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Christmas crafts for kids

Ages 2 to 4: tearing, printing and sticking

A grown-up stays right beside them for these. The cards marked 2 and up have no small parts; the cotton balls and paper balls wait until 3.

  • Torn-paper tree

    • Ages 2 and up
    • About 10 minutes
    • Mess: a little

    You need: Green paper or old magazine pages, a glue stick, a sheet of plain paper, a crayon.

    Safety: Stay beside a two-year-old: paper goes in mouths.

    The 5 steps
    1. A grown-up draws a big triangle on the plain paper.
    2. Tear the green paper into pieces. Any size will do.
    3. Rub glue all over the inside of the triangle.
    4. Press the pieces on until the green covers the triangle.
    5. Draw a trunk under it, and dots for decorations.

  • Fingerprint string of lights

    • Ages 2 and up
    • About 10 minutes
    • Mess: some

    You need: A folded piece of paper, a dark marker, washable paint on a plate, a damp cloth.

    The 5 steps
    1. A grown-up draws a long wavy line across the card, like a wire.
    2. Dip one finger in paint and press it on, just under the line.
    3. Keep going along the line, leaving a gap between prints.
    4. Wipe the finger clean to change color as often as you like.
    5. When it's dry, draw a tiny line from each print up to the wire.

  • Cotton-ball snowman

    • Ages 3 and up
    • About 15 minutes
    • Mess: a little

    You need: Cotton balls, white glue, dark paper, chalk or a white crayon, scraps of colored paper, a marker.

    Safety: Cotton balls are small parts for under-3s, so keep them out of reach of anyone younger.

    The 5 steps
    1. Draw three stacked circles on the dark paper: big, medium and small.
    2. Spread glue inside the circles.
    3. Press on cotton balls until each circle is fluffy.
    4. Tear a paper hat, a scarf and a carrot nose, and glue them on.
    5. Draw a smile and a row of dots down the front.

  • Paper-plate Santa

    • Ages 3 and up
    • About 15 minutes
    • Mess: a little

    You need: A paper plate, cotton balls, white glue, red paper, kid scissors, crayons.

    Safety: Cotton balls are small parts for under-3s, so keep them out of reach of anyone younger.

    Kid scissors only. Anything sharper is a grown-up's job.

    The 5 steps
    1. Draw two eyes and a round nose in the middle of the plate.
    2. Spread glue around the bottom half of the plate.
    3. Press on cotton balls for a big white beard.
    4. Cut a big red paper triangle and glue it on top for a hat.
    5. Stick one more cotton ball on the tip of the hat.

  • Paper-plate wreath

    • Ages 3 and up
    • About 20 minutes
    • Mess: some

    You need: A paper plate, green tissue paper or torn green paper, white glue, red paper, tape.

    Safety: Scrunched paper balls are small enough to choke on, so keep this one for 3 and up and stay close.

    The 6 steps
    1. A grown-up cuts the middle out of the plate to leave a ring.
    2. Tear the green paper into strips, and scrunch each one into a ball.
    3. Spread glue on part of the ring and press the balls on.
    4. Keep going until no white shows.
    5. Tear red paper into berries and a bow, and glue them on.
    6. Tape it to a door or a window.

  • Potato-stamp wrapping paper

    • Ages 3 and up
    • About 20 minutes
    • Mess: lots

    You need: A big potato, a sharp knife (a grown-up's only), washable paint on a plate, brown paper or a paper bag.

    Safety: The knife is a grown-up's job from start to finish. A stamping potato isn't for eating afterwards.

    The 5 steps
    1. A grown-up cuts the potato in half with the knife.
    2. A grown-up cuts away the edges with the knife, leaving a raised star or tree.
    3. Press the potato into the paint, then onto the paper, and lift it straight up.
    4. Stamp until the sheet is full, and leave it flat to dry.
    5. Wrap a present in it, or cut it up for gift tags.

  • Handprint wreath

    • Ages 2 and up, with help
    • About 30 minutes
    • Mess: a little

    You need: Green paper, a pencil, kid scissors, a glue stick, a paper plate, red paper, tape.

    Safety: Kid scissors only. Anything sharper is a grown-up's job.

    The 6 steps
    1. Trace a hand on the green paper about ten times.
    2. Cut out the hands with kid scissors. A grown-up does this for a two-year-old.
    3. A grown-up cuts the middle out of the paper plate to leave a ring.
    4. Glue the hands around the ring, fingers pointing out and overlapping.
    5. Tear some little red berries and stick them on.
    6. Tape it to a door.

