There’s nothing like homemade Christmas decorations, especially when they’ve been made by enthusiastic little people desperate to earn their glittery creation a spot on the Christmas tree or on the Christmas table.
Here are some ideas for them to make – they will provide some gorgeous memories in the years to come… promise!
Wendy Tulley, art teacher, Safa British School
“Every Christmas I make tree decorations with my own children and these timeless creations are on display every year adding sentiment our collection.”
3D Hanging Snowflakes
What you need:
A4 paper (blue, white or silver)
Scissors
Masking tape or sellotape
Pencil
Thread or string
Glitter
Glue
Coloured or Glitter paper
Stapler
What to do:
1. Make six squares of equal size using blue, white, silver plain or patterned paper.
2. Fold the square diagonally in half to come up with a triangle.
3. Fold the resulting triangle in half to come up with a smaller triangle.
4. Make three equally spaced vertical slits on one short side of the folded triangle. Stop cutting before reaching the opposite short side. It’s easy to make the slits equally spaced even without measuring with a ruler by doing the middle slit first.
5. Carefully unfold the paper. The square will have three pairs of concentric slits.
6. Rotate the square so that it forms a diamond shape. Glue or tape the innermost pair of flaps together by the tips. You can use a pencil to bring the pair of flaps together if your square is small. Press the tips for a few seconds to glue the paper in place then flip the square over so that the paper’s opposite side is facing you.
7. Glue or tape the second pair of flaps together by the tips. Press for a few seconds to glue in place. Turn the paper over again and glue or tape the third pair of flaps by the tips.
8. Turn the paper over for the last time. Glue/tape the outermost pair of flaps by the tips. You have just finished making one of the snowflake’s arms.
9. Follow steps two to ten for the remaining five squares.
10. Start assembling the snowflake by gluing two snowflake arms together. Glue them at the bottom and at the middle where the two arms touch.Press on these two points for a few seconds to glue in place.
11. Continue adding the rest of the snowflake arms one at a time. Just like the first two, glue/tape them at the bottom and at the middle.
12. After you’ve positioned the last snowflake arm, glue/tape or staple its middle point with that of the first snowflake.
13. Attach a length of thread or thin string at the top of one snowflake arm. Hang from the ceiling, on window sills, or on a Christmas tree.
Cindi Meeks, elementary art teacher, Dunecrest American School
“Making crafts with friends and family during the festive season (even if it is virtually) is an incredibly special experience and one that students often remember long after they have left school.”
Reused Paper Mache Planter
What you need:
Recycled glass jar
Tissue paper (assorted colours)
Elmer’s glue
Paint brush
Soil
Seeds
What to do:
1. To get started simply tear or cut the tissue paper into small strips, put to one side and then start to make your glue.
2. To make your glue take a bowl and mix one part Elmer’s glue to two parts water until you get a thick glue-like consistency.
3. Paste the strips of tissue paper on all sides with a paintbrush – it’s best to do this on a flat and covered surface, turning them over with the paintbrush as you go.
4. When the tissue has dried, fill the jar with soil, plant your seeds and add water.
5. Give your gift to a loved one.
Kay Bathke, head of creative arts junior school, Repton School Dubai
“The Holiday season is the perfect time to be creative with the family and make something beautiful for your home. A festive wreath is the perfect decoration that you can place on the front door or inside your home to celebrate this special time.”
Festive Wreath
What you need:
Cardboard (any size will work)
A pencil
Scissors
Glue
Something round to draw around
Different shades of green paper, card or material
An assortment of craft materials, buttons, pompoms, ribbons and glitter
What to do:
1.You need a circular shape with a hole – this can be any size you wish. It should have at least a 4cm width to add your decorations. Draw round your circular shape and cut out the hole carefully. This is now your base.
2. Cut leaf shapes from your various different green papers and materials. They can be stuck to the base in layers to create a 3D look. Stick them on in the same direction as they go around to create a wreath (as per the picture).
