General Holiday
Paper Bag Pinatas
Give your child a small brown paper bag and let them decorate it how they want. This can be elaborately, with sequins and glitter, or simply, with crayons. Put a few pieces of candy in the bag and close by folding over the top. Punch two holes at the top and run enough yarn through the holes to be able to hang it from a high place and still ...(read more)
Holiday Placecards
Help your child to make placecards for your next holiday dinner. Cut index cards or cardstock to preferred size (remember to fold in half so they stand up), then write a family member's name on each card. Next let your child decorate the placecards with stickers, glitter, and markers. You can usually find specific holiday-themed stickers at scrapbooking and craft stores or even Target when in season. ...(read more)
Greeting Card Chain
Cut old/used greeting cards into horizontal strips. Show your child how to loop one strip and staple the ends together. Insert a second strip through the loops and staple its ends together to form a second link on the chain. Continue this process until the chain is as long as you like. This is a great way to recycle Christmas cards or birthday cards. ...(read more)
Floating Fun
Nothing gets kids more excited for the day than to come down to breakfast and see a fun balloon floating high above their chair. When you hear of a fun thing to do or place to go, jot it down on a piece of paper and toss it into the family fun basket. Then when the weekend rolls around (or a weekday with nothing going on), roll up ...(read more)
Holiday Placemats
Give your holiday table a personalized touch! Have your child create placemats for the family. Get some poster board or construction paper & cut it into squares or a specific holiday shape such as ghosts for Halloween, pumpkins for Thanksgiving, or Christmas trees for Christmas. Your children can then color the placemats. In order to keep them looking good, you can buy clear contact paper to ...(read more)
Cookie Cutter Painting
Collect several different shaped cookie cutters, holiday ones are especially fun. Place thin sponges in pie tins and pour on tempera paint in desired colors. Show your child how to press the cookie cutters onto the sponges, then onto paper to make prints. You can also use this to learn about mixing primary colors to make secondary colors.(read more)
Jelly Bean Pictures
Help your child draw a picture with ornamental frosting on a piece of cardboard -- this frosting works like glue and tastes great! Have her place jelly beans on the frosting. You can give this project a seasonal theme by using pastel jelly beans on a rabbit outline for Easter, or green jelly beans on a Christmas tree and beans of other colors for lights and ...(read more)
Greeting Card Lace-Ups
Using the pictures on the front of old greeting cards, punch holes around the outline of a character. Have your child lace a shoestring through the holes. Your child will think that she is 'sewing'!(read more)
Photo Gift Tags
This is a fun way personalize your holiday gifts. Have your child help select a picture (or pictures) of himself from your digital images. Format the pictures to print wallet size on a sheet of card stock. Cut out the pictures in circles, squares, hearts, or rectangles. Using a hole-punch, make a hole toward the top edge of the photo and attach a ribbon in a color ...(read more)
Homemade Napkin Rings
Make homemade napkin rings with your child for a special occasion. Using either an empty paper towel or toilet paper roll tube, cut the cardboard tube into inch long "rings." Then, choose some wrapping paper that would fit the occasion (for example, birthday wrap for a birthday party). Help your child cut the wrapping paper into strips. Together, take a strip of wrapping paper and tape it, design side ...(read more)
Blessing Ring/Birthday Ring
Cut thin strips of colored construction paper. Write the name of a blessing on each piece of paper. (Optional - Decorate the paper with stickers, etc.) Link the pieces of paper to form one long chain that you can hang on the fireplace or anywhere in the house. Another variation would be to use this as a Birthday Ring. Write down neat characteristics of the birthday girl/boy ...(read more)
Spin Art Cards
Have your little one help create birthday and/or holiday cards using a spin art machine. Once your child has completed the spin art, they can then add their artistic touch by 'signing' or adding a personal message.(read more)
Creative Gift Wrapping
Have your little one help wrapping presents using their painted pictures as the gift wrap!(read more)
Ring in the Big Day
When your child is having a hard time waiting for a special day to arrive, use this craft to help him or her mark the time still left until the big day. Create a stack of construction paper strips; each strip should be big enough to staple or tape into a ring. Then, each day, let your child take one strip of paper and create a ring. ...(read more)
Homemade Holiday Cards 101
Throughout the year I collect small bits of ribbon, gift wrap, stickers, pretty greeting cards I have received, buttons, gift tags, etc that I keep in a zippered plastic bag. Each time a holiday rolls around, my child and I get out the bag and create homemade cards to send to our friends and family. He colors on the cards and then shows me where he wants the ...(read more)
Decorating with Holiday Cards
Here's a fun Christmas-time activity: Punch a hole in each holiday card that your receive and attach them to a piece of ribbon, yarn or string. Be sure to space them a few inches apart so that they all can be seen. Once you've strung all of the cards onto your ribbon or string, hang up the cards as a 'garland' on your banister, on your tree, or ...(read more)
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