These Christmas crafts for kids are the ones that survive a real December: short attention spans, a kitchen table that’s also the wrapping station, and a craft drawer that’s mostly paper plates, glue sticks and a suspicious amount of glitter. There are 25 here. Some take five minutes. A couple take an afternoon. All of them use things you probably have in the house already.
Each craft has an age, a rough time and how messy it gets, so you can pick fast. Most are easy Christmas crafts a four-year-old can manage with a bit of help. There’s a toddler section near the end, and a couple for older kids who are past paper plates.
Need templates? The Santa face, reindeer antlers, snowman parts, star, gift tags and pop-up card are all in one free PDF further down. No email.
Quick safety bit first. Beads, pom-poms and googly eyes are a choking risk for under-3s, so stick to paper and stickers for the littlest ones. Hot glue and the oven belong to the grown-ups. And salt dough isn’t food, for kids or for the dog.
Paper Plate Christmas Crafts
Paper plates are the unsung hero of December. Round already, cheap, and they hold paint without curling. Get the plain uncoated ones.
Paper Plate Santa
Ages 3+, about 20 minutes, a little messy.
Paint the top third of the plate red for the hat, leave the middle bare for the face, and glue cotton balls round the bottom for the beard. A cotton-ball pom-pom goes on the tip of the hat. Cut out the eyes, nose and cheeks from the template, or just draw them.
Pull the cotton balls apart a bit before gluing. Fluffy beards look much better than lumpy ones.
Paper Plate Wreath
Cut the middle out of a plate so you have a ring. Kids tear green tissue or construction paper into small pieces, scrunch them and glue them all the way round. Add a few red paper berries and a bow at the bottom.
Ages 3 and up. Around 25 minutes, mostly because tearing paper is weirdly absorbing.
Paper Plate Snowman
Two plates, one smaller (or trimmed down), stapled together. Draw on coal eyes and buttons, glue on a paper carrot nose, and give him a scarf from a strip of fabric or ribbon. Our snowman crafts never seem to come out with the same face twice, which is half the charm.
Handprint and Footprint Christmas Crafts
These are the keepsakes. Write the name and the year on the back as soon as they’re dry, because you will forget whose hand is whose by next December.
Handprint Christmas Tree
Paint a child’s hand green and press it down three times in a stack, fingers pointing down, smallest print at the top. That’s a tree. Add a brown trunk, fingerprint ornaments in every color, and a yellow star on top.
It’s messy (you’re painting a hand), but it takes ten minutes. Ages 1 and up with help.
Footprint Reindeer
Paint the bottom of a foot brown and press it onto card with the toes at the top. The footprint is the reindeer’s face, and the round heel at the bottom is where the red nose goes. Add two brown handprints above the toes for antlers, then googly eyes (or drawn eyes for little ones) and a red nose.
Babies and toddlers can do this one. You do the painting, they do the wriggling.
Fingerprint Christmas Lights Card
Draw a wavy black line across the front of a folded card for the wire. Kids dip a fingertip in different colors and press bulbs along the line. Add a tiny rectangle above each bulb with a marker.
This is probably the easiest homemade Christmas card there is. Ages 2+, 10 minutes.
Toilet Roll Christmas Crafts
Start saving tubes in November. You’ll need more than you think.
Toilet Roll Elf
Paint the tube green, or wrap it in green paper. Add a paper face near the top, a pointy red or green paper hat, and a little belt from black paper with a yellow buckle. Ears are two small triangles glued to the sides.
Ages 4+, 20 minutes. Kids tend to make a whole family of these.
Toilet Roll Reindeer
Brown tube, two googly eyes, a red pom-pom nose and antlers cut from the template (or traced from small hands). They stand up on their own, so they look great lined up along a windowsill.
Toilet Roll Snowman
White paint or white paper round a tube. Draw a face, add a strip of fabric for a scarf and a paper or felt hat. Simple, quick, about 15 minutes. Ages 3 and up.
Christmas Ornaments Kids Can Make
The ones that go on the tree and then come out again every year after.
Salt Dough Ornaments
Mix 1 cup of flour, half a cup of salt and about half a cup of water into a dough. Roll it out, cut shapes with cookie cutters, and poke a hole at the top with a straw. Bake low (around 250°F, 120°C) for about two hours until hard, then paint once cool.
Press a hand into a circle of dough for a handprint ornament. Grandparents tend to love those. Ages 3+, but the baking is a grown-up job. And remember: not edible, and keep it away from dogs.
Beaded Candy Cane
Thread red and white pony beads onto a pipe cleaner, alternating colors, and bend the top into a hook. Done. It’s great for fine motor skills. Ages 4 and up, because beads.
