Christmas
Christmas activity ideas for kids.
The making season. Paper chains, salt dough decorations, hand-print cards, wrapping paper printed with a potato — most of it uses paper, glue and things already in the house.
A good deal of this is about the waiting rather than the day. A countdown with a small activity behind each door works better than one with a chocolate, and costs less.
Presents children make themselves are the ones worth the effort. Several activities here are pitched at making something for somebody rather than for keeping.
Activities
-
Salt Dough Christmas Ornaments
Flour, salt and water become something you hang on the tree every year after.
-
Handprint Reindeer Cards
A hand, upside down, is a reindeer. Nobody sees it until you show them.
-
Paper Plate Christmas Wreath
Cut the middle out of a paper plate and you have a wreath that takes any decoration you like.
-
Popsicle Stick Christmas Trees
Three sticks, a triangle, and as much decorating as they have patience for.
-
Real Kitchen Jobs a Small Child Can Actually Do
Washing, tearing, stirring and sprinkling. Eight jobs that are genuinely useful on a busy cooking day.
-
A Countdown Chain
One paper loop per day, torn off each morning. It makes waiting visible, which is what small children need.
-
Winter Play When It Is Too Cold to Go Out
Ice, torches, dens and paper snowflakes. The four things that reliably fill a dark afternoon.
-
Printing Your Own Wrapping Paper
A halved potato, a shape cut into it, and a roll of plain paper. It looks far better than it has any right to.