We love the holiday season! The first snow, beautiful lights, great food, and of course, lots and lots of family time. It is always fun to spend time at home together, but with younger children especially, you might benefit from some organized activity. Lucky for you, the team at Sawyer has rounded up a great list of holiday crafts for kids so that you won’t have to hear, “I’m bored!” ever again.

Holiday crafts for kids

Holiday craft ideas

Unless you are extremely artistic, we don’t recommend developing your own arts & crafts projects. To get you started as you prepare to do some fun activities with your children, check out our list of holiday craft ideas.

DIY holiday cards

We love the idea of making holiday cards with your children because not only is it a great activity to do together, but also it’s a great way for you to save time and money! If your children make the holiday cards, then you don’t need to buy the overpriced ones at the store. Win-win!

Here are some of our favorite ideas for DIY holiday cards.

1. A festive family portrait. Ask your child to draw their family on the front of the card, but make it festive. Have them create a snowy scene or they can try to draw everyone around a fireplace in the house. Let them include their favorite holiday memories like spinning the dreidel, sitting around the Christmas tree, or making a snowman together.

2. Fingerprint reindeers. Have your child dip their finger in brown paint and then stamp it on the front of the card. They can do this a few times to make multiple “reindeer.” Then, draw little red noses at the bottom of the fingerprint, antlers at the top, and eyes in the middle. Voila! Easy reindeer to adorn the front of your holiday card.

3. Cotton ball snow. Take some of your bathroom cotton balls and bring them down to the crafting table. Let your children make snowmen, snowy trees, snowflakes, and any other snowy item that their heart desires. Just make sure to always supervise your children when they are using the cotton balls so they do not eat them.

4. Fingerprint lights. Another fun opportunity to get your children’s hands dirty! If you want to do Christmas lights, have your child use a different color for each finger. If you want to do Hanukkah candles, then just use yellow or orange. Then, stamp down the colors and draw around the “lights” to make a beautiful, mixed media holiday card.

5. Magazine scrap menorah. If your children are old enough to handle scissors, give them a bunch of old magazines and let them cut out strips to use to create their own menorah masterpiece. If they are younger, cut the strips for them and help them put together their beautiful miracle of light.

We’ve got even more awesome DIY Christmas cards that you can make with your family.

Holiday art projects

If you are looking for some more in depth art projects to celebrate the holiday season, we’ve got you covered.

1. Snowman in a jar. By painting a mason jar white, you can create a great body for a snowman. Then, decorate with paints, felt, ribbon, buttons, and more! Your children can make it as unique as possible. Maybe they want to make a snow-dog, bunny, or family member. Sawyer educator Richmond Art Center has online holiday art classes where you can do this project and even more exciting activities!

2. Elaborate gingerbread houses. The best art is art you can eat. Use leftover Halloween candy and other sweet treats to create exciting decorations for your family’s gingerbread houses. Let your children start by sketching out the designs and making a list of the ingredients and materials they will need. For additional inspiration, try the winter cooking classes offered by LIFT Enrichment.

3. Bowtie pasta wreaths. This is a fun holiday art project that can be done by children of all ages. Take some dry bowtie pasta and paint them green. Then, glue them in a circle on a piece of paper or glue them end to end so they become a wreath on their own. Add some ribbon to the bottom of the wreath and embellish with glitter, sparkles, dried flowers, and more.

4. Digital winter masterpieces. In this modern day, some of the best art is done digitally. Let your child explore their online art skills through coding, LEGO Studio, and Minecraft. It’s a great way to advance their interest in computer science (learn about the benefits of coding classes in our article) and create beautiful art pieces to share far and wide. Check out the LEGO Studio classes by Sawyer educator Museum of Design where children can make winter villages, gingerbread houses, and long-form holiday stories.

5. Photo snow globes. Cut a photo of your child out so no background shows. Then, attach that photo to cardstock paper so it can stand up straight. Stand up the photo on another piece of paper that has been cut in a circle. Add some fake snow and glitter and then cover with a clear, plastic cup. Glue the cup to the bottom, sealing it to create a snow globe where your child’s picture is front & center!

Check out even more Christmas crafts (including DIY Christmas trees) and Hanukkah crafts for the whole family.

Easy holiday crafts

Maybe you are not the craftiest parent in the bunch and that is ok. Sometimes, you just want to do easy holiday crafts and spend more time with your family and less time on setup and cleanup. These holiday craft kits can help you and your children create beautiful pieces with ease.

Holiday craft kits

Snowman foam base. Use this base as a springboard for creativity. Bonus: have your children write a story about a snowman first, then use the base to bring them to life!
Holographic penguin poster. Penguins are the best and holographic posters are coming back.
Sew your own gingerbread man. Older children can practice sewing while younger children focus on stuffing and decorating.
Ice skating dolls. These paper dolls are great for children of all ages. Then, they can play make believe and expand their imagination with their new dolls.
Mini wreaths. Using scissors, glitter, and markers, children can cut out these paper and foam wreaths. Once they are built, they can customize them for table cards or gifts.
3D snowflakes. Beautiful, 3D snowflakes that hang will make great decor for your holiday celebrations.
Holiday sweater ornaments. No sewing needed for these fun mini-sweaters, which your children can decorate themselves!
Sparkle window art. Window art is a great way to showcase your children’s creativity. The kit comes with paint for the foam foil outlines.
Snow globes. This snow globe making kit comes with clay so children can make their own winter scenes inside the swirling snow. Or, you can make your own playdough at home if you’re feeling up for it!
Holiday diamond painting. With bigger diamonds and no glue needed, this holiday diamond painting kit is perfect for children of all ages.

Holiday crafts for toddlers and preschoolers

We know, arts & crafts with little ones is definitely a bit harder than with older children. That’s why we wanted to give you some of our favorite holiday crafts for toddlers and preschoolers so that you can get everyone involved!

Frosted cookies

There are so many benefits of cooking with kids, but it can definitely get a little messy with toddlers. Instead, bake the cookies while your little ones are napping and then, once they’ve cooled, they can help you decorate! Give them lots of options for frosting colors, themed sprinkles, and edible glitter. And don’t forget to take a lot of great pictures of the finished products! If you are looking for expert advice on your frosted cookies, check out this class from Sawyer educator Sweetology.

Handprint wreath

Trace your child’s hand on green construction paper and then cut it out. Make a lot of these hands and then put them together in a circle so the fingers are splayed out. It’s a wreath! Then, let your toddler decorate with red pom poms, ribbon, leaves from outside, and whatever else they want to add.

Pom pom photo frames

Take a school photo of your child and paste it to a piece of cardboard. Then, let your child place colored pom poms around the photo to surround their cute little face. Just be careful - pom poms might look tasty to toddlers so keep a close eye on them as they work! If you want to turn the framed photo into an ornament, just add a hold punch at the top and use some thread.

Check out our guide to learn how to make even more holiday crafts for toddlers and preschoolers like holiday centerpieces.

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We hope you are ready to enjoy some family time, create fun decorations, and even give some gifts using this list of holiday crafts for kids. For even more fun holiday activities for the whole family, check out the winter activities for kids listed on Sawyer and on our blog. Happy holidays, everyone!