Christmas Crafts: 8 Affordable Crafts for the Whole Family

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Christmas Crafts: 8 Affordable Crafts for the Whole Family Minerva Roca Contributor Miami Mom Collective

Are your kids on winter break and driving you crazy because they are “bored?” These Christmas crafts are just what you need to keep them entertained. The best part is they are all super affordable and get everyone involved. There are activities for the whole family, from babies to adults. And guess what? Most of the materials I bought at Dollar Tree.

Christmas Crafts: 8 Affordable Crafts for the Whole Family Minerva Roca Contributor Miami Mom Collective

Minerva Roca Contributor Miami Mom Collective

Gingerbread, Christmas Tree, and Snowman Sensory Bags

Supplies:
1 gallon-sized Ziploc bag (per sensory bag)
Alcohol (either with an alcohol wipe or alcohol and a cotton ball)
Permanent markers (black, green, brown, or whichever you need for your decoration)
Clear hair gel or clear hand soap
Any accessories you choose to add (glitter, pom-poms, sequins, buttons…)

First, I get a gallon-sized Ziploc bag. Then I use some alcohol (either a wipe or just with a cotton ball) and remove the label on the front of the bag. Next, use a black Sharpie to draw the outline of a gingerbread man on the front of the Ziploc bag. Don’t forget to draw in the spaces for the eyes, mouth, buttons, and any accessories you would like. If you want, you can paint the gingerbread man with a brown sharpie or just leave it as is. Just make sure you draw on the back, not the front, so the kids don’t rub it off.

Then, pour some clear hair gel or clear hand soap into the Ziploc bag. I use just enough to be able to spread it all around the bag (about 10 -12 ounces). Do not overfill the bag.

Now you can add all the fun stuff! Add 2 googly eyes, a smile, 3 buttons, and any additional accessories you want to use for your child to decorate the gingerbread man. Some examples are white strips cut out of foam, or sequins, or even pom-poms.

Remove all the air from the bag and seal it carefully. To make sure that your little one does not open the bag, seal it with duct tape. Now you can tape the sensory bag to any flat surface. I usually go for the baby’s highchair or their little table. Because my daughter is slightly destructive, I tape it down to the table on all 4 sides with duct tape. Better safe than sorry!

You can follow these same steps to build a snowman sensory bag and a Christmas tree sensory bag. The only difference would be in the design you draw on the Ziploc bag and the fun things you put inside. For the Christmas tree, you can draw a tree with empty balls (representing ornaments or lights) and add sequins, pom poms, small fake lights, or even buttons. For the snowman, you can use the clear gel or white hand soap and you would add an orange triangle, black circles, a black top hat, and even a scarf all made out of foam.

Minerva Roca Contributor Miami Mom Collective

Christmas Countdown – Santa or Christmas Tree

Supplies for the Santa version:
Santa printable with the poem
Cotton balls

Supplies for the Christmas tree version:
Christmas tree printable with the poem
Your choice for ornaments (stickers, cut out paper circles, pom-poms, or crayons to color them in)

My kids, well my son especially, loves driving me crazy asking how long until Christmas. We figured out a solution for that since he is doing virtual learning. I made him a countdown calendar so he can keep track for all of us.

I made both a Santa version and a Christmas tree version. For the Santa version, you just cut out the Santa and the poem. You glue them both onto a large construction paper. You also need a bag of 24 cotton balls (unless you buy the set all together). Then you use cotton balls to fill out Santa’s beard and when it is full and white it means Santa comes that night.

For the Christmas tree version, you just cut out the Christmas tree and the poem. You glue them both onto a large construction paper and you need to get whatever you will be using to decorate the ornaments. Just make sure there are 24 of whatever you choose to use. Then you add ornaments to the tree until you run out of circles and that means it’s the night Santa comes. My son picked the Santa one. His teacher loved it so much that she ordered some for the whole class.

Minerva Roca Contributor Miami Mom Collective

Tea Light Snowmen

Supplies:
Tealights
Permanent marker
Red and black felt or foam
Matching pom poms and a pipe cleaner
String to use to hang them
Hot glue gun

This one I did mostly because I found some tealights that I had bought from Dollar Tree and had never used. But they came out so cute!

This first part I did because I don’t trust the kids with permanent markers yet. You just need to take the tealight and use the black sharpie to draw on the eyes (2 black dots) and the smile (4 black dots). After that have the kids decorate them however they want. You can make them into a scarf, earmuffs, a top hat, or anything you think would look cute.

Minerva Roca Contributor Miami Mom Collective

Coffee Filter Snowflakes

Supplies:
Coffee filters
Washable markers
Water
A plastic tablecloth (from Dollar Tree)
A small spoon

I love this one especially for smaller kids because they can have at it and it would still come out cute.

First, I put down a plastic tablecloth on the area where they are working so they don’t dirty the table while they are doing the craft. I just bought one from Dollar tree and it got the job done just fine.

Then I give them each a coffee filter. I put the markers in the middle of the table so they all can share. We decided to chose cool-toned colors (blues, purples, and pinks) because I like the mix of those colors, especially for winter. I let them have at it! The more they color it the better. It does not matter what they draw they just need to fill as much white space as possible.

Then I took a small spoon and put a little water on them. Make sure it is enough for the whole filter to be wet but not so much that it is soaked. The next step kids do not like so much. You need to let them dry overnight or until they are completely dry.

Once they are dry fold the coffee filter in half 4 times. Next, you just cut out pieces from your folded coffee filter to make your snowflake. You can cut out triangles, half-circles, half hearts, half teardrops, half diamonds, or just wavy lines on the edges. Now you open it up and reveal the masterpiece.

And last but not least one that involves the whole family!

Christmas Crafts: 8 Affordable Crafts for the Whole Family Minerva Roca Miami Mom Collective

Family Handprint Christmas Tree

Option 1 supplies:
Construction paper (lots in green, 1 in yellow, 1 in brown, and 1 big one in either black or white)
Pencil
Scissors
Glue
Dot stickers or a dot marker if you would like to have ornaments on the tree

Option 2 supplies:
1 large white or black sheet of paper or cardstock
Paint (green, yellow, and red)
Styrofoam or paper plates
Paintbrush
Wipes for the cleanup

I do not like messy crafts especially with a 2-year-old, so I chose option 1. If you are feeling adventurous or like messy crafts you can choose option 2.

For option 1 you just need to trace everyone’s hand on the green construction paper. 3 times per person except for the smallest one who does 4. You cut all of them out. Then you trace the smallest person’s foot on the brown construction paper and cut it out. On the yellow construction paper, you cut out a star for the top of your tree.

Now all you have to do is assemble and glue it down on the construction paper you chose (either black or white). First goes the foot in the middle of the paper towards the bottom, this is the trunk of the tree. I would to the widest part down. On the layer above goes the biggest set of hands. All 3 go one right next to each other facing down and overlapping both each other and the trunk. Next, go to the 2nd largest and so on until you reach the smallest set. With this one 3 of the hands go in one layer and then on top of those 3 goes the 4th hand. To finish it all the way on top goes the star.

It is a simple and adorable keepsake, just remember to write the year.

Christmas Crafts: 8 Affordable Crafts for the Whole Family Minerva Roca Contributor Miami Mom Collective

I hope these Christmas crafts motivate you to do some of these with your kids. You can also check out these Hanukkah crafts. If you make any of these crafts and post a picture, don’t forget to tag @miamimomcollective.

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