An Advent calendar of Christmas crafts 24 days of super quick and easy craft activities! Christingles are often made and lit during Advent.

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1 24 days of super quick and easy craft activities! 1 Christingle an orange, a candle or glow stick, red ribbon, four toothpicks and sweets. Christingles are often made and lit during Advent. 2 a. The orange symbolises the world. Place the red ribbon around the orange to symbolises love of Jesus. b. The sweets symbolise God s creation are placed on the four toothpicks (to represent the four seasons) and pushed into the orange. c. The light, placed in the top of the orange, symbolises that Jesus is the light of the world. Vincent Angler, 2012, Christmas decorations Christmas resources (see below), tissue paper and PVA glue. A fun task for developing fine motor skills. a. Choose a design to decorate. b. Tear the tissue paper into small pieces and roll them into small balls. c. Put PVA glue over the entire design. d. Stick the tissue paper balls all over to create an eye-catching 3D design. 3 Star lolly sticks four wooden craft sticks, wood glue or a glue gun, glitter, small sequins, paint or pens. a. Take four wooden craft sticks. Place them on top of each other to form a star shape (see picture) and glue to join. b. Once the glue is dry, you can now decorate your star with glitter, sequins, paint or pens Page 1 of 11

2 4 Simple snowflakes a piece of square paper and a pair of scissors. a. Fold a square piece of paper in half to make a triangle. b. Half it again, again and finally again to make smaller triangle. c. Cut a curve along the bottom edge of the paper opposite the centre point to make your snowflake circular. d. Now carefully cut a design into the paper (particularly along the joined edge) and unfold to make a snowflake. e. Refold and repeat until you are happy with your snowflake! 5 Make a snowman collage A4 black paper, a pencil, white paper, glue stick and googly eyes. Another fun activity for fine motor skills. a. Draw three circles onto your black paper using a pencil. This will be the body of the snowman. b. Tear the white paper into small pieces and fill the circles to form the body of the snowman. Add the googly eyes, buttons and a nose. 6 Wooden peg stars seven spring-clipped, wooden clothes pegs, glue, paint and glitter. a. Take the metal part out of each clothes peg. b. Glue each peg together, back to back to make a star. c. Decorate with paint or glitter. 7 Christmas crown thin card, stapler, glue, sequins, pens and paints. a. Cut a length of thin card about 50cm long and three to four inches wide. Cut in triangle shapes along one of the long sides. b. Measure around a child s head and staple together. c. Decorate with sequins, paint and pens to make an attractive crown Page 2 of 11

3 8 Pom-pom festive cheer wool, cardboard and scissors. Pom-poms are fun and easy to make. From Christmas baubles to snowmen the possibilities are endless! a. Take two identical cardboard circles and cut out identical circles of the middle to create a card doughnut. b. Place the circles together. Wrap the wool in through the holes and around the whole of the circles until they are completely covered. c. Cut through the wool around the outer circle. d. Take another piece of wool and wrap it around the gap in the circle to secure your pom-pom. e. Remove the card circles and fluff up your pom-pom. f. Decorate as you wish! 9 Decorate Gingerbread Men an easy gingerbread recipe or cake kit, a gingerbread man cookie cutter, readymade icing tubes and sweets. a. Cook the gingerbread men according to the instructions. b. Allow the gingerbread men to cool and decorate with icing and sweets. 10 Angels angel template (see Christmas resources below), glitter, sequins, pens and paints to decorate. a. Draw around the angel template and cut it out carefully. b. Decorate with glitter, sequins, pens and paints. c. Attach ribbon and hang, or alternatively glue onto a card tube to create a standing decoration Page 3 of 11

4 11 Christmas seed picture dried seeds (different colours and shapes), thin card, Christmas resources (see below) and PVA glue. a. Draw a simple Christmas shape e.g. a star from the Christmas resources onto a piece of thin card. b. Spread PVA glue onto the picture. c. Add the different seeds to create an eye-catching picture. 12 Christmas Shakers two elastic bands or tape, cardboard rolls, dried beans or rice, coloured paper and glue. a. Take the cardboard roll and decorate it with the coloured paper, paint and/or stickers. b. Place a piece of coloured paper over one end, so that it closes the hole. Keep it in place with an elastic band or sticky tape. c. Place the beans into the toilet roll and then close the top, in the same manner. d. Your shaker is ready! 13 Christmas party game dice, gold stars and two pictures of Christmas trees. a. Each player has a Christmas tree. b. Place the stars in the middle of the table. c. Each player takes turns to throw a dice. The number that is thrown is the number of stars each player can stick onto their tree. d. When the stars are all used up, the person with the most stars on their tree wins Page 4 of 11