Ages 4 to 7: kid scissors, tape and glue

Most of these can go on with a grown-up in the room, not at the table. Whatever is hot or sharper than kid scissors is marked as theirs.

  • Gift tags

    • Ages 4 and up
    • About 10 minutes
    • Mess: hardly any

    You need: Old greeting cards or a cereal box, kid scissors, crayons or markers, a hole punch or tape, string.

    Safety: Kid scissors only. Anything sharper is a grown-up's job.

    Keep ribbon and string out of reach of the youngest, and never put them around a neck.

    The 5 steps
    1. Cut a rectangle about the size of a playing card.
    2. Snip off two corners at one short end, so it looks like a tag.
    3. Draw on the plain side: a star, a beetle, a striped sock.
    4. Write who it's to and who it's from.
    5. A grown-up punches a hole and ties on a short piece of string.

  • Paper stars

    • Ages 5 and up
    • About 10 minutes
    • Mess: hardly any

    You need: Paper in any color, a pencil, kid scissors, a glue stick, tape.

    Safety: Kid scissors only. Anything sharper is a grown-up's job.

    The 6 steps
    1. Fold the paper in half.
    2. Against the fold, draw half a star: a top point, one arm, one leg, back to the fold.
    3. Cut along your line through both layers. Don't cut along the fold.
    4. Open it up: a whole star, with both sides matching.
    5. Make a big one and a small one, and glue the small one on top.
    6. Tape them to a window or a wall.

  • Paper chains

    • Ages 4 and up
    • About 15 minutes
    • Mess: hardly any

    You need: Paper in two or more colors, kid scissors, tape or a glue stick.

    Safety: Kid scissors only. Anything sharper is a grown-up's job.

    Hang it up high. A paper chain never goes around a neck.

    The 6 steps
    1. Cut the paper into strips about as wide as two fingers.
    2. Bend one strip into a loop and tape the ends together.
    3. Pass the next strip through the loop, and tape that one shut.
    4. Keep going until the chain is as long as you like.
    5. To count down, make one loop for each sleep and take one off each night.
    6. A grown-up tapes it up high.

  • Beach Christmas card

    • Ages 4 and up
    • About 15 minutes
    • Mess: hardly any

    In Australia and New Zealand, Christmas comes in summer, and many families spend the day outdoors.

    You need: A sheet of paper, crayons or markers.

    The 5 steps
    1. Fold the paper in half to make a card.
    2. Color the bottom of the front yellow for sand, and the rest blue.
    3. Draw a sandman: three round lumps, a sun hat and sunglasses.
    4. Add a tree in the sand, with shapes drawn on it for decorations.
    5. Write a message inside for someone you like.

  • Pine-cone tree

    • Ages 4 and up
    • About 15 minutes, plus an hour to dry
    • Mess: some

    No pine cones near you? The twig tree on this page uses any sticks.

    You need: A dry pine cone, washable paint in green and another color, a brush, old newspaper.

    Safety: A pine cone isn't for chewing, so keep it away from babies and dogs.

    The 5 steps
    1. Find a fallen pine cone and shake it out outside.
    2. Put newspaper down and stand the cone on its wide end.
    3. Paint the tips of the scales green. They don't have to be tidy.
    4. Dab on dots of another color for decorations.
    5. Leave it for an hour to dry.

  • Paper Christmas beetle

    • Ages 5 and up
    • About 15 minutes
    • Mess: hardly any

    In Australia, Christmas beetles are shiny beetles, many of them golden green, that turn up around Christmas.

    You need: Yellow or green paper, crayons, a black marker, kid scissors, tape.

    Safety: Kid scissors only. Anything sharper is a grown-up's job.

    The 5 steps
    1. Cut a big oval from the paper for the beetle's body.
    2. Color it gold and green, pressing hard so it looks shiny.
    3. Draw a line down the middle for its wing cases.
    4. Cut six thin paper strips for legs, and tape three on each side.
    5. Add two short feelers at the head end, and tape it to a window.

  • Pōhutukawa flower card

    • Ages 5 and up
    • About 15 minutes
    • Mess: hardly any

    In New Zealand the pōhutukawa is often called the New Zealand Christmas tree, because its red flowers come out around Christmas.

    You need: Red paper, green paper, a folded sheet of paper for the card, kid scissors, tape, a glue stick.

