what are your best and most simple christmas craft ideas?

[honeybeetree]

Can you all share your best christmas craft ideas, the more simple the better.

Thanks

If you like hama beads you can make very simple snowflakes, starts etc

Plain brown paper with glittery potato prints of stars and christmas trees looks fab imo.

That was with reference to then using it as wrapping paper obv - not for hanging on walls

I mean stars

paper chains

port i compleatly read that wrong then :) thought it read "brown paper bag with with glittery potato prints makes a good christmas tree decoration" :) woops

- now that's the sort of craft only a parent could love...

Old jar
Torn up tissue paper (red and green if you like)
Lots of slightly watered down white gloopy glue

Stick tissue paper to jar
Tie a ribbon round the neck
Pop a candle in

Voila! Something the children can actually make themselves, and it is a really pretty Christmas lantern.

Hands and feet reindeers - brown footprint for face, 2 hand prints for antlers. Round red nose and some eyes to stick on - Bob's your uncle.

Robin bookmarks - one brown thumbprint for body and a littlest fingerprint for head. A red fingerprint for his redbreast when brown has dried. Black felt tip for a '^' beak and little legs. Laminate, hole punch, bit of red curled present ribbon through hole - v nice.

Please someone give me an idea for Christmas cards - 20 years of teaching and I still have no clue!

green paper cut up into small trees for kids to decorate with glitter and stars etc to hang on tree or put round the doorframes etc

we do snowmen or santa christmas, cards, - cards cut into snowmen/santa covered in cotton wool, red paper etc - your could even do tree shaped

christmas crackers - toilet roll tubes made into crackers - fill them with small trinkets or chocolates (eg roses or quality streets)

paper chains

Paint child's fingers white, palm pink and thumb and heel of hand red. plonk on a piece of card, turn it round. Two black dots for eyes and a white fingerprint to make a bobble on Santa's hat.

Which year do you teach Feenie? I've used the same one for Nursery and Year 1 which looked quite effective. Child's hand painted brown except for bottom part of palm, near wrist, furthest away from thumb when hand sideways (sure there's a more anatomically correct name for it!!) which is painted red. Splodge it sideways on card, then when dry children paint on beak, legs and eye (or use googly), and voila, a very simple robin card. I used blue card, and had the children paint a line of green at the bottom, or you could do white/cotton wool for snow. Be aware though, I thought this the easiest card in the world, but when I asked a TA to do some, she managed to have the children's hands painted with the red in the wrong place so a few ended up looking a bit odd!!

Sounds great - I teach y5 though, so maybe a bit young. Thanks anyway!

some sort of pop up card?

Holly wreath cards are easy and look fab. Cut green card into the shape of a doughnut and then glue small pieces of scrunched green tissue paper on it. Add some small red beads and a red bow and, if you like, some small cut up bits of gold tinsel and there you go.

Thanks Madamehooch - am going to keep that one up my sleeve whilst trying to persuade my PPA cover teacher to do them! (Which I think is what I do every year - hence no ideas )

www.en.origami-club.com/xmas/index.html

Old CDs + PVA glue + sequins + ribbon loop = instant Christmas tree decoration.

Or

Shiny pipe cleaner + selection of beads. Thread beads onto pipe cleaner. Twist into a circle with a loop at the top. Another easy tree decoration.

Both can be done by pre-schoolers, or can also be really effective when done by older children, who can put much more effort into the design process and produce a lovely result.

Bumping this thread for ideas!

I did have success with microwave play dough today (we made it in red & green with glitter) myboredtoddler.com/microwave-playdough/ but am keen for some more ideas