10 Easy Christmas Crafts for Children Under 5
There is something wonderfully exciting about Christmas crafting with little ones.
A table covered in paper, paint, glue and far too much glitter might not result in perfectly coordinated Christmas decorations — but those tiny handprints, wonky Christmas trees and enthusiastic splodges of paint can become some of the decorations we treasure most.
If you're looking for simple Christmas activities to enjoy with toddlers and preschoolers, we've gathered ten easy Christmas craft ideas designed with little hands in mind.
Put on the Christmas music, cover the table and let the festive creativity begin!
1. Paper Plate Father Christmas
Turn a simple paper plate into a cheerful Father Christmas.
You'll need:
- Paper plate
- Red paint or colouring pens
- Cotton wool
- Child-safe glue
- Paper or card
- Pens or crayons
Let your child colour or paint part of the plate before adding fluffy cotton wool for Father Christmas's beard.
Cut out a simple red hat from card and add a face.
Little ones can do as much — or as little — of the decorating as they like.
Little tip: Don't worry about making it perfect. A Father Christmas with a slightly crooked beard has considerably more character!
2. Handprint Reindeer Cards
Handprint crafts are particularly lovely because they capture just how tiny those little hands once were.
Draw around your child's hand on brown card and cut it out. The fingers become the reindeer's antlers.
Add a simple reindeer face and, of course, a bright red nose.
Turn it into a Christmas card for grandparents or family and you've created a little keepsake as well as an afternoon activity.
3. Pom-Pom Christmas Trees
Cut a simple Christmas tree shape from green card and let your child decorate it.
Provide colourful pom-poms, stickers, paper shapes or other age-appropriate craft materials and let them create their own Christmas tree decorations.
Add a paper star at the top when they're finished.
You could even make several and string them together to create homemade Christmas bunting.
4. Cotton Wool Snowmen
No snow required!
Draw three circles on a piece of card and let your child cover them with cotton wool using child-safe glue.
Once you've created your fluffy snowman, add a paper hat, scarf, buttons and face.
It's wonderfully simple and gives little ones plenty of opportunity to practise sticking and creating.
5. Decorate a Christmas Bauble
Homemade Christmas decorations become particularly special when they return to the tree year after year.
Use a plain child-safe craft bauble or cut a large bauble shape from sturdy card.
Let your child decorate it using:
- Paint
- Stickers
- Fingerprints
- Pom-poms
- Ribbon
- Pens
- Pieces of coloured paper
Add their name and the year to the back.
In a few Christmases' time, you'll be very glad you did.
6. Christmas Handprint Wreath
Draw around your child's hand several times on green paper or card.
Cut the handprints out — an adult will probably need to help younger children with this part — and arrange them in a circle to create a Christmas wreath.
Add red fingerprint berries, paper decorations or a big ribbon bow.
Hang it somewhere proudly.
7. Paper Plate Christmas Tree
Cut a paper plate into sections and paint them green.
Once dry, arrange the pieces to create a simple Christmas tree shape.
Then comes the fun part.
Decorate it with stickers, pom-poms, sequins or pieces of coloured paper before adding a star to the top.
Every Christmas tree will look completely different — which is exactly the point.
8. Gingerbread Playdough
Christmas crafts don't always have to end up hanging on the fridge.
Festive playdough is a lovely sensory activity for little ones.
Make or use child-safe playdough and add a festive gingerbread-inspired scent if appropriate for your child.
Provide rolling pins and Christmas-shaped cutters and let them create pretend gingerbread people, stars and Christmas trees.
Just remember that playdough creations aren't for eating, however convincing those pretend biscuits become!
9. Fingerprint Christmas Lights
This one is wonderfully simple.
Draw a wiggly black line across a piece of card to represent the Christmas light cable.
Then let your child dip a fingertip into different coloured washable paints and add fingerprint "bulbs" along the line.
Once dry, you could turn their artwork into:
- Christmas cards
- Gift tags
- Wrapping paper
- A festive picture for the fridge
Simple, colourful and very effective.
10. Salt Dough Christmas Decorations
Salt dough decorations can become lovely little Christmas keepsakes.
Make a simple salt dough, roll it out and use Christmas biscuit cutters to create festive shapes.
Once baked and completely cooled, children can decorate them with child-safe paints.
You could also make a handprint or fingerprint decoration and add your child's name and the year.
Thread with ribbon and hang it on the tree.
Turn Christmas Crafting into a Tradition
You don't need to complete all ten activities.
Choose one or two that suit your child's age and interests and simply enjoy making something together.
You could even choose one Christmas decoration to make every year.
As your child grows, their creations will change too — from tiny fingerprints and enthusiastic paint splodges to carefully decorated ornaments they've designed themselves.
Before long, your Christmas tree could tell its own little story of them growing up.
A Little Note About Crafting with Young Children
Always choose craft materials appropriate for your child's age and supervise young children closely, particularly when using small items such as pom-poms, buttons or sequins.
And remember: Christmas crafting with under-fives isn't really about the finished product.
The glue might end up everywhere.
The colours may not match.
Father Christmas may somehow acquire four eyes.
That's all part of it.
Take a photograph, write the year on the back and keep a few favourites.
Because one day, those wonderfully imperfect little Christmas creations might be the decorations you treasure most.