By Michelle Clarke
Creative Arts Coordinate

I absolutely love making crafts, but now that I’m a parent I don’t have as much time as I used to for hunting down supplies and doing elaborate prep. With this in mind, I’ve compiled this list of holiday crafts for all ages that are fun and simple.

I hope this provides some inspiration for those cold winter days at home with the kids 🙂 Enjoy!

Toddler:

1. Shredded Paper Snowman

Empty out your paper shredder (or your office paper shredder?) for this fun sensory craft!

http://www.housingaforest.com/shredded-paper-snowman

2. Pompom painting Christmas trees

If you are like me and prefer to keep messy painting activities for preschool, skip the paint and help your child glue the pompoms to the tree or use stickers instead.

http://www.fantasticfunandlearning.com/pom-pom-painting-christmas-tree-craft-for-toddlers.html

3. DIY Wrapping Paper & Cards

Give your toddler a big piece of blank paper and some paint/marker/crayons/stickers and let them go wild. Use the paper to wrap gifts or fold it into a card. You can also have them decorate plain paper bags. My family loves getting gifts with this little personalized touch!

School-Aged Children:

1. Christmas Light Patterns

This fun activity is also great for practicing patterns. Follow the link for more holiday activities that use patterns.

Link here!

2. Catching Snowflakes

This one is creative and fun. You can also personalize it to try and make it look like various family members!

http://www.artsonia.com/museum/art.asp?id=22076596

3. Sparkly Star of David

You can also make this craft without the photo. Just attach a string to hang it as a decoration.

http://www.freepreschoolcrafts.com/category/hanukkah-crafts/

4. Toilet Paper Roll Holiday Crafts

If you do a quick Google search, you’ll find so many cute things you can make with toilet paper and/or paper towel rolls. Here are a few of my holiday favourites:

Snowman: http://www.craftaholicsanonymous.net/diy-toilet-paper-roll-snowmen
Santa: http://krokotak.com/2012/12/toilet-paper-roll-santa/

Teens, Tweens and the Whole Family:

1. 3D Paper snowflakes

I love making these. They take some time, but once you get the hang of it they are very easy yet impressive. You can use clear tape or a stapler to put them together, but my favourite thing to use is a glue gun.

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-3D-Paper-Snowflake

2. Gingerbread Cookies

These take a bit more forethought, but both the dough and icing can be made in advance and stored in the fridge for a few days. If you don’t have the classic gingerbread man cookie cutter, you can use any cookie cutters. In my family, we get everybody decorating and each person can do their own personal design.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/gingerbread-cookies-101-recipe.html

3. Reindeer Hot Cocoa

A fun and easy homemade gift.

http://www.thirtyhandmadedays.com/reindeer-hot-cocoa/

4. Peppermint Body Scrub

Your friends and family will love this DIY gift that is so easy to make!

http://www.sugarandsoul.co/2015/12/peppermint-sugar-scrub-recipe.html

5. Paper Snowflakes

Have a party with your kids and make tons of paper snowflakes. Hang them up or stick them on the windows. Here are a few cool idea of what you can do with snowflakes:

 

 

Decorate gifts: http://gabbydouglas01.blogspot.ca/2012/10/paper-flowers-for-packages-or-anything.html
A cool table runner: http://www.artbarblog.com/create/paper-snowflakes-table-runner/
And more: http://www.artbarblog.com/create/paper-snowflakes-table-runner/