The holiday season is a special time filled with joy, warmth and the spirit of togetherness. One of the best ways to embrace this season is through art and craft activities that the whole family can enjoy. With just a few simple resources and some good old-fashioned quality time, there are countless ways to spread holiday cheer and create lasting memories.
Here you’ll find various easy Christmas crafts suitable for all skill levels, ensuring everyone can participate and add their personal touch to the festivities.
Let’s make this holiday season tree-mendously fun with some crafty creations!
1. DIY Christmas trees
Creating miniature Christmas trees is a delightful project for families. The options are endless and completely up to your imagination. You can use a variety of materials such as popsicle sticks, cardboard sticks, pine cones, recycled items or even make origami ones. Decorations can be made from cotton balls for snow and dabs of acrylic paint for some vibrant baubles. You can make it as big or small as you want and even as the main Christmas tree in your home.
2. Handmade Christmas cards
Nothing says “personal touch” quite like a handmade Christmas card. You and your kids can experiment with creating Christmas cards based on your favourite Christmas stories or do something simple using everyone’s thumbprint. Add sparkles, googly eyes and ribbon to make a treasured Christmas card perfect to send to family and friends. If your child loves painting, Christmas cards can become perfect little art projects. A white paint pen can come in very handy for adding snowflakes to your work.
3. Mason jar snow globes
Transform a simple mason jar into magical snow globes that give your kids a cosy white Christmas feel. Start by filling a clean jar with water and glycerine, adding some faux snow, and placing a festive ornament or figurine glued onto the inside of the lid. You may need a hot glue gun or some epoxy to ensure your figurine sticks properly. Seal the jar tightly and shake it to create a winter wonderland. These snow globes can serve as nightstand ornaments or be displayed on the shelf with Christmas cards as holiday decor.
4. Homemade Christmas ornaments
Crafting your own Christmas ornaments can become a cherished tradition for your family every year. Air-dry clay and salt dough are affordable and sturdy enough for kids to handle. You can hand-mould ornaments like stars and angels or make your child’s handprint. Once dry, seal them with some Mod Podge and then decorate them with acrylic paint, glitter or ribbon. These ornaments make fantastic decorations for your Christmas tree and great little keepsakes.
5. Wreath-making
If there’s a wreath on your front door, you’ve nailed the Christmas decor. Making a Christmas wreath is a beautiful way to get the whole family involved in crafting. You can negotiate on the theme: All natural, fake fruit and vegetables or something completely different. Gather a wreath form (available at craft stores) and let everyone contribute their ideas to create a unique design. Things like pom-poms, ribbons, pine cones and even long strands of dried grass can come in handy. You can go all out and add little family photos or handmade decorations. Christmas craft activities don’t need to be hard. If you have a little one who is a bit too young to contribute to a big wreath, you can always help them make a small one from dried pasta.
6. Popsicle stick holiday characters
Popsicle sticks are highly versatile crafting materials. Why not create some adorable little Christmas characters to spread some holiday cheer? Think little snowmen, reindeers, stars and trees. These crafts are perfect for younger children, making them an engaging and fun family activity.
7. Festive table centrepieces
Table decorations are a lovely way of adding special pops of colour to the table. You can match it to your door wreath and add some natural elements like pine branches, faux holly and berries. This project allows for creativity and collaboration, as everyone can contribute ideas to create a centrepiece that reflects your family’s personality and style.
8. Christmas puppet show
A Christmas puppet show is a fun and creative way for kids to bring holiday characters to life. The kids can create fun Christmas puppets using simple materials and even write their own dramatic script. After crafting, they can use a cardboard box to create a mini puppet theatre, decorating it with holiday-themed colours and ornaments. Once the stage is set, the actors can perform a festive puppet show for the family, making it a memorable holiday activity full of laughter and imagination. If you have a sewing machine, you can create puppets using colourful fabric pieces.
9. Angel lights
Making angel lights is a sweet and safe craft that your little ones will love. Using LED tea lights, you can create glowing angels that add a soft, whimsical touch to your holiday decor. Simply take plastic cups and let your kids decorate the outside to make the angel’s body and wings. Place the LED tea light inside the cup to give your angel a gentle glow.
10. Iron-on Perler Bead ornaments
A great way to make a Christmas sun catcher or window ornament is to use Perler Beads. Using a variety of different shades of Perler Beads, you can design festive shapes like Christmas trees, snowflakes, candy canes or ornaments. Arrange the beads on a pegboard to create your design, then carefully use parchment paper and a household iron to fuse the beads together. Once cooled, the ornaments can be hung on the Christmas tree with ribbon or displayed around the house.
Christmas craft to spread the joy
Christmas arts and crafts are great activities to keep kids occupied and have fun during the school holidays. It’s also one way to spend great quality time with the whole family.
You can spread the holiday spirit by including extended family and friends through a Christmas decoration exchange. Everyone can create a unique decoration that reflects their personality or style and then gift it to someone for their holiday decor. This promotes creativity and provides a fun way to share and appreciate each other’s crafts. Another idea is to get everyone together and make a bunch of little gifts to give to the residents of nursing homes or children’s hospitals. It’s always extra special when you can share the joy with others.
If you’re running out of ideas and don’t have a lot of time to go shopping, you can opt for Christmas craft kits. Many kits come with everything you need to create stunning holiday decorations, from wooden beads, pipe cleaners, printed tutorial sheets, and pens or paints of different shades. These kits cater to all skill levels and provide a perfect craft activity for families who want to create together without the hassle of gathering supplies. If you order them in advance, you can even get free shipping in time for the December holidays. A lot of stores have massive weekly specials the week before Christmas, so it’s also a great time to select items for crafting.
Read next: Christmas for kids: Making it meaningful
