It’s been a tough couple of years for the entire world, and we are now approaching the end of another one. Most would agree that the ”end of the year blues” can only be overcome with the joy of the holidays! This time of the year is perfect for spending quality time with the family, relaxing, and enjoying the activities you do together.
Holidays can be chaotic. There is gift searching, family visiting (which may be remotely for the time being), decorations, setting new goals for the new year, and much more. In the meantime, kids can become a bit anxious with all that’s going on around the house.
But don’t worry. There are many activities to do and games to play to keep your little ones busy and entertained! At the end of the day, you can even showcase what you have produced around the house and use them as functional decorations as a token of appreciation and love!
Here are four holiday arts and crafts activities that you can try out with your kid!
DIY Tree Ornaments
Parents and caregivers keep everything thinking that they would come in handy for future projects with their little hero. Well, it’s time to bust out the knick-knacks you collected over the past year and put them to good use.
One of the most exciting parts of the holiday season is that you get to decorate your house and gorgeous tree! The best way to put a bit of a character and a bit of yourself is to decorate it with ornaments you have done with your kid!
New Year Goals Ornament
This will be an encouraging ornament if you ever heard of one! What you will need are some leftover cardboard, scissors, glue, paper, strings, and coloring materials like pens and markers. Prompt your kid to think of their goals for the next year. This could be playing soccer, getting a telescope, or going to a certain national park.
While they are thinking about their goals, cut the cardboard into circles that would look appropriate and fit on your tree. Then, have your kid draw this dream and goal of theirs on a relatively small scale that would fit in these cardboards. Cut the picture they drew and glue it on the cardboard.
Don’t forget to have them add decorations around the circle as well! Once you are done, you can glue or tape a string behind the cardboard, and your ornament is ready. You will get to showcase your kid’s goal on the tree, every time they see the ornaments, they will be encouraged to get excited for the next year and their goals!
Get a Photoshoot, Put Them on the Tree
Similar to the new year goals ornament, the process is quite straightforward. If you have a printer at home, you will have beautiful pictures of your kid up on the tree in no time.
To make it interesting, get your entire family and dress up in your holiday fashion and do a mini photoshoot at home. You can then print out these photos and glue them on cardboard. Have your kid embellish around the ornament and unleash their creativity.
Now you have a set of ornaments and a tradition that you can do for many years to come!
Wrapping Paper Designed by Your Kid
An aspect of holidays that is probably loved by all is gift-giving and getting. One way to up your gift game is to prepare your own wrapping paper! This will be appreciated especially by your family.
To make things interesting, and if your kid is old enough, you can let them design and do the wrapping paper and have them wrap the gifts themselves! They can do anything, really. One of the most fun is hand and finger painting. A
ll you would need is to provide craft paper that can hold paint but also is flexible enough to wrap gifts and some finger paint. Then let your kid unleash their creativity.
Holiday Brownies for the Whole Family
Well, what’s better than having fun and spending quality time with your whole family and getting to eat what you created? Right? This fun activity will be filled with joy through and through. One easy recipe that you can try is making brownies.. with a twist.
Brownies are easy to make with kids, or you can even buy pre-made brownie mix from the store. Another thing you would need is cookie cutters that are shaped like trees or other holiday-themed items. Once you make the brownie on a flat sheet, you can cut it into different shapes, and decorate the shapes with frosting and sprinkles! This will be a great alternative to baking cookies just to liven things up.
Holiday Cards for the Loved Ones
We may not have seen our loved ones in person as much as we would have liked in the past couple of years due to unforeseen events… But the end of the year and the holidays are a great time to catch up with those we love. One way you can celebrate this time of the year is by sending holiday cards to them.
Instead of store-bought cards, try making your own cards this year with your kid! This will entertain your kiddo to no end, and you will have personalized cards to send out that will warm the hearts of your loved ones.