would like to display on cardboard.  You could take her/his lettering and make it into more of a thicker shape or if they are older, they could do it themselves.  For some children cutting out rectangles for each letter of a standard size might help them.

• Have an adult cut out the letters (cardboard can be tricky to cut!).

• Lay your letters on a piece of paper in a craft tray.  Coat them with glue and sprinkle with glitter.  Allow to dry overnight.  We removed them from the paper carefully, however, first so that they wouldn’t stick and curved the paper into a funnel shape to put the excess glitter back into the container for re-use.

• Tape your letters (on the back) onto a piece of ribbon, cord or twine or lace them if your cardboard is corrugated.  You could also  glue them should you like.

• Attach your banner to a branch and display in your home.

Other embellishments to add:

• Ribbon, rick-rick, jingle bells, beads etc.

Wouldn’t this be cute in a baby nursery as a gift from an older sibling?

Purpose

• Creating simple messages for communication

Safety Notes

• Be sure to use non-toxic products
• Have an adult cut the cardboard
• Wash your hands after using glitter
• Wear a smock and use a craft tray to protect clothes and surfaces

• This activity was featured on The Crafty Crow!  Check out this amazing site for all sorts of creative wintery fun:

http://www.thecraftycrow.net/2015/01/snowball-bean-bag-diy.html

Materials

• Felt
• Fabric scissors
• Sewing machine/thread or thread/needle
• Poly fill pellets
• Optional items: seed beads, sequins, glitter, little styrofoam balls, fake snow etc.
• Funnel
• Small measuring cup or spoon
• Plastic zippered bag (to contain your pellets)
• Plastic vinyl bag (you often get sheets sets etc. in these)

Directions

• Cut out two circular shapes out of felt.  To make them exactly the same we layered two pieces on top of each other and cut them both at once, however you could make a paper template, pin it to the felt and cut them out one at at time depending on the child’s skill level and the type of scissors you have available.

• Fold over one of the circles and cut the centre out to make a “window”.  Be sure to leave a perimeter of approximately 2.5 centimetres/1 inch so that you can sew your snowball shut.

• Take your vinyl bag and cut off the zippers etc., focusing on making flat, useable surfaces. Once you have done this, cut your vinyl to be bigger than your window, but slightly smaller than the felt snowball.

• Sew your vinyl to the inside of your felt window with a thicker stitch.

• Sew the two layers of your felt together, along the perimeter.  Use the foot of your sewing machine as a guide.

 *However, be sure to leave a space un-sewn that is a little bigger than your funnel spout so you can fill your bean bag.*

• We found putting your poly fill pellets into a zippered bag keeps them contained (you may want to have a little vacuum or broom & dustpan handy!).  Put the funnel into your bean bag.  Put a small scoop of poly fill pellets into your bean bag. For some colour and sparkle add seed beads, sequins, glitter, fake snow etc.

• Move your pellets over to the opposite side of the hole (so as not to jam your machine) and sew it shut. Or sew it by hand.

• Make a few bean bags to have fun with- they are great to learn to juggle, fun for tossing with friends or to try to get into a target like a bucket etc.

Purpose

• Making equipment for playing with, physical development.

Safety Notes

• Exercise care with scissors and use with direct adult supervision.
• A sewing machine or needle and thread should be used by an adult or with direct adult assistance.
• Beads, fill pellets etc. can be a choking hazard and should be kept out of reach from children 0-3 or those that tend to put things in their mouths.

Materials

• Box (we used a cylinder shaped one, but any shape would work)
• Buttons
• Orange felt
• Black beads
• Craft glue

Directions

• Glue two buttons per eye onto your box.

• Cut out a felt isosceles type triangle for your carrot nose.  Glue it to your box.

• Glue on beads for a mouth.  We went for black beads that might look a bit like coal.

• Add any more details you may like!

• Allow your box to dry overnight and add a treat or gift inside. (Wouldn’t cookies fit perfectly inside or a pair of earrings?)

Purpose

• Thinking of others

Safety Notes

• Exercise care with scissors
• Use non-toxic materials
• Beads and buttons can be a chocking hazard- be sure to keep them out reach from children 0-3 years of age or those that tend to put things into their mouths.

Materials

• Felt
• Fabric scissors
• Embroidery floss or sewing machine/thread
• Fabric glue

Directions

• Cut strips of felt. (Ours were approximately 1 cm in thickness)  This is a great way to use up scraps.

• Cut the strips into equal portions.  We used 3 pieces per flake.

• You can glue the centre of the pieces to hold them together for sewing or if want, skip this step.  Feed your flakes into the sewing machine or sew them by hand.

• If you go with the sewing machine option leave the foot down in between the flakes and gently pull the thread that had already sewn together out of the back of the machine, leaving a bit of space between each of the flakes.

• Decorate with your garland- on a mirror, mantle, hanging in a doorway or wrapped around a gift.  Make a few for a photo backdrop for your holiday cards.

Purpose

• Cutting different materials in various ways (in this experience, with straight lines)

Safety Notes

• Exercise care with scissors and using the sewing machine.