3. Time to get creative! You can add anything on you wish to create your festive wreath. You can add gold stars, some glitter, buttons, pompoms and anything else you would like to use to add
some sparkle.
4. Hang up your wreath! This could go on your front door or inside your house as a beautiful decoration for the festive season.
Emma Denning, art teacher, Repton School Abu Dhabi
“Arts and Crafts are always fun, but at Christmas time, making decorations as a family can be an extra special way to celebrate the Festive season.”
Christmas Tree Wreath (Older Kids), Hands Wreath (Little Kids)
What you need:
Cardboard
A pen or pencil
Scissors
Glue
Different decorative paper
Decoration materials like glitter, buttons, pompoms, etc.
A large ribbon
Two plates (one big, one small)
What to do (older kids):
1. Start by drawing around the 2 plates onto the cardboard. Draw the smaller plate inside the larger plate so that you are creating a ring shape.
2. Carefully cut the ring shape out.
3. Print or draw a Christmas tree. 1 big and 1 small. (Approximately 10cm high and 8cm high) Use these as your templates.
4. Using your Christmas tree templates, draw around and then cut out each tree. Approximately 10 big and 10 small.
5. Decorate these trees.
6. Get your cardboard ring shape and start to glue the big trees down. Go all the way around. Then layer the smaller trees on top.
7. Once the glue has dried, add a big bow and hang the wreath up somewhere in your home.
8. Most important step of them all – Have fun!
What to do (little kids):
1. Start by drawing around the 2 plates onto the cardboard. Draw the smaller plate inside the larger plate so that you are creating a ring shape.
2. Carefully cut the ring shape out. (You might want to ask an adult to help you with this part).
3. On different patterned paper, draw around a number of hands. These could be all of your friends’ hands or all of the members of your family.
4. Carefully cut out all of the hands.
5. Get your cardboard ring shape and start to glue the hands down. Go all the way around carefully layering each hand so that it slightly overlaps. You do not want to see any of the cardboard rings showing.
6. Once the glue has dried, add a big bow and hang the wreath up on the door or somewhere in your home.
7. Again, Have fun!
Maria Gee R, Jacome, primary art school specialist, Horizon International School
“At home and in school, we spent hours coming up with ingenious ideas about how to create decorative pine trees out of plastic bottles, newspapers, driftwoods and whatever we could find. To this day I can still remember some of the most successful crafts and projects. These crafts are nature friendly, easy to make, low budget and most importantly, very popular with my students.”
O, Christmas Tree
What you need:
Magazines (thick pages work best)
Ornaments (optional)
Tinsel
Paint
What to do:
1. Remove the cover (front & back).
2. Fold the upper-right corner of the first page by aligning it with the magazine’s binding.
3. Make a second fold by folding the page along the magazine’s binding again.
4. You’ll notice that there’s a bit of the folded page hanging below the magazine. Turn the page and fold that part up so it’s aligned with the rest of the pages.
5. Keep folding. Repeat all of the folding steps page-by-page until you’re through with the entire magazine. To speed things up you can fold 2-3 pages together.
6. Customize, personalize and embellish. Add tinsel, ornaments and paint. Express yourself.
7. Make someone happy by sharing a tree. Happy holidays!
Christmas Balls
What you need:
Old Christmas cards
Scissors
Glue/stapler
Twine
Pen/pencil
What to do:
1. Cut six circles of the same size from old Christmas cards. You may add words or messages to personalize your project.
2. Make four folds until you form a square in the circle.
3. Glue/ staple along the folds/ crease until you form this ball. You may embellish and add your personal touch.
4. Tie with a twine and let it send the message of the season once again. Happy Holidays!
Personalised Christmas Tags
What you need:
Old Christmas cards
Paper puncher
Twine
What to do:
1. Cut any shape from an old Christmas card.
2. Stick it onto a blank card.
3. Punch a hole and thread through it.
4. Write your message and attach the tags to a present. Happy Holidays!
Amelia J Brown, early years specialist and Lyell Gianna, head of art, Falcon British Nursery
“We actively teach children the 4 Rs. (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rethink) and where possible repurpose everyday items in art and crafts before moving them to the recycling bin. We believe the issues facing our world need new thinking and children starting with problem solving practice at grassroots level in early years will be solution-oriented pros by the time they reach adulthood. We bring this thinking into the art we do.”
