Christmas is a happy time of the year, its message being one of peace, giving and joy. The music is cheery and the kids are excited, and why wouldn’t they be? The school holidays will soon be upon us, which means several weeks of freedom for them, and several weeks of wondering how to entertain them for the parents and grandparents.
Arts and crafts are a great way for kids to use their creativity while keeping them occupied for an hour or two and Christmas provides many a reason to make things – get the kids involved in making decorations for the house, ornaments for the tree or get them making home-made gifts or Christmas cards for aunties, uncles, grannies and grandads (or even Mum and Dad too).
To keep your craft eco-friendly, try using recycled or recyclable materials. Here are some ideas:
1. Pine Cone Christmas Trees
Pine cones make for excellent Christmas crafts if you can find them. These pine cone Christmas Trees are great little decorations to place around the house, in a Christmas display or to use as table centres.
You will need:
- Some pine cones
- Paints (water based is probably best for your kid’s clothes, your surfaces and your sanity)
- Eco-friendly/bio-degradable glitter (yes, this is a thing!) if you can get your hands on some (and the mess doesn’t make you cringe)
- Epsom salts
- Glue
- Anything else you’d like to use to decorate your trees, such as beads or buttons, leaves or flowers.
What to do:
- Cover the surface you’re working on with newspaper
- Paint the pine cone in whichever base colour you prefer – it could be green or you may like to make a purple tree, or you may opt for the natural brown pine cone look. It’s completely up to you.
- Once painted, if you do have it and want to add it, sprinkle some glitter onto the pine cone while the paint is still wet, then let it dry.
- Once dry, add your other decorations – dab some glue onto a little section of the pine cone, then stick on your buttons, beads, little paper balls, flowers or leaves.
- For a snowy tree look, dab some glue onto the ends of the pine cone, then sprinkle with Epsom salts. ¹
- By attaching a ribbon or string to the top of the pine cones, you can turn them into lovely Christmas tree ornaments for your own tree, or to give as gifts.
2. Twig Stars²
While out in the garden, at the park or on a walk, collect some twigs to make these fun star ornaments/decorations. Remember to pick up only what has already fallen to the ground, don’t pick fresh twigs from the trees.
You will need:
- Twigs
- Garden shears
- Glue
- Eco friendly/biodegradable glitter
- Paint, wool, or anything else you’d like to use to decorate them
What to do:
- Using the garden shears, cut the twigs to the desired length. If children are using the garden shears, it must be done under adult supervision.
- Glue the sticks together in the desired star shape.
- Now you can paint your stars, or apply glue and add your glitter or other little decorations.
- Make a loop out of string and attach to the top of the star to make a tree ornament.
- Attach another branch to the stars with glue to make a decoration you can stick into flower pots or flower beds.
3. Christmas Cards
You can make some beautiful Christmas Cards with flowers and leaves you can find in your garden. This is a great craft to use some of those lovely Dandelion or “leaf” flowers the kids pick in the garden for you. Or, before that beautiful bouquet you got goes completely dry, press some of the flowers and greenery for your Christmas Cards.
You will need:
- White or coloured card stock
- Glue
- Flowers or leaves (pressed works best)
What to do:
- To press flowers or leaves, place them between two pages of a book and then weigh the book down to help press the flowers/leaves. Leave it like this for a few days to a week for best results. (Fresh flowers and leaves work best for pressing, as dried plants tend to break in the process).
- Decide on the size and shape of card you want to make. You might choose to make a standard card that folds down the middle, you might like to make a simple picture with a message on the back, or you may like to make a card in the shape of a heart or a star – the possibilities are vast.
- Fold the cardstock in half, then cut into the desired shape (if required). Be sure not to cut the folded edge apart, as this will be the fold line of your card as well. If children are using scissors, please ensure this is done under adult supervision.
- Arrange your flowers and/or leaves into the pattern of your choice. For example, you may like to arrange some leaves into a Christmas tree pattern, with the largest on the bottom, then layering them into a tree shape with the smallest leaf on top.
- Once happy with the design, stick everything into place.
- Add further decoration as desired – for example, dab some glue onto your card and sprinkle with Epsom salts for a snowy scene. Add a different texture by dabbing some glue onto your card, then sprinkling some sand onto your picture for a different effect.
There are many other Christmas crafts to do with your kids. Empty cereal boxes could be great for cutting out shapes to decorate and make little pop up characters from. Alternatively, use the cardboard from an empty cereal box to make a picture frame. Decorate it with a Christmas theme and you have a cheery frame for this year’s Santa Photo. The possibilities are endless and the only limit is your imagination. So go on, get creative!
References:
1. Natural Living Ideas, no date, “32 Homemade Eco-Friendly Christmas Decorations That Look Stunning”, cited 29/11/2018, https://www.naturallivingideas.com/32-homemade-eco-friendly-christmas-decorations-that-look-stunning/
2. Kitchen Counter Chronicles (Jen), 2018, “Glittery Twig Star Decorations”, cited on 29/11/2018, https://www.kitchencounterchronicle.com/glittery-twig-star-decorations/
