10 Fun and Adorable Christmas Arts & Crafts Projects to do at Home with Toddlers and Preschoolers
If you’re looking to have some holiday fun with your little ones this Christmas season, why not do some festive craft projects? We’ve rounded up some super cute Christmas arts and crafts for you to do with your toddlers and preschoolers that are sure to get you in the holiday spirit.
These are fun art projects you can do at home with your little kids at Christmas time to make life-long memories. Some, like the handprint crafts, are keepsakes that you can hang onto through the years to remind you of how little they once were.
They all require adult participation, as some involve cutting with scissors (our preschooler has not quite mastered that yet), and of course, the steps involving using an oven must be done by a grown-up. But the artsy parts of these Christmas crafts will be a blast for your little creative genius!
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Homemade Cookie Cutter Bird Feeders
I found this sweet craft on Freebiefindingmom.com. A super cute and relatively simple craft that would make a great teacher Christmas gift or a heartfelt present for Gramma and Grampa. They are a little messy to make but birdseed is easy to vacuum up (easier than glitter anyway!)
Glittery Handprint Ornament
Speaking of glitter, if you are a fan (like I am), here’s a super easy keepsake ornament you can do with your little ones. I found this adorable idea on funhandprintartblog.com.
We used a clear plastic ornament, not glass, to ensure it will stay in one piece for years to come. Also, I used regular old glitter from the dollar store, so cheap AND easy!
As an added step to keep the glitter from shedding, you could spray on a light coat of clear coat sealer spray after the glitter is completely set in the glue. If desired, spray on a second coat after the first is completely dry.
Tie a small ribbon on top for hanging on the tree, and you’re all set.
Salt Dough Ornaments
This fun and colorful recipe comes from Mommypotamus.com. A classic holiday craft that your preschooler will love to do and will enjoy for a few years to come! A step-by-step video, photos, and recipe instructions as well as a FAQ section. We had SO much fun making these!
Reindeer Handprint Ornament
Another fun keepsake ornament that is fairly quick and simple to do. I found the idea on Buggy and Buddy, and below you can see how ours turned out.
Another great little craft to cherish and remember how little your children’s hands were at the time you made them.
You or your child can add the finishing touches depending on the “look” you are going for. We are keeping one and the others will make a great gift for the grandparents and aunts and uncles. They were a lot of fun to make!
Santa Sleigh Wood Plank
Michelle at Crafty Morning has some amazing creativity going on. Keepsake crafts with hand, foot and fingerprints are always a good choice when your kids are little. I can’t wait to try the handprint/footprint Santa sleigh plank!
Santa Stars
Absolutely ADORABLE and easy.
One of my favorite places for simple craft ideas to do with our Bug is RedTedArt. They do a wonderful job inspiring creativity and hands-on easy arts and crafts projects for kids.
The Santa Stars were so much fun for us to do and, it was less about the finished product being perfect (ie. mom and dad doing the work) and more about him creating a work of art himself! I did cut the first few stars though, then let our little guy practice his scissor skills with my help.
Santa Paper Plate
No Christmas arts and crafts round-up would be complete without paper plate crafts that toddlers and preschoolers just love doing!
This Jolly Santa paper plate craft from Easy Peasy and Fun uses the traditional cotton ball method but also incorporates using fun paper curls for Santa’s beard.
If your preschooler loves to get into the paint as much as mine does, this one is sure to please.
Christmas Tree Advent Calender
There are a zillion ways to make a DIY advent tree, but we went with an easy peasy version using large sheets (12X12) of green and red card stock. You can use construction paper as well but it’s not as sturdy. You will be handling it quite a bit for 25 days so I recommend using the cardstock.
Again, for this one, I was on scissor duty and then I let Bug help with the circles, numbers and decorating so it has that “non-polished” look. As you can see we had to improvise for our shapes on the bottom row, but he was quite happy with it.
So, yes, ours is a little rough looking (don’t judge! lol) but we are having a blast with it every morning adding our blingy “jewels” for our Christmas countdown. ( PS, I’ll be adding another photo of the finished project after Christmas).
Remember it doesn’t have to look perfect, actually being imperfect is what gives it its charm!