Yoghurt Bottle Snowman (to be used as a container or music shaker)
What you need:
Empty white plastics bottles with lids (yoghurt drinks, water or juice)
Snowman nose – use a jelly bean cut in half, orange cone bead
Permanent markers in red, black and orange
Reused small soda drink / yoghurt / water lid
Something for the scarf. Can be t-shirt cloth, dishwashing cloth, present wrapping ribbon
Scissors
PVA glue and glue spreader
Eyes – use googly eyes, paper dot stickers with black eyeball drawn, old buttons
Bits and bobs to store to in the snowman (or if using as a music shaker – beans or rice)
What to do:
1. Wash your hands. Take out everything before you start. Check they have all been wiped down by an adult with sterilising solution.
2. Remove the label and put in recycling.
3. Wash and dry the empty yoghurt bottles. Choose the two lids you are going to use for the hat – one smaller to fit on top of your snowman yoghurt bottle.
4. Glue the smaller lid to the bigger lid and leave to dry.
5. Colour the lids with a black permanent marker.
6. Cut or mould the nose. Add three dots of glue to the yoghurt bottle face. Match the eyes and nose to the glue dots and hold the eyes and nose on for a little bit while they stick.
7. Want something on top of your hat? You could add a pom-pom / tissue paper ball to the top if you want something on top of your snowman hat. Add a dot of glue and hold the pom / pom / ball on the lid for a little bit while it sticks.
8. Make a scarf. Cut the cloth/ribbon – approximately 10-15 cm long and 2cm wide. Cut tassels in the ends. Tie the scarf on the yoghurt bottle neck.
9. Draw the mouth on with permanent marker. Is your snowman happy or sad?
10. Draw on some stick arms on the side with black marker.
11. You have made your snowman container. Add something into the yoghurt snowman.
Sarah Qadir, KG2 teacher, The Swiss International Scientific School Dubai
“Festive holiday crafts are fun, memorable, and get you in the holiday mood in no time.”
Best Play-Doh Recipe Ever
What you need:
1 cup flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 cup salt
1 tbsp cooking oil
1 cup of water
Food colouring
Christmas cookie cutters
What to do:
1. In a large bowl, combine all of your dry ingredients (flour, salt, cream of tartar) and mix well.
2. Mix the food coloring with your water first. Then add the cooking oil and water with food coloring to a large pot. Mix together.
3. Add the dry ingredients to your pot and mix well.
4. Cook over low to medium heat while mixing with a wooden spoon until the play-doh starts to form and hold together.
5. Once it starts to form a ball and looks fully cooked, take it off the heat. Let the play-doh cool first before touching.
6. Once cool, knead the dough for 3-5 minutes to make the play-doh soft.
7. Now that you’re done making your play-doh, get out some Christmas cookie cutters and have fun making shapes. You can also use rolling pins and stamps. Get creative and add anything like shredded coconut or scented oils to your play-doh! Store in an airtight container or sandwich bag to keep it from getting dry.
Marianna Nagaui, class teacher, The Little Dreamers Nursery
“This Christmas wreath will work those important fine motor muscles in small hands.”
Magazine Wreath
What you need:
An old magazine (go for one with Christmassy colours)
Scissors
Glue
Cardboard
What to do:
1. Cut lots of strips from the magazine pages, choose the Christmassy colours.
2. Fold each strip over and stapled it at the bottom to form a petal shape.
3. Form the base of the wreath by cutting a large circle out of the cardboard and then a smaller circle out of the middle so you are left with a cardboard donut with a hole in the middle.
