Children are creative by nature. They can take paper or clay and make some interesting projects with very little supervision. If the adults in their lives supervise some great Christmas decorations can be made.
Hand and Foot Reindeer
This delightful decoration not only serves as a decoration, it is a reminder of the size of the child when he made it. The materials needed are dark brown construction paper, white construction paper, light brown construction paper, one red pompom, thin green ribbon, and a black marker. The child removes one shoe. He places his foot on the light brown construction paper and traces around it. This will become the reindeer's head.
The child then places both hands on the dark brown construction paper (with space between them) and someone traces his hands for him. These become the antlers. The child cuts out the head and antlers from the paper. The antlers are glued to the back of one end of the head. The child then cuts out two eyes (predrawn by an adult) from the white paper. He draws a pupil in each eye. These are glued to the front of the top of the head. The red pompom is glued to the bottom of the head. A hole is punched in the top and the ribbon threaded through and tied to make a hanger. The child writes his name and the date on the back.
Handprint Wreath
This is again a decoration and a reminder of the size of the child when it is made. For this project you will need green construction paper, red paint, a white paper plate, and yarn. Several tracings of the child's hand are made on the green construction paper. The number depends on the size of the child and plate, but enough are need to make 2-3 layers around the outside edge of the plate. The hand prints are glued to the plate in a pleasant arrangement. The child then takes the red paint and puts fingerprint holly berries on the green leaves. A hole is punched into the top and yarn threaded through for hanging purposes. The child can either put his picture or sign his name and the date in the center of the plate.
Santa Hand
This is a Christmas version of the popular hand tracing turkey for Thanksgiving. For each child you need 1 piece of plain white paper, crayons, markers or colored pencils, cotton balls. The child with help traces one of his hands on the paper. The paper is turned so the fingers are pointing down. The fingertips are connected and become the beard and the thumb is part of the hat. Draw a line across the top third of the palm to create the rest of the hat. The child draws two eyes and a nose on the center of the palm. The top third can be colored red. A cotton ball can be added to the end of the thumb to create a tassel and more cotton can be glued to the finger section to make the beard look fuzzy.
Snowman Family
This fun pictorial representation of your family could become the basis for the annual Christmas cards. Give your child a white piece of paper. Have them draw a three ball snow person for each family member. Then the child uses crayons, colored pencils or markers to make the snow people look like family members. The picture can be copied and turned into the annual Christmas card to be sent to friends and family near and far.
With a little paper and a lot of creativity kids can make some awesome decorations/gifts for Christmas.
