I suppose crafts are loosely related to Art, so I’ve chosen Cafe Society…
Does anyone have ideas for Christmas craft projects (non-edible!) appropriate for a 5 year old?
I found this one that looked feasible in an afternoon.
How much of it do you think she could handle doing herself?
Should I cut out the shapes for her, or are 5-year-olds handy with scissors?
This isn’t my kid, BTW - she’s the daughter of a very good friend.
I’m planning an afternoon of making tree ornaments or fridge magnets, followed by cider and cookies, so I’m guessing I should have the activity not take more than an hour or so? Or do kids really get into this and want to do it for hours?
Any craft ideas (especially with accompanying URLs with pictures! ) would be most appreciated.
Also general advice of any sort - hopefully related to the crafty afternoon.
My kids did something similar in preschool, so it shoud be doable. My five-year-old is pretty good with scissors, but cutting fabric is sometime trickier, so you should probably get something that isn’t too thick.
I wouldn’t plan on it holding her attention for more than an hour, though, at least not without breaks.
When LilMiss was around that age she liked making clothespin reindeer (take a non-clippy clothespin, glue on brown pipe cleaners for antlers, little red pompoms for the nose, and googlie eyes).
Or candy cane sleighs- take two small candy canes, wrap a mini candybar in bright wrapping paper, glue on top of the candy canes. Make pompom critters to “ride” on the sleigh.
A great place for ideas is Michaels Crafts. They give skill levels, what you need, and instructions.
MissTake: I was looking around on the Michaels web site, but couldn’t figure out how to search just for kid-level projects. There are some good ideas in the link you sent.
Take the foam ball, and wrap some ribbon around it. Secure it with pins and make a loop to hang the ball from the X-mas tree. You will need to help with this part.
Feed sequins and beads onto the pins (one or two on each) and stick them all the way into the foam ball. Keep doing this with different color combinations of beads and pins until the ball is finished.
Use ball to decorate tree.
Hide ball 15 years later when mom still insists on putting it on the tree.
What about salt dough ornaments? They’re simple, they’re cute, they’re fast, and squishing the dough around and shaping it is terribly fun. Just remember to varnish them, or else they’ll start to mold after a while.
Cutting out and decorating gingerbread people is fun for 5 year olds, too, although it may be a bit early in the season for that. The advantage is that you get to eat cookies as part of the craft.
Decorate a tree for wildlife! You and the kidlet can make the ornaments:
Cut oranges or grapefruit in half and juice them, saving the rinds. Stuff the rinds with suet and then make handles for them using thread or yarn tied through holes punched near the rim of the rind.
Roll pinecones in peanut butter (VERY lightly, just enough to make them a little sticky), then roll them in birdseed. You can either make handles for these, too, or place them directly on tree branches.
String popcorn and dried cranberries with a needle and thread. This is one where the adult holds the needle, while the child helps pull the threaded popcorn and berries to the end of the thread.
Dried Indian corn makes good food, too, although there’s not much to do with these as a craft.
Wedges of fresh fruit, especially citrus, are always welcomed by birds and look colorful. String them or just place them on branches.
Then go out and find a promising-looking evergreen tree, either in your own yard/neiborhood, or out in the woods somewhere. Let the kidlet decorate a much as she wants, and help her get things into the higher branches. It’s fun for everyone. It’s also neat to come back in the next couple of days and see how much of the decorations have been eaten, so she can know that she helped a hungry animal have an easier meal in the wintertime.
) would be most appreciated.
Mine certainly was.
