‘Tis the season for awesome Christmas crafts and activities! At Imagine Blog we LOVE the holiday season…Christmas tree decorating, spending time with loved ones, and of course – that special visit from Santa himself! It’s also the perfect time to create some really beautiful mementos and special memories to treasure for years to come. We’ve put together some of our favourite Christmas crafts and activities that your little ones will love. Don’t forget to tag us #imagineblogactivities on Instagram so we can see all the fun you’re having!
Important note before we start! These activities can be adapted for all ages, and whilst we strongly believe that all children are really capable learners, should an activity require skills such as cutting or using the hot glue gun, it’s important for an adult to supervise and lend a hand if necessary to suit your individual child’s age and abilities.
Christmas Ornaments
Home-made Christmas ornaments are the best kind of Christmas ornaments! These ornaments are so easy and fun to make, and they’re the perfect addition to your Christmas tree at home. Simply create a frame with ice block sticks or little twigs you’ve collected from a nature walk outside, and then let your imagination run wild as you paint and decorate them any way you choose.
What you’ll need
- Little twigs or ice block sticks
- Colourful ribbon or string
- Paints and a paint brush
- Glue gun or strong holding glue
- Any other decorating items you like – glitter, confetti, or even dried flowers and leaves!
- Collect little twigs from around your garden or purchase ice block sticks from the supermarket or dollar store.
- Glue them into Christmas shapes (Christmas trees, stars, and snowmen work well!).
- Let your imagination run wild as you twist colourful string or ribbons around the twigs or paint them any colour you choose. Add any extra decorating items you want to make your ornament super unique.
- Attach a piece of string to the top of the ornament and create a loop for hanging.
- Add them to your Christmas tree for everyone to admire!
Nature Christmas Artwork
We love exploring nature and discovering all the special treasures in the world around us. Next time you’re on a nature walk outside, take a bucket along and collect beautiful items like leaves, pebbles, twigs, and anything else you find, to create beautiful Christmas artwork to give to your family and friends to cherish. Let your imagination run wild as you create your own version of a Christmas wreath, a Christmas tree, or even a special nature Santa Clause!
What you’ll need
- Some thick card (make sure it is thick enough to support the natural materials, you could also use the side of a cardboard box such as a cereal box or a packing box)
- Treasures from your nature walk such as twigs, leaves, pebbles, or even shells if you live near the beach
- Glue gun or strong holding glue
- Go on a beautiful nature walk with an adult and collect any wonderful treasures you would like to make your artwork with. While you’re on your walk look closely at the colours, textures, and shapes of what you find. Part of what makes this activity so special is discovering the wonder in the natural world around us.
- Using your card as a base, glue your treasures in any shape you choose to create your beautiful unique artwork.
- Lay out carefully to dry completely.
- Gift to a very special person in your life.
Christmas Colouring In
Santa, elves, reindeer, and Christmas trees! We’ve created these special colouring in pages to download for free and enjoy over the Christmas holidays. Colouring is super relaxing and really good for days when you’re playing indoors quietly. Choose any medium you like to colour with, and let your imagination run wild. Add any special additions you like, to create a totally unique look for your artwork.
What you’ll need
- Our special Christmas colouring in pages – click here to download
- Felt tips, coloured pencils, pastels, paints, glitter…anything you’d like to use to colour you own unique picture!
Tip! If you prefer, you can use the colouring image as inspiration and create your very own version of our Christmas scenes!
Festive Music Shakers
“Jingle bells! Jingle bells! Jingle all the way!”
We love singing Christmas carols and songs at this time of the year. Why not make these extra special, Christmas-themed musical shakers to play next time you’re singing your favourite Christmas song! This beautiful activity was inspired by Imagine Childcare Coburg, whose Toddler classroom had such a fun time creating and making music with these festive shakers.
What you’ll need
- Clear recyclable plastic bottles and lids (look for bottles with a larger opening)
- Christmas Tinsel (look for thinner strands that will fit through the bottle opening easily)
- Small Christmas baubles, little bells, and tiny pinecones that will fit through your bottle top opening and give your shaker a real festive feeling.
- Sticky tape
- Poke your tinsel through the opening and push it down so it fills the bottle nicely.
- Add some pretty Christmas baubles, bells, and pinecones (but don’t overpack the bottle as you want some space in there for the items to move around and create music when you shake your shaker).
- Pop your lid back on tightly.
- Using sticky tape, tape up your lid so it can’t come off.
- Shake, shake, shake your way through your favourite Christmas song!
Tip! Experiment with different materials to get different sounds out of your shaker! You could use sand for a soft sound, shells or other natural items for a natural look, or even colourful beads from the dollar store for a bright shaker experience – so long as it is age-appropriate for you little one.
