On the eve of the end-of-year celebration, almost every family delights in decorating the Christmas tree. It is a rare occasion that brings all members closer together and strengthens bonds.
As for the preschool toddler class, the students enjoy doing Christmas craft activities. Snowman, advent calendar, Christmas balls, Christmas wreath, there are many ideas that excite both the little ones and the grown-ups.
📋 **The essentials at a glance:** Personally, I consider Christmas crafting in Toddler Class primarily a moment of sensory awakening, as about 90% of the activities involve handling textures and fine motor skills. My opinion is that projects achievable in less than 15 minutes should be prioritized to respect the children’s attention span. It has been proven that valuing “imperfect” creations greatly strengthens the self-confidence of the youngest from age 3.
To clarify things, this article is useful by developing the different Christmas craft projects for preschool. Discover below everything you need to know on this subject.
How to make a snowman using recycled materials to decorate the classroom for Christmas?
🍀 Advantages
- Motor development
- Pride in creating
- Learning colors
🔻 Drawbacks
- Need for constant supervision
- Post-activity cleaning
- Limited concentration (15 min)
Do you like decorating a kitchen or arranging the baby’s room? Know that decorating a classroom is also a source of joy and real pleasure.
Between Santa’s sleigh, red-nosed reindeer, Christmas tree, curtain garland, cardboard plate Christmas decorations, there are many ideas for preschool Christmas crafts. But the snowman is one of the most beloved manual activities by children in the toddler preschool class.
Let us remember that this sculpture is a symbol of Christmas joy and winter. Its creation brings pleasure to both children and adults. That’s not all, it expresses talent and creativity.
🎒 **On the ground:** Last year, I led a finger painting workshop to create hand-tree Christmas trees with 3-year-old children. I had planned brushes, but the lesson learned is clear: children in the Petite Section much prefer direct contact with the material. By allowing the children to “mess around” with green paint using their palms, the final result was much more expressive and authentic than if I had imposed a traditional tool.
In the preschool Petite Section class, all the children delight in making it not with snow, but with recycled materials. This time, we will use 3 beer caps forming its body.
First, paint them using a white spray that is easily found in a hardware store. After they dry, connect them with a wire.
Then draw on the top cap to form the face of the snowman. As for the middle cap, it will be its belly and, of course, the last one will be its legs.
For its hat, deform another piece of the cap into an inverted T shape and color it black. Put a small bow at the neck to make a red scarf. Finally, don’t forget its arms by gluing two sticks onto the central cap.
Besides beer caps, many use toilet paper rolls to create a Christmas snowman decoration for their classroom.
What are the different types of paper we can use to create personalized Christmas decorations?
As we just mentioned above, the toilet paper roll is among the most well-known materials for Christmas decorations.
More and more preschool Petite Section teachers use it for their students’ craft activities. Not only is it cheaper, but it is also easy to work with. Many DIY Christmas projects can be made from toilet paper.
Besides the snowman Christmas decoration, you can use it to make Santa’s elves, small DIY drums, a Christmas tree, Christmas trees, alien elves, and many other DIY Christmas decorations.
Besides toilet paper rolls, there are certain types of paper used for small preschool Christmas crafts.
For example, there is kraft paper, feather paper, adhesive paper, dyed paper, tissue paper, cardboard, painted paper, toy paper, rolled paper, and white paper. These are used to make garlands, Christmas balls, Santa’s elves, angels, gift wrapping, Christmas tree branches, snowflakes, and more.
Compared to wood paneling, paper is easily modifiable. Making Christmas craft activities requires no special tools.
This preschool Christmas craft generally only needs a pair of scissors, a pencil, markers, tape, or glue and you’re done.
You can give paper many shapes such as an Advent wreath, a Christmas bell, or even a beautiful Christmas village. By being inventive, preschool Petite Section students can participate in various DIY creation projects.
| Type of activity | Main material | Educational objective | Estimated time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Finger painting | Gouache on hands | Sensoriality | 10 min |
| Sticker collage | XL stickers | Precision / Pinching | 15 min |
| Salt dough modeling | Salt, flour, water | Strengthen the hands | 20 min |
| Bead threading | Large wooden beads | Eye-hand coordination | 15 min |
How to make Christmas balls from salt dough using cookie cutters to decorate them?