    Safety: Kid scissors only. Anything sharper is a grown-up's job.

    The 5 steps
    1. Cut a strip of red paper as wide as your hand and as long as the page.
    2. Snip lots of thin cuts along one long edge, stopping a finger's width from the other.
    3. Roll the strip up tightly, and tape the uncut edge.
    4. Spread the cut edge out with your fingers, until it looks like a brush.
    5. Make three, and glue them to the card with green paper leaves.

  • Toilet-roll reindeer

    • Ages 4 and up
    • About 20 minutes
    • Mess: a little

    You need: An empty toilet-roll tube, brown paper, a pencil, a glue stick, kid scissors, crayons, red paper.

    Safety: Kid scissors only. Anything sharper is a grown-up's job.

    Draw the eyes. Stick-on wiggly eyes are small parts for under-3s.

    The 6 steps
    1. Glue brown paper around the tube.
    2. Trace both hands on more brown paper, and cut them out for antlers.
    3. Glue the antlers inside the top of the tube, one on each side.
    4. Draw two big eyes and a smile.
    5. Cut out a red paper circle and glue it on for a nose.
    6. Give your reindeer a name and stand it on a shelf.

  • Twig tree

    • Ages 5 and up
    • About 20 minutes
    • Mess: a little

    You need: Six or seven sticks, a piece of cereal box, white glue, paper, kid scissors.

    Safety: Kid scissors only. Anything sharper is a grown-up's job.

    Take sticks from the ground, not from a living tree, and walk with them pointing down.

    The 6 steps
    1. Pick up sticks from the ground, and sort them from short to long.
    2. Lay them flat in a stack, shortest on top, to make a tree shape.
    3. Glue them on the cardboard, one at a time.
    4. Glue on one more stick, standing up at the bottom, for a trunk.
    5. Cut out a paper star and glue it to the top.
    6. Leave it flat until the glue dries.

  • Paper-cone tree

    • Ages 5 and up
    • About 20 minutes
    • Mess: hardly any

    You need: Paper, a dinner plate, a pencil, kid scissors, tape, crayons.

    Safety: Kid scissors only. Anything sharper is a grown-up's job.

    The 5 steps
    1. Trace around the plate on the paper, and cut out the circle.
    2. Fold the circle in half and cut along the fold.
    3. Roll one half into a cone, and tape down the edge.
    4. Stand it up and draw decorations all over it.
    5. Trim the other half to make a smaller tree beside it.

  • Sock snowman

    • Ages 5 and up
    • About 25 minutes
    • Mess: some

    You need: A clean white sock, about 2 cups of dry rice, a cup, two rubber bands, a scrap of fabric or ribbon, a marker or buttons and glue.

    Safety: Rice, buttons and rubber bands are small parts for under-3s, so keep them out of reach of anyone younger.

    That goes for the finished snowman too, as a sock can come open. A grown-up checks the top is shut.

    Keep ribbon and string out of reach of the youngest, and never put them around a neck.

    The 7 steps
    1. Stretch the top of the sock over a cup, so it stays open.
    2. Pour in rice until the sock is about two-thirds full.
    3. A grown-up closes the top tightly with a rubber band.
    4. Twist the second band on a third of the way down, to make a head.
    5. Fold down the spare top of the sock for a hat.
    6. Tie the fabric around the snowman for a scarf.
    7. Draw a face and a row of buttons, or glue on real buttons.

  • Tissue-paper window star

    • Ages 5 and up
    • About 30 minutes, plus a night to dry
    • Mess: some

    You need: Baking paper, scraps of tissue paper, white glue and water in a cup, a brush, kid scissors, tape.

    Safety: Kid scissors only. Anything sharper is a grown-up's job.

    The 6 steps
    1. Mix a spoonful of white glue with a spoonful of water.
    2. Lay a sheet of baking paper flat, and brush glue on it.
    3. Lay on the tissue paper, overlapping, and brush more glue over it.
    4. Leave it flat overnight, until it's dry and stiff.
    5. Peel it off the baking paper and cut out a big star.
    6. Tape it to a window where the sun comes through.

  • Salt-dough ornament

    • Ages 4 and up
    • About 40 minutes, plus hours in the oven or days in the air
    • Mess: lots

    You need: 1 cup of flour, ½ cup of salt, about ½ cup of water, a bowl, cookie cutters, a straw, paint, ribbon or string, an oven (a grown-up's only), or several days to dry.