4. Use a glue stick and arrange the first row of petals about 2cm in from the outside edge of the wreath base.
5. Then go on and glue the second, the third and the fourth rows of petals, until the whole base is covered.
Suzy Whitaker, Primary School Teacher at GEMS Metropole School – Motor City
“This Christmas craft is perfect to make either as a family using each member’s handprint or for children to craft independently, depending on their age and stage of development. Once completed, this timeless piece of Christmas craft can be used to decorate your home, year after year.
Handprint Christmas Wreath
What you need:
Paint
Paint brush
Felt tip pens
Glue
Scissors (child-friendly or closely supervised if regular scissors)
Cardboard (roughly A5 size, this can be scrap cardboard)
3 x pieces of white A4 paper
A piece of ribbon – any colour of your choice
5 x red pompoms (alternatively you could use red beads, red sequins or even just red paint to make the berries)
What to do:
1. Start by painting your chosen hands, with green paint. Print these onto your pieces of paper, ideally making approximately eight handprints.
2. Draw a picture of a bow, using your felt tip pen. You can colour this in using your felt tips or with paint.
3. Leave your handprints and bow to dry.
4. Once dry, cut out your bow and your handprints (tip: cutting around the fingertips of your handprint will give your wreath extra detail).
5. Cut your scrap (A5 size) cardboard into a circle. Cut out the middle, so it makes a hoop shape.
6. Glue the handprints onto your cardboard hoop, with your handprint fingertips pointing outwards and overlapping them slightly.
7. Glue on your bow.
8. Once the glue is dry, attach your ribbon to the back of your cardboard hoop. This can be done with either glue or sticky tape.
9. Now attach your pompoms and glitter using glue (or alternatively you could make your berries using drips of red paint).
10. Once dry, hang your wreath in your home to decorate for Christmas.
Rose Trowse, year two teacher and science lead, GEMS FirstPoint School – The Villa
“Winter, and all the celebrations it brings, is always such a wonderful time of year. Positivity and joy fill the air, and many different arts and crafts are completed over this time, which I love. When I think of winter I think of sparkles, hand-made decorations, icing cookies, making cards for my family and creating decorations for the house, as well as making fun games for everyone to play.”
Winter Doodle Search
What you need:
Black pen
Pencil
White, yellow and black paper or card
A polly pocket (plastic sleeve)
Glue
Ruler
Scissors
Blue tac
Googly eyes (optional)
What to do:
1. Gather your resources.
2. Practise drawing your winter doodles on a piece of paper. Copy the same ideas or think of your own fun doodles that make you think of winter and celebrations.
3. Choose your favourite doodles and create a winter scene by using a black pen to draw onto a polly pocket (plastic sleeve).
4. Once you are happy with your design, insert a piece of black card or paper into the polly pocket.
5. Create a torch. Cut out a torch shape using white paper or card, cut out the torch beam shape using yellow paper or card and stick it together. Optional: Use a lolly stick to make it sturdier.
6. Optional: If you have googly eyes, you can stick them onto your design for an extra fun layer.
7. Write a list of all the amazing items you can find in your winter doodle.
8. Ta da, you’re done! Use your torch and list to search and find your amazing winter doodles.
Firdaus Hussein, foundation stage learning environment lead, GEMS Wellington Primary School
“Usually at this time of year, FS1 would be practising their favourite festive songs and creating their props for their sing-a-long in front of a wonderful audience, while FS2 would be preparing themselves for their annual trip to explore the snow at Ski Dubai. Although we won’t be able to experience the real thing this year, we can still enjoy some snow-themed crafts. Here are some of our favourites.”
Snowman Sensory Bag
What you need:
Zip-lock bag
Shaving foam
Black cardboard
Orange cardboard
Two large googly eyes
What to do:
1. Cut 4/5 small circles from the black cardboard (laminate if possible).
2. Cut a triangle from the orange cardboard (laminate if possible).
3. Add these along with the 2 googly eyes to the zip-lock bag.
4. Fill the bag with shaving foam and seal (tape if needed).
5. Allow your child time to explore squeezing and pressing the shaving foam inside the bag. You can even place the bag in the fridge for an hour or two so that it feels cold as your child manipulates the bag. Can they move the eyes, triangle nose and circle mouth to make a snowman’s face?
