10 Christmas Crafts for Toddlers (Safe for Under-3s)

I found a red pom-pom in my son’s mouth three minutes into our first Christmas craft. He was 20 months old, the craft was from a list of “easy toddler crafts”, and he looked extremely pleased with himself. That was the end of pom-poms in our house.

So every one of these Christmas crafts for toddlers has been checked against one question: what happens when it goes in their mouth? Nothing here is small enough to choke on, there are no beads, bells or buttons, and each craft has a starting age and a one-line safety note. They’re sorted by age, starting with 1-year-olds.

One rule covers all of them: stay right next to your toddler the whole time. Not in the kitchen, not on your phone. Right there.

For 1-Year-Olds (12 Months and Up)

At this age, a craft is mostly about touching things and making marks. The finished thing is a bonus.

Paint-in-a-Bag Christmas Tree

Squeeze blobs of green, red and yellow washable paint into a large zip-top freezer bag with a tree shape from our template slipped inside. Seal it, tape the top shut with strong tape, and tape the bag flat to the table. Your toddler squishes the paint around the tree with their hands. Zero mess, and they’ll happily do it for ages.

Safety: tape the seal shut and check it doesn’t leak. Throw the bag away afterwards rather than opening it.

Sticky Wall Christmas Tree

Tape a big tree shape cut from contact paper to the wall at toddler height, sticky side out. Hand over large felt or paper shapes (stars, circles and presents from our template, all bigger than a toilet roll tube is wide) and let them stick and unstick them.

Safety: every shape should be at least 2 inches across. Count them out and count them back in.

Footprint Reindeer Keepsake

Paint the bottom of your toddler’s foot with brown washable paint and press it onto card, toes at the bottom. Once it’s dry, the heel is the reindeer’s head: draw antlers and a nose on for them. It’s quick, mostly about you, and grandparents tend to cry.

Safety: use washable, non-toxic paint, and keep a wet cloth right there before you start. Footprints happen fast and so do wet feet on hard floors.

For 18 Months and Up

Stamped Wrapping Paper

Lay out a long sheet of brown paper and let them stamp it with washable paint on cookie cutters, or on the end of a toilet roll tube for perfect circles. Use it to wrap presents for grandparents. It’s the one craft that gets used rather than stuck on the fridge.

Safety: big cookie cutters only, with no sharp edges, and you hold the paint tray.

Tape-Resist Star Painting

Press strips of painter’s tape onto card in a big star shape. Let them paint all over the card with a chunky brush or a sponge. When it’s dry, peel the tape off (they’ll want to help) and there’s a clean white star underneath.

Safety: peel the tape yourself if they start chewing it.

Fingerprint Christmas Lights

Draw a wiggly black line across a card for the string. Your toddler presses painted fingertips along it to make the bulbs. It turns into a card for grandparents with almost no work from you.

Safety: washable, non-toxic paint, and wipe fingers before they go anywhere near mouths. Which they will.

Big Sticker Christmas Tree

Draw a big tree on paper, or use our template, and hand over large stickers to decorate it. Peeling stickers is great fine-motor practice, and it’s surprisingly calm.

Safety: use stickers at least 2 inches across. Small stickers peel off and end up in mouths.

Christmas Crafts for Toddlers Aged 2 and Up

Paper Plate Wreath With Tissue Paper

Cut the middle out of a paper plate. Your toddler spreads glue stick around the ring and presses on big squares of green and red tissue paper. Add a paper bow from our template at the bottom.

Safety: tear the tissue paper into big squares, about the size of your palm, and use a glue stick rather than runny glue.

Sponge-Painted Gingerbread Person

Print our big gingerbread template on card. Your toddler dabs brown washable paint all over it with a sponge. Once it’s dry, draw on buttons and a smile with a marker instead of gluing anything on.

Safety: draw the details. Don’t glue on buttons, sequins or googly eyes.

Handprint Christmas Tree Card

Paint your toddler’s hand green and press it onto folded card with the fingers pointing down. Turn it over and it’s a tree. Add a yellow fingerprint star at the top. Write their age inside; it’s the card people keep.

Safety: washable, non-toxic paint, and a wet cloth close by.

What to Leave Out Under Age 3

If you’re looking at other crafts, these are the things worth skipping for toddlers, even though they show up on lots of lists:

• Pom-poms, beads, buttons, googly eyes, sequins and small bells. Anything small enough to fit through a toilet roll tube can choke a toddler. The official test is even smaller (1.25 inches), but the tube is an easy, cautious check at home.
• Necklaces, bracelets or anything on a cord. Doctors don’t recommend jewelry for babies and toddlers because of strangulation risk.
• Salt dough and homemade play dough. They contain a lot of salt, which can be dangerous if a small child eats some. Save salt dough ornaments for preschoolers, and have them make it with you.
• Loose glitter. It goes in eyes and mouths. Glitter glue in a sealed bag craft is fine.
• Pipe cleaners. The cut ends are sharp and they bend into small pieces.

Download the Free Templates

The free PDF has big, simple templates for these Christmas crafts for toddlers: the tree for the paint bag and sticker tree, large stars, circles and presents for the sticky wall, the gingerbread person, and the wreath bow. Every shape is bigger than the small-parts size. It prints on US Letter and A4.

More Christmas Crafts

• Christmas crafts for kids (25 ideas, with two more for toddlers)
• Printable advent calendar for kids (with 24 activities for ages 3 to 5)
• Printable Christmas gift tags (16 for kids to color)

Frequently Asked Questions

What Christmas crafts can a 1-year-old do?

Mess-free crafts and big, simple ones work best. Try paint in a sealed bag, a sticky contact paper tree on the wall with large shapes, or a footprint reindeer that you do for them. At this age the craft is mostly about touching and squishing, so don’t worry about how it turns out.

What Christmas crafts can a 2-year-old do?

Two-year-olds can manage glue sticks, sponges, big stickers and handprint cards. The paper plate wreath, sponge-painted gingerbread person and handprint tree card are good ones. Keep the steps few and the pieces large, and stay right next to them.

What craft materials are not safe for toddlers?

Skip anything small enough to fit through a toilet roll tube, like pom-poms, beads, buttons, googly eyes and small bells. Also avoid necklaces or cords, loose glitter, pipe cleaners and salt dough. These turn up in lots of toddler craft lists, but they’re choking, cutting or swallowing hazards for under-3s.

Is salt dough safe for toddlers?

Not for under-3s. Salt dough and homemade play dough contain a lot of salt, and a poison center study found that a tablespoon of some recipes could reach a toxic level for a small child. If a child eats some and seems unwell, call your local poison center.

What are mess-free Christmas crafts for toddlers?

Paint in a sealed bag, a sticky contact paper tree with big shapes, and big sticker trees are all nearly mess-free. Tape-resist painting is tidier than it sounds if you tape the paper to the table first. Keep a damp cloth nearby either way.

Are these Christmas crafts for toddlers free?

Yes. The templates are in one free PDF with no email form and no sign-up. Print as many as you like for home, a nursery or a playgroup.