Even those of us who don't spend most the year pursuing crafty endeavors enjoy taking time during the holiday and Christmas season to make little something special with the kiddos. For the craft novice, these super easy holiday crafts for kids are perfect for beginners and the last minute!
The best part about many of these holiday and Christmas crafts is that they do not need to be done in accordance with a holiday deadline. Can't get everything done before Christmas? No problem! Most of these can be saved for an ordinary winter day. Those January and February days can go on forever and you'll need some boredom busters!
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Holiday Ornament Crafts
Every parent loves to adorn the Christmas tree with kid-made ornaments!
"Woven" Swedish heart baskets
Woven paper heart baskets are a traditional Swedish (some say Danish) Christmas decoration. Making the hearts in the traditional way does require some dexterity and origami-like skills.
However, you can make similar checkerboard hearts using a tried and true method that is a very easy holiday craft, even for preschoolers!
See how to make "woven" Swedish heart ornaments.
MORE: Swedish-themed winter and holiday books
Printable Ornaments
What's easier than printing out a coloring page, handing it to your kids to color and cut out? Even toddlers and preschoolers can make these ornaments! Once your kids have colored and cut out the ornaments, all you need is a bit of ribbon or an ornament hook to put it on the tree or hang in a window.
First print out this star and moon ornament coloring page.
Next, print out this interfaith ornament coloring page.
Finally, print out this peace dove ornament coloring page!
Spiral Ornaments
If you visit the original instructions for the easy paper spiral ornaments made from upcycled greeting cards, you'll have to forgive the horrendous photographs.
To spare you the horrors of seeing those photos, follow these instructions.
Use a glass to trace a circle onto an old greeting card. Starting on the outside edge of the circle, draw a spiral to the center. The tighter your spiral, the more "springy" your ornament will be.
Next, cut the card along the spiral. Gently stretch the spiral. To keep the spiral from springing back up into a flat position, hold the spiral in the stretched out position for a moment or two. Hang on the tree!
Paper Holiday Crafts
All you need for these easy paper holiday crafts is a stack of paper, a pair of scissors and box of crayons.
Paper snowflake wreath
Confession: I make way too many paper snowflakes every year. It's a great way to use up scratch paper or extra pieces of art paper. Once year, we turned them into this decorative paper snowflake wreath. It's not just a Christmas wreath, but an all-winter-long wreath! If you have a plethera of snowflakes, go ahead and make a wreath for all the grandparents!
Can't remember how to cut a paper snowflake? Watch our video for the instructions:
Still have paper snowflakes left over? Here is what to do with all your leftover paper snowflakes. I'm considering figuring out how to make a snowman craft from paper snowflakes!
Tomten garland
The tomte is a mythical gnome creature from the Nordic countries who watches over the homestead at night. Every Christmas Eve, children place a bowl of porridge out to thank the tomte for his work. But watch out, if you forget the porridge, the tomte will get up to mischief to teach you a lesson.
Honor the tomte tradition by creating this adorable (If I do say so myself) tomten garland to hang on the tree or in the window. Alternatively, instead of a garland poke a hook at the top of the tomte's hat and hang him on the tree.
MORE: Tomten books
Holiday Nature Crafts
Whether you decide to bring nature inside, or festoon the outdoors with your handiwork, these easy nature holiday crafts are just the thing to brighten short winter days.
Ice Wreaths
My absolute favorite holiday craft to make is ice wreaths! The first year I made them I became totally obsessed and must have made at least a dozen.
Get the instructions here: how to make ice wreaths
Even if you don't have temperatures cold enough to freeze the wreath overnight, you can do so in your home freezer. Obviously the warmer your daytime temperatures, the faster the ice wreath will melt, but if you hang them up outside in the shade, they will last longer.
But fair warning, you will become obsessed with making them, too!
MORE: Diverse winter picture books
Orange Bird Feeder
Feeding the birds is a winter tradition around here. Sure, it's easy to empty a bag of birdseed into a store bought feeder, but why not try making your own.
We have all the instructions for how to make a bird feeder out of oranges (plus 3 more types of bird feeders!) to care for the birds during the cold, winter days.
Don't miss our tips for winter birding with kids.
Apple Candleholders
Carve out a few apples to make festive and fruity candleholders for long winter nights. Because these candleholders are obviously perishable make they the same day you will use them.
Choose apples that will sit flat on a table. Using an apple corer, cut down half way through the center top of the apple.
Next, and adult may need to use a small paring knife to remove the portion of the apple cut loose by the corer. Older children may be able to complete this step on their own.
Place a candle in the center hole of the apple. You may need to widen to accommodate the candle. Remember never leave a flame unattended!
Pomanders
Not only do orange and clove pomanders make your home smell yummy, but making them gives kids a chance to exercise those all important fine motor skills.
Get the instructions for how to make pomanders with kids here on the blog.
See, now aren't those some easy holiday crafts for kids? Getting into the DIY spirit isn't as hard as you thought.
However, of course you will want to read a few books to wind down. After all, crafting can be exhausting! Cuddle up with one of these multicultural winter holiday picture books!
Amy @ Sunlit Pages says
I'm with you--the simpler, the better! Every year I like my kids to make some ornaments for teachers, grandparents, etc., and I'm still looking for the perfect one for this year that will be cute but not too time consuming or involved.
Erica MomandKiddo says
... especially when you need to make a bunch of them, you don't want it to be complicated.
Alana - eSpectacularKids says
In the age of Pinterest there are so many holiday crafts to add to the list! It's so great to see so many parents and educators posting simple holiday crafts that can be done with the kids, whilst also being super effective. Looking forward to using some of the random cereal boxes, milk bottles etc that have been saved during the year!
Erica MomandKiddo says
I can't even do those complicated crafts! ha ha ha