Snowman Snow Globes
What you need:
Card
Paint
Pompoms
Scissors
What to do:
1. Cut the card in a thick strip to create the base. You will need to fold into a cylinder shape.
2. Cut another piece of card in the shape of a large circle.
3. Paint a snowman in the centre of the large circle. Then paint snowflakes in the background.
4. Once the paint has dried you can add the features of the snowman by gluing on pompoms to create a hat and buttons. Draw in the snowman’s eyes and smile. Add an orange triangle for the nose.
5. Make two small cuts, one on either side of the base, at the top. Then place the large circle in the two cuts made.
6. Lastly, add your name to personalise your decoration, or you can address this to someone special as a gift.
Heather Ford, year six teacher, GEMS Wellington Academy – Al Khail
“Through arts and crafts children learn how to value and appreciate artefacts and images across cultures. When it comes to Christmas or winter arts and crafts activities, I have never seen children’s faces light up so much! This is a wonderful way to wind down, not to mention the fact that a glitter jar is great for soothing the mind.”
Winter Snowglobes
What you need:
Glass or plastic jar with lid
Polymer clay
Varnish
Glitter
Glycerine (optional, but it will make water thicker; sold in pharmacies)
Distilled water
Strong glue (or glue gun)
What to do:
1. Begin your snow globe by kneading the clay
2. Once it is warmed up and easy to work with, model it into the winter decoration you would like. The size of the figure depends on the height of the jar you are using – make sure it will fit inside.
3. Bake according to the manufacturer’s directions.
4. Allow to cool. I always spray my polymer clay pieces with a clear sealing coat, or brush on a clear varnish, but this step is optional.
5. Use a hot glue gun (or another strong glue) to attach your clay figure to the bottom of the jar.
6. Add water to the jar until 2/3 full
7. Add a little glycerin (about 10 drops to start). The more you add, the thicker the water. This will make the glitter swirl longer, but this step is optional.
8. Add glitter, tiny silver snowflakes, or fake snow to the jar so it looks like snow.
9. Glue around the lid of the jar, and while it is still wet, screw on the lid tightly. Do this over the sink, as some of the water/glycerin mixture may get displaced and spill out – but don’t worry, that’s OK. Just ensure you have filled it up as far as possible.
10. Wipe off the outside and the snow globe is done!
TIP: These snow globes look really cute when you make a few and display them as a group!
Amanda Pemberton, art coordinator, GEMS Royal Dubai School
“I love making these beautiful poinsettia flowers with the children. They are so versatile, and they look stunning glued individually onto the front of a greeting card, or you can attach a ribbon to hang from your tree. If you’re feeling very creative, make a few of them and glue them into a circle to make your own festive wreath.”
Paper Plate Poinsettias
What you need:
Three paper plates of different sizes
Red, white, green and yellow liquid tempera paint
Gold metallic paint (optional)
Small kitchen sponges (cut a regular sponge into smaller rectangles) or chunky paint brushes
Red, white and green oil pastels
Yellow tissue paper or glitter
Scissors
Pencil
Small plastic cup or lid
White PVA/elmers Glue
What to do:
1. Place a small cup or circle template in the middle of the largest plate and draw around it.
2. Starting at the outside edge of the plate, draw five petals in towards the circle. Then cut out your flower. The petals do not need to be perfect – they look more interesting, realistic and unique if they are slightly irregular.
3. Repeat step 1 and 2 on all 3 plates. The largest plate will be the outer green leaves. The medium plate is for the large petals and the small plate is for the smaller petals.
4. Use the sponges and paint to sponge paint the green onto the large plate (the leaves) and a combination of red and white paint on the two other plates. The gold metallic paint can be mixed in to create a glimmer effect.
5. When the paint is dry, use the oil pastels to draw veins and stems.
6. Use small pieces of tissue paper scrunched into small balls to act as stamen in the centre of the flower or you could blob on some glue and glitter.
7. Glue the three layers together. As the glue dries, the paper leaves will curl.
