Holiday crafts and sensory play are always so fun and festive. Christmas might be my absolute favorite. There is so much love, joy, and excitement this time of the year. It is special to be able to see the excitement in your little one's eyes.
Christmas crafts are the best because there are tons of fun creations to make. Here are a few we have done this December!
1.Paper plate wreath - this is a simple fine motor activity for your toddlers to do. For this activity, simply cut out the middle of a paper plate. Have your little tear up construction paper into small pieces (or cut). Glue the pieces around the edge of the paper. Tie a bow and add to the top!
You will need:
paper plate
scissors
glue
red and green construction or tissue paper
ribbon/bow
2. Handprint Christmas tree - there is something so adorable about hand and footprint crafts. There are tons of options to mix it up for Christmas. Trees, reindeer, santa, etc.
You will need:
white paper
green paint + extras for ornaments and star
optional star cookie cutter (can use a brush or sticker to make star too!)
brown construction paper
glue
Paint your little's hand to create a tree. You could do 3, 2, 1, or just 2, 1 handprints. The smaller the hands the more space for more handprints! Once the green paint dries a bit, use their finger to create some "ornamnents" and then add your star to the top! Lastly, use brown construction paper to create the base of the tree.
3. Shrinky Dink Ornaments - when I dicovered shrinky dink paper, I was completely fascinated. This is such a fun way to personalize some ornaments for your Christmas tree, plus they aren't breakable!! It's a super simple project too. Create your design on the shrinky dink paper with paint or markers, bake in the oven according to the papers directions, and done! Don't be nervous if your paper curls a little in the oven. Use a spatula to flatten it while it is still warm!
You will need:
shrinky dink paper
permanent markers and/or glossy acrylic paint
hole punch
string, yard, or ornament wires
4. Candy cane sensory bin - we made a few different sensory mixtures. But this one seemed to be their favorite. It was a simple mix of red and white rice + the mini star pasta noodle. We can always find them at Target! To make the sensory bases just add them into a plastic baggy with a couple squirts of acrylic paint and a drop of hand sanitizer. Shake and lay out on parchment paper to dry.
Sensory bin additions:
Sensory base DIY
Candy cane and pepprmint loose parts (Target dollar spot had mini jar of foam peppermints and (Preschool for Nuggys Christmas resin)
Peppermint tray from Target dollar spot
Mini santa "glitter" (Michaels)
Red playdough
Candy cane cutter (dollar tree)
5. Gingerbread cloud dough and play dough - DIY cloud dough and playdough with some cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger were perfect for some Holiday play. We added in some cutters, colored chickpeas and macaroni noodles for gingerbread man creations. We also used an ordable gingerbread man house from Natrure Based Toys.
Playdough recipe:
1/2 cup salt
1 cup water
1 tbsp cream of tartar
2 tbsp oil
1 cup flour
optional spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger)
Mix in a saucepan on medium heat until it holds it's shape and forms a dough. Take off heat to cool. Knead for a couple minutes!
Cloud dough recipe (typically 1:8 ratio):
flour
vegetable oil
cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger
You can follow the 1:8 ratio, or I usually just add in the flour and spices and mix in the vegetable oil until it molds when you squeeze in your hands. Just don't want it sticky!
6. DIY clay ornaments - we were gifted a kit from sculpd. This was such a fun project to do with the boys. With our kit, we created some ornaments using the provided clay, paint, and tools. You could also find a variety of clay resources on Amazon.
You will need:
Clay
Cutters
Paint
String/yarn for ornmanets
7. Reindeer sponge stamps - this reindeer painting was a cute way to mix up the tolls you use to paint. We cut our sponges into a variety of shapes to include some extra learning. We turned on some Christmas music, specificically "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" and started creating some fun christmas art!
You will need:
sponges
brown paint
glue
red pom poms
googly eyes
brown marker
white construction paper
Begin by cutting your sponges into a variety of shapes. Have your little dip the sponge into the paint and stamp onto the white paper. Allow the paint to dry for a bit, and then using glue add the googly eyes and red nose! Work with your little to create some antlers! The cutest reindeer project!
8. Arctic animal fizzy play - fizzy play is simply the best. We go back and forth between using citric acid + baking soda and water and baking soda + vinegar. For this project we used a mixture of flour and baking soda, so we could cover a larger area without using SO much baking soda. We also used a fun wooden resin tray we got from Sileenie and some arctic animals. The magnatile arctic set was perfect for continuing the arctic play and making the set up even more fun! If you want to skip the fizzy play there are some fun alternative to play snow. You can the DIY baking soda + shaving cream. Or we also have some Floof from Play Visions that is a lot of fun!
You will need:
Flour
Baking soda
Vinegar
Tray or pan
9. Hot Cocoa Sensory and Fizzy Play- sensory play turned into spontaneous fizzy play and it was a BLAST! In our Kookaroo wooden tray, we added in some metallic colored rice and pasta stars with white ditalinni noodles. We also added in some resin candy canes, but you could also use real! Using our hot cocoa recipe cards from our Christmas bundle, we did some sensory play using our hot cocoa tray from Nature Based Toys. After awhile, we decided to create some fizzy hot cocoa!
Here is how we made our fizzy play:
Sprinkle in some citric acid and baking soda onto tray or bowl
We added some mica powder for color. Give a good mix
Give your little a cup of water and some droppers
Squirt water onto mixture and watch it bubble!
10. Christmas Light Noodle and Playdough Patterns - here is a fun sensory activity for your littles that also includes some pattern work. You can create your own pattern cards or download and print ours from the free Christmas bundle.
You will need:
Pattern cards
Playdough (red and green)
Cutters (or you can free hand/create)
Colored shell noodles
Acrylic paint
To make the noodles, throw in a baggy and add a couple squirts of paint and optional hand sanitizer, and give a good shake. Lay out on parchment to dry! We were grateful to be gifted our cutters from lizzweeplaykits, but the dollar tree and walmart are also a great place to find cookie cutters for a great price!
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