Snowman Playdough
“Frosty the Snowman
Was a jolly happy soul
With a corn cob pipe and a button nose
And two eyes made out of coal”
Okay, we don’t get snow in Australia at Christmas time, but there’s no reason why you shouldn’t get to have the fun of making a snowman! We LOVE playdough at Imagine Blog, and the Christmas holidays is the perfect time to make up a batch of snow-white playdough and create the very best Frosty the Snowman ever!
Tip! Divide the batch in half, and then you can always add food colouring or natural colouring such as beet juice, matcha, or turmeric to the other half to create Christmas trees, Santa Clauses, and even Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer!
What you’ll need for the playdough
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 cup salt
- 2 tsp. Cream of Tartar
- 1 cup water
- 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
- Help from an adult
What you’ll need for gluten-free playdough
- 2 cups gluten-free flour
- 1/2 cup salt
- 1 tsp. Cream of Tartar
- 1/2 cup water (use more if necessary – up to 1 cup)
- 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
- Help from an adult
- Combine all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir.
- Transfer contents to a non-stick pan.
- Add water and vegetable oil.
- Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly (the mixture will begin forming into a solid and gathering on spoon).
- Remove the pan from heat and transfer contents from saucepan to baking paper or plate to cool completely.
What you’ll need for decorating
- Doll’s beanie or hat
- Buttons (or small rolled up balls of coloured playdough if your little one is too young for buttons)
- The tip of a small carrot
- Little twigs
- A piece of ribbon
To create your snowman
- Roll 3 snow balls out of the playdough – 1 large, 1 medium, 1 small.
- Place balls on top of each other with the smallest ball at the top.
- Pop your little twigs into each side of the middle ball for arms.
- Decorate with button eyes, a carrot tip nose, and buttons down the front.
- Pop a ribbon around Frosty’s neck for a scarf and pop a hat on his head too.
- Sit back and admire your incredible Frosty the Snowman building skills!
Tip! Store playdough in freezer in a ziplock bag once cool. Playdough should keep for several weeks. If it starts to get dry, add a few drops of water to extend its shelf life.
Create Your Own Christmas Story
Christmas stories are so magical and we love reading them…so why not become an author and make your own very special Christmas story book to share with your family and friends! Whilst this activity is perfect for older children, little ones will still love to create a simple picture book with Christmas illustrations or simple words.
This activity may take a little longer, but you can always pop it away and come back to it when you’re ready, and it’s perfect for any rainy days when you are playing inside. It will also help develop imagination, creativity, and reading and writing skills too!
What you’ll need
- A piece of scrap paper to write the first draft of your tale – don’t worry if you don’t get it quite right the first time or need to make any changes. The best authors edit and edit until they’re happy with their story – and today you’re an author!
- Some thick white paper (A3 or A4 pieces work well)
- A hole punch
- Some colourful string or ribbon
- A pen or pencil for writing
- Crayons, pastels, or whatever you would like to use to illustrate your magical tale!
- Think up a special Christmas story you would like to tell – it can be about anything! Santa, his elves, Mrs Clause, Rudolf and the other reindeer, Christmas Eve, Christmas morning…anything you can imagine!
- Write your story on a piece of paper or get an adult to write it down while you tell it to them.
- Change anything in the story you want to change – this is your ‘editing’ stage.
- Decide which page each piece of your story will go on.
- Write your story out on to each bit of paper (or have an adult help you) – leave some space for illustrations!
- Draw pictures to illustrate each page.
- Create a title page for your story and make sure you include your name as the author – this is your special story and you should be so proud!.
- Use a hole punch to make holes down the side of your pieces of paper (try and get them in exactly the same spot).
- Use your string or ribbon to thread the pages together in order.
- Enjoy reading your very own unique Christmas story. You could even get together with some of your friends and family and act out your story in your very own play!
Some story starters to get you in the magical Christmas story mood:
- Only one more sleep ’til Christmas! Billy was so excited because…
- Katie woke up and felt so happy! Today was Christmas! She ran into the lounge room to look under the tree and saw…
- Santa’s elves were busy in Santa’s factory making…
- Once upon a time there was a magical Christmas fairy called…
- Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer was going on an adventure with Santa. Their first stop was…
- The doll sat on the shop shelf and looked around. Today was Christmas Eve and all her friends had gone to join their new families on Christmas morning. She felt a little lonely on the shelf by herself. Suddenly, she heard the door bell jangle. She looked up and…
- “Ho, ho, ho!” said Santa, as he and his reindeer stood in the yard at Santa’s factory. “Tonight we’re going on a magical adventure across the world to…