It’s (almost) the most wonderful time of the year and many families will have already put up their trees and decorations or made a start on the Christmas shopping and food orders in anticipation of the big day.
As Christmas lights start to adorn local high streets and festive activities fill up the calendar, this is a magical time for children across the nation but it’s also an opportunity for parents and nannies to channel children’s boundless energy into something creative and memorable. Therein lies the beauty of DIY Christmas decorations and gifts. Engaging children in arts and crafts is the perfect way to combine fun and festive spirit while keeping little hands busy in the lead-up to Christmas.
Why do crafts at Christmas?
Crafting offers far more than just entertainment; it provides a range of developmental benefits. It encourages fine motor skills as children cut, paint and glue, while creating decorations or gifts fosters imagination and problem-solving as children explore colours, shapes and patterns. From a cognitive perspective, festive DIYs can help strengthen a child’s focus and patience and when done collaboratively, it nurtures communication and teamwork. There is also the added benefit of children taking pride in making something personal they can share with family members which enhances their confidence and sense of accomplishment.
When it comes to Christmas crafts, there’s no shortage of things you can make - the options are as endless as your imagination - but these are some of our favourite DIYs to inspire decor and gifting this Christmas.
Our favourite festive DIYs
Craft a Christmas Wreath
For a simple at-home DIY wreath, you can opt for a ready-to-go kit like this one and adorn with things like dehydrated fruits, flowers collected from walks outdoors, tinsel, fairy lights, feathers, ribbons, pom poms, family photos or your own homemade decor.
If you don’t want to opt for one made from foliage, you could also create one by sticking strips of green tissue paper to a circular ring of cardboard and then decorate in the same way. Or, for the keen builders among your family, there’s also the option of a Lego Wreath.
Assemble your own Advent Calendar
Add to the excitement of Christmas by helping children create their own advent calendar that can be proudly displayed in the home and shown off to friends and family. For ease, we’d suggest starting off with a plain advent calendar like this one.
Children can then get creative with paints, glitters, magazine cutouts and collages, family photos and more to decorate their advent calendar. Once it’s dry, try using metallic permanent pens to add numbers to each door as this encourages younger children to practise their numeracy skills and handwriting at the same time.
Once the advent calendar decor is complete, fill each drawer with a small trinket or chocolate coins to open in the lead up to Christmas. The ultimate treat to look forward to!
Christmas Cookie Decorating
There couldn’t be a more delicious and creative outlet for children this Christmas than cookie decorating! The beauty of this is that it can easily fill a few hours if you’re looking for an activity to keep children entertained and get them involved in baking from scratch but it can also be really quick and easy if you’d prefer to opt for a kit that focuses on frosting only.
Baking with children is a fantastic way to expose them to new foods and understand the love and effort that goes into the things they eat, so we encourage this if time permits. This gingerbread cookie recipe is a great festive choice or if you’re looking for something with more subtle flavours, then you can’t go wrong with a sugar cookie.
If you’re tight on time or are simply looking for something a bit speedier, then sets from Biscuiteers or Craft & Crumb come ready baked so all you have to do is decorate and enjoy!
Homemade Christmas Baubles
Either grab a kit of plain card or polystyrene baubles, like this one and paint to your heart’s content or, for an added layer of fun and creativity, you can mould your own baubles using some clay or plaster of paris.
Pick up a block of air-dry or oven-dry clay and roll it out thin so you have a big sheet to work with.
Once rolled, use a cookie cutter or freehand with child-friendly modelling tools to create the shape(s) you want.
Pierce a small hole in the top of the shape so there’s room to thread something through and hang the decoration once complete. We’ve found that a drinking straw is the perfect size for piercing.
Leave your shapes to air dry or bake in the oven to dry according to the instructions on the clay pack.
Once dried, you can then paint and decorate your baubles before threading string, ribbon or twine through so it’s ready to hang on your tree or gift to a loved one this Christmas.
Create a Christmas Village Centrepiece
As parcels arrive in the leadup to Christmas and parents plough through rolls of wrapping paper, creating a Christmas village can be a fantastic and creative way to use up recyclable materials in the house.
Lay out a large sheet of cardboard and draw the outline of a series of houses, a nativity scene or the North Pole.
With the help of a nanny or parent, cut out around these shapes and then get to work painting your display.
Once painted and dry, fold or curve at four points and glue or tape together to form a free-standing square of houses. This can then wrap around the base of your Christmas tree or form the centrepiece for a festive table display.
If you’ve cut out windows in your houses, then you can also place battery-operated fairy lights or a tealight (in its tealight holder) in the centre to make it appear that the lights are on in your village. You could also add cotton wool to the roofs or doorsteps of your village to give the appearance of freshly fallen snow.
No matter what you conjure up this Christmas, getting creative during the festive season is a win-win: it helps children develop important skills while adding a personal, heartfelt touch to Christmas celebrations. For busy parents juggling work deadlines, holiday shopping or hosting preparations, nannies can be invaluable in organising and leading these craft sessions.
This not only gives children dedicated time to bond with their nannies but with advance thought and preparation, activities can be seamless and enjoyable for everyone, helping families fully embrace the Christmas spirit.