What Christmas Crafts Have You Done So Far?

[Ariana]

We did a foot and hand reindeer it is so cool!! The kids loved getting painted hands and feet!!



We also did these Christmas trees. The kids had to put the blocks in order from biggest to smallest to get the shape!

[Abigail]

I agree. 99.9 % of our art is process.

...but we did do salt dough ornaments...they mixed the dough, rolled it out, cut out the shapes, and painted them themselves...the only thing i did was dry them in the oven.

and i did do a reindeer handprint ornament for the two babies..i just couldnt resist.

I did this myself--no daycare kids to do it. Do you still think I could do this in the end of January? LOL How long and at what temperature did you put them in the oven? I let mine air-dry and it tooks 2 days! Did you have to sand them down at all? Did you put a hole in it to hang it by a string?

[Meyou]

I'm not a huge fan of doing multiple craft projects for little kids but my group right now is pretty crafty so we did a few this year. The babies did not do some of these since I would have been making them myself.

Christmas stamping (christmas stamps, poster paint, BIG paper)
Candycane bead ornaments (pipe cleaner, red, green and white star beads)
Wreath bead ornaments (same as above but bend in a circle )
Saltdough ornaments (I helped a little with the rolling)
Foam Ornaments (Kit with 18 ornaments and stickers to decorate)

For those that find it too much.....I have found that if I plan a craft and have it ready that works best for me. Everything is all set to go in my cupboard and I wait for a good day where everyone is happy and crafty right after afternoon snack. So I planned 5 crafts for Dec but didn't pick the days we would do them. This has been working much. much better for me and the kids are enjoying directed crafts much more. I also keep them quick. Just a thought.

This is in addition to daily access to art materials in our craft and quiet area. I add theme things to make it more festive. Christmas puzzles, cookie cutters for the playdough, lots of Christmas stickers and Christmas colored materials.

[melskids]

I did this myself--no daycare kids to do it. Do you still think I could do this in the end of January? LOL How long and at what temperature did you put them in the oven? I let mine air-dry and it tooks 2 days! Did you have to sand them down at all? Did you put a hole in it to hang it by a string?

I put them in the oven at 200 degrees for 3 or 4 hours until they got hard. some took longer cause the kiddos didnt roll them all the same thickness.

We didnt sand them, but before I baked them, I poked a hole in them with a straw so we could hang them with ribbon.