25 Christmas Crafts for Kids: Ornaments, Gifts, Decorations

Christmas crafts give kids something to make, give and hang on the tree, and they fill the long, excited days before the holiday. The 25 ideas below are grouped into ornaments, gifts kids can make, decorations, and crafts for groups and classrooms. Most use paper, felt, craft sticks, cardboard and a printed coloring page or two. For more holiday ideas beyond crafts, see our full list of Christmas activities for kids.

Supplies to keep on hand

Ornaments kids can make

1. Coloring page ornaments. Color a printed Christmas picture, glue it to card, cut it out in a circle and add a ribbon loop. Our Christmas coloring pages work well for this.

2. Craft stick snowflakes. Glue three craft sticks into a star shape, paint them white or blue, and decorate with sequins or paper dots.

3. Photo ornaments. Glue a small photo inside a frame made of four craft sticks and decorate the frame.

4. Felt gingerbread people. Cut a gingerbread shape from brown felt and decorate with white fabric paint and buttons.

5. Button trees. Glue green buttons into a triangle on a small piece of card, with a brown button as the trunk.

6. Clear ornament fillers. Fill shatterproof clear ornaments with paper confetti, cut ribbon or pom-poms.

7. Yarn-wrapped stars. Cut a star from cardboard and wrap it in colorful yarn.

8. Handprint Santa. Paint a hand white (beard), with a red thumb and palm for the hat, and add a face.

Gifts kids can make

9. Personalized coloring book. Print several coloring pages, staple them into a booklet and design a cover with the recipient's name. A custom page from the name coloring page generator makes a nice first page.

10. Decorated bookmarks. Color a long strip of card and add a ribbon tassel.

11. Painted rocks. Paint smooth stones as paperweights with snowmen, stars or messages.

12. Handprint tea towel or apron. Use fabric paint to press handprints shaped like reindeer or trees.

13. Homemade calendars. Each month gets a child's drawing; staple them to a printed calendar grid.

14. Gratitude jar. Decorate a jar and fill it with folded notes saying why they love the person.

15. Photo-to-coloring-page gift. Turn a family photo into a line drawing with the photo to coloring page tool, print it, and let kids color it for grandparents.

Decorations

16. Window snowmen. Cut snowman shapes from white paper and tape them to the window.

17. Paper lanterns. Fold a sheet of paper in half, cut slits along the fold, open and roll into a lantern shape.

18. Paper plate angels. Fold a paper plate into a cone for the body and add paper wings.

19. Cardboard tube nativity or village. Turn tubes into houses, trees or figures with paper and markers.

20. Advent countdown tree. Draw a tree on a large sheet; each day, kids color one numbered ornament.

21. Stained glass stars. Glue tissue paper pieces behind a star cut out of black paper and hang in a window.

Group and classroom crafts

22. Class wreath. Each child traces and cuts out their hand in green paper; glue the hands in a circle to make a wreath.

23. Holiday card station. Set out folded card, stamps, stickers and markers so everyone can make a card for a family member.

24. Christmas coloring contest. Give everyone the same page and award categories like most colorful and most creative.

25. Mandala snowflakes. Color a mandala coloring page in blues, silvers and whites to look like a snowflake, then cut it out and hang it.

Tips

• Prepare shapes in advance for young children.
• Use shatterproof ornaments, not glass.
• Write each child's name and the year on the back of every ornament; they become keepsakes.
• Choose washable paints and cover the table.
• Keep some crafts quiet and calm for the busy days right before the holiday.

More ideas

For mixing the perfect holiday red and green, see what colors make red and what colors make green. And if you want to make a full holiday activity book, our guide to how to make a coloring book walks through it.