Getting children involved in making Christmas gifts and decorations is a wonderful holiday tradition that fosters creativity, builds lasting memories, and brings a special, personal touch to the festive season.
From simple activities like painting salt dough ornaments to assembling edible reindeer food, these projects offer valuable opportunities for kids to learn new skills and experience the joy of giving and creating.
We’ve found ten activities that we think your little ones (and the older generation) will love taking part in, in the run up to Christmas.
5. Gift Tags
Gift Tags: Making handmade Christmas gift tags is a fun, creative, and personal way to add a special touch to your presents. There are many ways you can create your gift tag: Using old Christmas cards: Cut around the pieces of the picture you like and stick them onto a small piece of card. Using clementines: Cut a clemantine in half and let it dry overnight. Paint a thin layer of acrylic paint onto the cut side of the fruit and press it onto the cardstock to create a print. Once dry, cut the card into rectangles and write the recipient's name across the print. Lastly, don't forget to put a hole punch in the corner of your tag and tie a bit of ribbon or wool through it to hang it onto your gift. Photo: sarah-sheedy-yhPIC_PlChg-unsplash
6. Hot Chocolate/Cocoa Gift
Hot chocolate/cocoa mix in a jar: 1 cup sugar, 1 cup unsweetened hot Chocolate or cocoa powder, 1/2 cup powdered milk, 1/2 cup chocolate chips, 1 to 1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows. Using a wide-mouth funnel, layer the ingredients into two 16 oz jars in the order listed above to create distinct bands of color. Seal the jars with lids. Attach a gift tag with instructions: "Mix 1/4 cup of the hot cocoa mix with 8 ounces of hot water or warm milk and stir well." Decorate the jar with festive ribbon or twine. Photo: katya-azimova-hWXgoVLPzHY-unsplash
7. Hand-made Christmas Crackers
Hand-made Christmas Crackers: These are a classic festive fun craft, allowing for personalized designs and gifts. All you need is cardboard toilet-paper tubes (one per cracker), cracker snaps (optional), these provide the "bang" and can be purchased online or from craft suppliers, ensure they are appropriate for the size of your tube. Wrapping paper or crepe paper (approx. 12 x 8 inches per cracker), scissors, double-sided tape or a glue stick and ribbon or twine. To assemble, insert a cracker snap into the cardboard tube, fill the cracker with your your chosen fillers inside the tube. Wrap the tube in either wrapping paper or crepe paper by placing the filled tube along one edge and wrap it around, securing the seam with glue or double-sided tape. Ensure the paper extends past both ends of the tube by a few inches. Tightly tie a ribbon around the paper at both ends of the tube, creating the classic gathered cracker shape. Trim and decorate. Photo: nik-WMRcaU871-Y-unsplash
8. Marshmellow Snowmen
Marshmellow Snowmen: Marshmallow snowmen are a fun, easy, and edible craft perfect for the Christmas holiday, great for both kids' activities and delightful gifts. You will need: Large marshmallows (3 per snowman), mini marshmallows (for the nose, optional), Pretzel sticks (for arms), Mini peanut butter cups or fudge rounds (for hats), mini chocolate chips (for eyes and mouth), Orange sprinkles or a small piece of orange candy (for the nose), white or colored icing in a small squeeze tube to "glue" the parts together, decorative icing (for scarves or earmuffs) and skewers or lollipop sticks (optional, for stability). To assemble the body: Use a dab of icing between each marshmallow to "glue" three large marshmallows together in a stack. For extra stability, you can insert a skewer or lollipop stick vertically through the centre of all three marshmallows before adding the icing. Break pretzel sticks into smaller pieces and gently push them into the sides of the middle marshmallow to create arms. Use a dab of icing to attach a mini peanut butter cup or fudge round to the top of the top marshmallow as the snowman's hat. Use the icing tube to dab small amounts of icing where you want the eyes, mouth, and buttons. Place mini chocolate chips in the icing dots for the eyes and buttons. For the mouth, you can use several mini chocolate chips in a smile shape. To add a nose use a small piece of orange candy or a single orange sprinkle for the carrot nose, secured with a tiny bit of icing. Add accessories by using colored icing to pipe a "scarf" around the neck where the top and middle marshmallows meet. Photo: prchi-palwe-lkBH6iubBP4-unsplash