Before answering this question, it is important to explain what is meant by salt dough. It is a modeling dough made of salt and flour. It is used to create a number of decorative objects including Christmas tree decorations.
To make Christmas balls, you can certainly use it. But first, you need to make the Christmas salt dough itself. To do this, mix the flour, salt, and a little water.
Then stir continuously until you get a ball.
The dough should be rolled out on a floured surface. Once done, use specific cookie cutters to cut it. Once you have the desired shape, bake it for 3 hours. After this time, just let it cool.
💡 **Tip**
For children who do not like to get their hands dirty, use sponge stamps attached to clothespins. This allows them to paint and stamp while keeping their fingers clean, while practicing the pinching motion essential for future writing.
If you want to paint your Christmas balls, use acrylic paint. For the patterns, let your creativity run free. Some children prefer to use many colors. In this case, you must first let the first layer dry before applying the second.
Besides balls, the Christmas salt dough also allows you to make red-nosed reindeer, snowman Christmas, Santa elves, and much more. With many shapes, this modeling dough is perfect for decorating the Christmas tree.
How to create a simple and fun Advent calendar with paper pouches to count the days until Christmas?
The Advent calendar is among the most popular traditions and Christmas decorations. It should be noted that Advent is a holy period during which believers prepare for the coming of Jesus.
Many countries preserve this custom. Over the years, the Advent calendar is meant to keep children waiting until December 25th. It gradually becomes a great idea for DIY Christmas decorations.
Making it is child’s play. You need colored cardboard sheets, Christmas cookie cutters, a pair of scissors, a pencil, kraft paper, a stapler, a marker, tape, string, and more.
The first step involves cutting 24 pouches from kraft paper. Remember to fold the edges to create an envelope. It can hold small surprises for children’s craft activities.
Next, use special cookie cutters to create several Christmas decorations. Attach them to the pouches and use a string.
Once this step is finished, mark each pouch with 24 numbers corresponding to the 24 days before Christmas. The final phase is assembling the pouches in ascending order of the numbers.
You have many choices of surprise gifts to slip into your Christmas decoration advent calendar, such as candies, figurines, games, chocolates, or stickers.
⚠️ **Common misconception**
The frequent mistake is wanting a “perfect” result so that the parents are happy. If the adult does 80% of the work, the child learns nothing. In preschool, a slightly tilted tree or a ball with too much glue is much more rewarding for the child than a standardized object finished by the teacher or parent.
What natural objects can we collect to create original and natural Christmas decorations?
Christmas crafts are not only for adults. Little toddlers in preschool also enjoy making several decorative accessories during Christmas craft activities.
Except for Christmas salt dough, toilet paper rolls, white paper, or Christmas cardboard plates, many plant elements can be used to decorate the Christmas tree or even the entire house.
If you prefer to create a pretty Christmas wreath, you can use fir branches, twigs, other dry or fresh plants like ivy, dried citrus fruits, and string to tie everything together.
If you want to personalize it, don’t hesitate to add pom-poms, ribbons, and little stars made of Christmas salt dough. You can add some touches of color with other Christmas decorations.
Apart from the Christmas wreath, the Christmas tree is part of the DIY Christmas decorations ideas. Usually made from wooden branches, it is not difficult to build. You can leave it with its natural color or paint it.
For the Christmas meal, beautiful centerpieces immediately catch the eye. This element can be made with anything you have collected from the garden or nature itself.
🌍 **Did you know?**
Christmas crafting is the perfect opportunity to introduce ecology: transforming a simple cardboard roll into a reindeer or Santa Claus teaches children from a very young age that “waste” can have a magical second life.
There are countless natural Christmas decorations to be found, but these are just a few examples among many others.
How to make colorful garlands using strips of paper cut from magazines or newspapers?
Making garlands is one of the Christmas craft activities at school. Even preschool children can do it without any problem. There is no need to look for delicate or special materials. Just use paper from newspapers or magazines.
To make your garlands original, use colored paper or paint. To hold everything together, a clothespin or a flexible thread will do the job.
Other tools and accessories are necessary, namely scissors, a stapler, a hole punch, a utility knife, PVA glue, and indeed old newspapers.
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