5 14 Christmas chimneys and ladders an A4 squared sheet of one hundred squares. a. Ask children to work in pairs to create their own version of Snakes and Ladders on the A4 squared sheet of paper but this time with a Christmas theme called Chimneys and Ladders. The idea is they will climb the ladders but fall down the chimneys. b. They can also make their own Father Christmas game piece or use counters. c. Now they can then play in pairs to see who can get their Father Christmas to one hundred first! 15 Christmas Carols: Guess the Song a Christmas carol CD. a. Organise the children into teams. b. Play the opening bars of a Christmas Carol. You may wish to write the names of the carols on the IWB to provide some support. c. Which team can guess the correct song first? Each team can shake, bang or rattle their own musical instrument when they know their answer. 16 Christmas Nativity lollipop sticks, the Christmas resource (see below) printed onto thin card, and colouring pens or pencils. a. Colour in and cut out all of the Nativity pictures on the Christmas resource sheet. b. Stick them onto lollipop sticks to create puppets. c. Retell the Nativity story using the puppets Page 5 of 11

6 17 Christmas beading pipe cleaners and beads. a. Think of your design: a star, a tree or a candy cane. b. Choose your pipe cleaner and beads. c. Thread the beads on and bend the pipe cleaner to create your design. 18 Christmas foil decorations foil, glue, Christmas resources (see below), a dull pencil and/or permanent pens. a. Cut out a Christmas shape and glue it onto the cardboard. b. Cut out the Christmas cardboard shape and stick the dull side of the foil onto it. c. Draw pretty patterns onto the foil with a dull pencil and/or add colour with permanent pens. d. Your decoration is ready for display! 19 The Christmas stable lollipop sticks, glue, paper and colours. a. Take the lollipop sticks and glue them (as shown) to make a 2D stable. b. Draw a Nativity scene onto paper and glue it behind the 2D stable. c. Display Page 6 of 11

7 20 Festive paper chains newspaper, wrapping paper or coloured paper. Children love making paper chains who can create the longest? a. Cut out strips of paper about an inch thick. b. Now cut each length into approx. 10cm lengths. c. Glue the first strip to make a loop. d. Now add strips of paper as loops to make a paper chain as shown. Bart Everson, 2014, 21 Reindeer (and others) thumbprints a brown ink pad/paint in a saucer, red and black felt tip pens and a thumb! a. Press your thumb onto the ink pad/paint and then onto the paper. b. Blow to dry it slightly. c. Now add eyes, antlers and a red nose to your thumbprint and watch your reindeer come to life. d. Use different paints or ink pads to create other thumbprint characters such as a snowman or Father Christmas. 22 Woollen decorations Christmas resource sheet (see below), thin card and wool. a. Choose an image from the Christmas resources sheet. Cut it out and glue onto card. b. Cut out the card shape carefully. c. Take your wool and wrap it around the shape. d. Your decoration is ready for display! Page 7 of 11

8 23 Christmas wrapping paper black paper, glitter, gold pens and star stickers. a. Take your paper and add as many decorations you would like. b. Add a matching gift tag. c. Allow to dry thoroughly before wrapping your Christmas present. 24 Salt dough decorations flour, table salt, cookie cutters, paint and/or glitter. a. To make one small dough ball, mix a cup of flour and half a cup of salt together. b. Add water (about half a cup) and knead to make a smooth dough. c. Roll out the dough onto a floured surface to about 1cm thick. d. Cut out shapes from the salt dough, using cookie cutters. Add a hole at the top so you can hang the decoration. e. Cook the salt dough at a low temperature (140 c) in an oven for three hours or until set. f. When the shapes are cooked and cooled, you can decorate them with paint and/or glitter. g. Thread ribbon through the hole and decorate your tree! Page 8 of 11

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