A Few Favorite Christmas Crafts

Aww Happy Wednesday!! Today I thought it would be fun to share a few of my favorite Christmas crafts that I've done in the classroom the past several years. One of just my favorite things ever is a sweet little homemade ornament, and now that I have Jane, I think my love for them has grown even more. 

Christmas is such a fun season, especially in the classroom, and especially at a Christian school teaching five year olds...maybe not many things more magical or special ✨ So here are just a few of my favorite incase you're looking for some ideas for little ones in your life!! 

This first one is definitely a sweet classic and favorite and so very simple. We just did a little painted handprint and cut it out... Then let the kids stretch out some cotton balls and glue it their "fingers." (Great fine motor as well!) We had some felt cut out that looked like a hat and let them glue some cotton to the bottom of that. Then once they put the hat on the "hand," we added two little eyes and a red pom-pom for the nose! I hot glued a little pipe cleaner on the back so we could hang them on our classroom tree before they took it home for their family tree. So simple and fun!! 

These little fingerprint Merry Christmas lights were also a favorite every year and also so simple! You can find the free printable here, and we just backed it with some construction paper and let the kids pick their color lights. I sent my mom a picture one year and she loved it so much, I made her one the next year as a little throwback to the younger years 😉

If you're looking for a fun little gift idea, we loved to make the kids these little homemade personalized clipboard every year. It was always a hit and would be so simple to make if you're needing a quick gift for a sweet elementary aged little one :) 

We simply printed the alphabet (Miss Kindergarten is such a perfect font for those letters!) and backed it then taped it on with clear packing tape... 

Then hot glued some fun ribbon that felt like them at the top... 

And printed 10-20 personalized sheets of stationary with their name. We wrapped it in cellophane with a fun ribbon and it made for such a cute little Christmas gift! I still get a few pictures of sweet little ones using theirs several years later! 

Oh, the beloved "Reindeer Reward." These little guys are SO simple, but such a fun staple during the Christmas season. 

In the classroom, we'd make enough for everyone to earn a reindeer reward at some point throughout the season :) 

But at home, I've made them to put on little bags with a name tag, I've given them to tutoring students and family friends too... they're just fun and simple!

You just take a few candy canes... 

Cut a brown pipe cleaner in half and wrap it around the top of the candy cane. And then with the other half, cut it into two pieces and those get wrapped around each side of the pipe cleaner to make the "antlers."

Then you glue on two little googly eyes and a red pom pom for the nose. :) And you have your very own "Reindeer Reward!"

Aww, these little star mangers became such a favorite... For the big school Christmas tree lighting, each grade was given a different shape of wooden ornaments... We were given stars and my sweet co-worker came up with this simple fingerprint and thumbprint baby Jesus.

We let the kids first paint the star the color they chose...

Then added their fingerprint and thumbprint and let them draw a little X for the manger... 

After they dried, we hot glued a few pieces of twine for the hay... 

And they turned out so cute that I made one to keep with an extra star we had...I love looking at this sweet ornament and all the memories it holds ❤️ It would also be such a simple, but sweet one to make at home!

These next two are two of my very favorite that have become so special... This silhouette ornament is something we would make to gift the parents with at Christmas. 

We would take a picture of them looking sideways, then print it out a little smaller, and tape it to black cardstock. And as you cut around the picture, the black is cut at the same time so when you unstick it, you are left with the sweetest silhouette. 

We would modge podge them onto these sweet little wooden plaques from Hobby Lobby, write a little note on the back and tie a ribbon on the front...

Then we'd let the kids wrap it up to give to their parents for Christmas. They were always the sweetest little keepsakes and so fun to make! 

And these little stocking ornaments were inspired by a little stocking ornament that has hung on my parents' tree for as long as I can remember. 

Little Tabitha after an outdoor recess at Mother's Day out... This little ornament became a staple though... So when I was teaching little ones, I knew I had to recreate it... 

So I would take a little picture of each student at our sweet Christmas Chapel and turn it into an ornament for them to take home... I still love getting pictures of these hanging on their family's trees!!

And those are just a few of my favorites for the season that might be fun to recreate if you ever were looking for some new and fun ideas! We have this busy and crazy Christmas desk to thank...

And I just loved being able to send these sweet little goodies home in such a fun season!!

Hope you gathered some new and fun ideas! I also posted a few of our favorite fall crafts here if you're interested in those as well!! I would love to know any that you have this Christmas season and what I should make with Jane in these few years as her tiny little fingers, hands and feet are growing so fast! 

Here's to wishing everyone a very creative and festive Wednesday!!
Merry Christmas!

❤️🎄✨Tab