Paper Strip Ball Ornament
Cut 8 strips of paper the same length. Stack them, push a split pin through one end, then fan the strips round into a ball and pin the other end. A loop of ribbon at the top and it’s an ornament. Ages 6+, about 20 minutes.\
Popsicle Stick Snowflake
Glue three craft sticks across each other in a star shape. Paint them white or blue, then add sequins, buttons or glitter. Ages 4+.
Pom-Pom Christmas Tree
Cut a triangle from green card and glue on small colored pom-poms as ornaments. Add a star sticker on top. Ages 3 and up (supervise small pom-poms).
Christmas Paper Crafts
Paper Snowflakes
Fold a square of paper in half, then in half again, then into a triangle. Cut small shapes out of the edges, unfold, and there it is. No two are the same, which is a good thing to point out while they’re cutting.
Older kids can try the six-sided fold for proper snowflakes. Tape them to the windows.
Accordion Fold Paper Tree
Fold a sheet of green paper back and forth like a fan. Pinch one end and staple it, then spread the other end out. You’ve got a tree. Stick it on a card or stand it up on a cork. One of the Christmas tree crafts that actually stands up.
Paper Chain Christmas Countdown
Cut 24 strips of red and green paper. Number them, loop them into a chain, and tear one link off every morning until Christmas. Ages 3+. It’s also sneaky counting practice.
Pop-Up Christmas Card
Fold a card in half. Make two short parallel cuts into the fold, then push the tab inside so it pops out when the card opens. Glue the tree from the template onto the tab. Kids are always surprised it works.
Easy Christmas Crafts for Toddlers
Contact Paper Christmas Tree Suncatcher
Cut a tree shape out of contact paper, peel off the backing and tape it sticky side up to a window. Toddlers press tissue paper squares onto it. When it’s full, seal it with another sheet. No glue, no mess, very proud toddler.
Cotton Ball Snowman
Draw three circles on blue card. Little ones glue cotton balls inside them. Add a paper hat and a carrot nose for them. Ages 2+.
More Christmas Crafts for Kids: Gifts They Can Make
Handmade presents are the best kind. These are for grandparents, teachers, and anyone who’ll appreciate a slightly wonky gift.
Popsicle Stick Photo Frame
Glue four craft sticks into a square, then paint and decorate it. Tape a photo behind. Add a magnet strip on the back for the fridge. Ages 4+.
Stamped Wrapping Paper
Cut a potato in half and carve a simple star or tree into it (grown-up job). Kids dip it in paint and stamp all over brown kraft paper. Use it to wrap their own presents.
Printable Gift Tags
Print the gift tags from the template, color them in, cut them out and punch a hole. Tie them on presents with ribbon. Quick, and useful, which is rare for a craft.
For Older Kids
Felt Stocking Ornament
Cut two stocking shapes from felt using the template. Kids sew round the edge with a running stitch and a big plastic needle, leaving the top open. Add a ribbon loop. Ages 7 and up. It’s a good first sewing project.
Paper Gingerbread House
Print the gingerbread house template, color it, cut and fold it, and glue the tabs. Decorate with candy-style drawings or real stickers. Our full [gingerbread house template] has more designs. [Link when the spoke is live, 23 Oct.]
Christmas Crafts for School and Groups
Running Christmas crafts for kids with a whole class? These work best:
- Handprint trees and paper chain countdowns need almost no cutting.
- Paper plate wreaths use cheap supplies and dry fast.
- Gift tags let every child take something home the same day.
- Do the cutting the night before, and count supplies per child plus three spares.
I’m not sure which of these ends up being the favorite. My guess is the handprint tree, because it ends up on the fridge for years.
Free Christmas Craft Templates (PDF)
The template pack has every shape the Christmas crafts for kids above need: Santa face parts, reindeer antlers, snowman parts, a star, a tree for the pop-up card, gift tags, a felt stocking outline and a mini gingerbread house. It prints on US Letter and A4.
More Free Christmas Printables
Christmas Craft FAQs
What are some easy Christmas crafts I can make?
A handprint Christmas tree, a paper plate wreath, a paper chain countdown and a beaded candy cane are all quick and need very few supplies.
What are some easy Christmas crafts for a group?
Handprint trees, paper plate wreaths, paper snowflakes and gift tags work well for a class or a party, because they need little cutting and dry quickly.
What Christmas crafts can kids make as gifts?
A popsicle stick photo frame, a salt dough handprint ornament, stamped wrapping paper and printable gift tags.
What are Christmas crafts for toddlers?
The contact paper suncatcher and the cotton ball snowman. Both use no small parts and almost no glue.
When should I start Christmas crafts?
Any time in late November or early December. The paper chain countdown needs to start on 1 December to finish on Christmas Eve.
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