What You’ll Need:
1 sheet green card stock
1 sheet red or other color cardstock ( I didn’t have red so I used tan)
Glue stick or white craft glue
Pencil w/eraser
Black or Dark colored Sharpie
Coins, buttons or something similar to outline and make the 25 days on calender
Star sticker (or cut one out of yellow construction paper)
Jewel stickers, or Christmas stickers, or small beads or plastic jewels that you can glue on with a glue stick
- Draw the outline of a Christmas tree on the green card stock with a pencil and cut it out.
- Center and glue it onto the other colored card stock.
- Using the pencil, start tracing your button or other item to make the numbers 1-25 in rows. It might take a few attempts to get your spacing right depending on the item you use for the ornament shapes, so remember to do it in pencil first.
- Go over in Sharpie and fill in the numbers 1-25. Add your star sticker (or draw one on) to the top of the tree.
- Hang on the wall or fridge and each day, have your child fill in the date with a sticker. I’ve seen them done with mini pom-poms too, which would be cute.
We are using the small jewels and jewel stickers so, on Dec. 1 we added one jewel, two on the 2nd, and so on. If you do it this way, be sure your numbered spaces are large enough and your jewels are small enough. If you want to keep it simpler, just do one sticker per day. Our 4-year-old is just REALLY into math and counting right now, so we chose to do multiples.
Build A Gingerbread House
If you are really ambitious, you can build one from scratch but we went with a pre-fab gingerbread house kit. This is one of the best Christmas arts and crafts projects for toddlers, preschoolers (or even big kids) that love to build things!
And remember, it’s very important to have patience while waiting for the icing (which acts as the glue) to set before you put the roof on.
As you can see in the photo below, my husband was just waiting for it to fall (again). In the end, though, it was solid and sturdy and it is one of our favourite Christmas craft activities every holiday season.
Related: 40 Family Christmas Traditions To Celebrate The Magic of The Season
Hand-Painted Santa Cookie Plate
You can get creative with this one add whatever pictures or personalized message you would like for Santa. You will need to use special enamel paints that are meant for glass or ceramic.
I always use Americana Gloss Enamels or Folk Art Enamels. Do not use regular acrylic paint as it will wash off. Some paints say they are dishwasher-safe but, I always hand wash my painted glassware to ensure a long life.
You can also use oil-based paint pens which give you a little more control with the lettering, but I do not recommend using regular Sharpies or markers which will ultimately end up washing off.
What You’ll Need:
A white oven safe plate, medium to large size
enamel paints in festive colours
small and medium paintbrushes
oven
acetone nail polish remover (in case of whoopsies)
Paper towel and Q-Tips
small plastic plate, lid or a folded piece of tinfoil to use as a palette
- You or your child paint on your design, Christmas trees, candy canes, gingerbread men, snowmen, Santa, Christmas lights or whatever you prefer. Make it as simple or as complex as you’d like. You could do this one as a handprint craft too.
- Then around the edges, write your preferred message to Santa, your family name, your child’s name, or simply write “Cookies For Santa”. You could add the year you made it as well. For the polka dots like the one pictured above, simply dip the end of your paintbrush in the paint and dot on, or you could use a special dotting tool for more perfect polka dots.
- Remove any small mistakes or smudges. Any mistakes can be quickly removed with acetone and a paper towel, but remember it is a harsh chemical (and smells strong) and should be kept away from children. So, if you do have to use it, do so away from the little ones. Small mistakes can be removed with a little nail polish remover on a Q-Tip or scraped off with your fingernail when dry.
- Put in a cool oven, then set to temperature. Go by the specific heating instructions on the paint you choose, but as a general rule of thumb, it will be around 325-350 degrees F for 30 minutes after it comes to temp.
- Leave to cool in oven with the door cracked until completely cool.
And there you have it! 10 of our favourite Christmas arts and crafts for toddlers and preschoolers. So get your supplies, get on your art smocks, throw on some Christmas music, and have some fun! Getting creative with your kids is a great (and messy but in a good way) experience for parents and children!
From our home to yours, wishing you a wonderful holiday season and peace.
Until next time, K.
Kelly Blakely is the founder and creative force behind Just Our View From Here. As a first-time mom over 40, she brings a fresh perspective to parenting and family life on her blog. Kelly also explores a wide range of lifestyle topics in her writing, including fashion, beauty, self-care, and well-being.
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