    Safety: Salt dough isn't food. It can harm pets and small children who eat it, so keep the dough and the finished ornaments, even years-old ones, out of their reach, and dogs' above all.

    If a child or a pet eats some, call your poison center, doctor or vet.

    The oven is a grown-up's job.

    Keep ribbon and string out of reach of the youngest, and never put them around a neck.

    The 7 steps
    1. Mix the flour, salt and water, and knead until it feels like play dough.
    2. Roll it out about a quarter inch (6 mm) thick.
    3. Cut shapes with cookie cutters, and poke a hole near the top with a straw.
    4. A grown-up bakes them at 250°F (120°C) for 2 to 3 hours and takes them out.
    5. Or leave them out for several days, turning them each day, until hard all through.
    6. Paint them once they are cool and hard.
    7. A grown-up ties a ribbon loop through the hole.

Ages 7 and up: folding and fiddly bits

Expect the first one to come out crumpled. These are for a child who likes to have another go, and a scrap pile to practice on.

  • Origami star

    • Ages 8 and up
    • About 10 minutes
    • Mess: hardly any

    Origami is the Japanese word for paper folding, and this puffy one is often called a lucky star.

    You need: A sheet of paper, kid scissors.

    Safety: Kid scissors only. Anything sharper is a grown-up's job.

    These tiny stars are small parts for under-3s, so keep them out of reach of anyone younger.

    The 7 steps
    1. Cut a strip about half an inch (1 cm) wide, along the long side of the page.
    2. Tie a loose knot near one end, and gently flatten it into a five-sided shape.
    3. Tuck the short tail into the knot, tearing off any extra.
    4. Wrap the long strip around the shape, folding it flat along each edge.
    5. When you run out of strip, tuck the end under the last fold.
    6. Hold it by two corners and push in the middle of each side with a fingernail.
    7. It puffs up into a little star. Make enough to fill a jar.

  • Six-sided paper snowflake

    • Ages 7 and up
    • About 15 minutes
    • Mess: a little

    Snow crystals have six sides because of the way water molecules fit together as they freeze.

    You need: A square of thin paper, kid scissors.

    Safety: Kid scissors only. Anything sharper is a grown-up's job.

    The 7 steps
    1. Fold the square corner to corner into a triangle, with the fold at the bottom.
    2. Pinch a small mark at the middle of the fold.
    3. From the mark, fold the right corner over, so it covers a third of the triangle.
    4. Fold the left corner over the top of it, so the edges line up in a cone.
    5. Cut straight across the top, to take off the uneven tails.
    6. Snip small shapes from both sides, leaving part of each side whole.
    7. Open it slowly, and count the six points.

  • Pop-up present card

    • Ages 7 and up
    • About 20 minutes
    • Mess: hardly any

    You need: Two sheets of paper, kid scissors, a glue stick, crayons.

    Safety: Kid scissors only. Anything sharper is a grown-up's job.

    The 7 steps
    1. Fold one sheet in half.
    2. On the folded edge, make two short cuts side by side, a thumb long and a thumb apart.
    3. Fold the flap between the cuts over, crease it hard, and fold it back.
    4. Open the sheet and push the flap through to the inside, like a little step.
    5. Close it, press it, and open it again: a box sticks out.
    6. Draw a present on scrap paper, cut it out, and glue it to the box.
    7. Glue the pop-up sheet inside the second folded sheet, to hide the holes.

  • Folded 3D star

    • Ages 8 and up
    • About 20 minutes
    • Mess: hardly any

    You need: Stiff paper or a cereal box, a pencil, kid scissors.

    Safety: Kid scissors only. Anything sharper is a grown-up's job.

    The 6 steps
    1. Cut out a five-pointed star, the way the paper stars card shows.
    2. Fold the star in half through one point, crease it hard, and open it.
    3. Do the same through each of the other four points.
    4. Pinch each point upward, so its crease stands up like a ridge.
    5. Push each inner corner downward. The star domes in the middle.
    6. Stand it on a shelf, or tape it up.

  • Woven paper heart

    • Ages 9 and up
    • About 30 minutes
    • Mess: hardly any

    Many families in Denmark and Norway make woven paper hearts like this one to hang on their trees.

    You need: Paper in two colors, a pencil, kid scissors, a strip of paper and a glue stick for the handle.

    Safety: Kid scissors only. Anything sharper is a grown-up's job.

    The 8 steps
    1. Cut a piece of each color, about 3 by 8 inches (8 by 20 cm).
    2. Fold each in half, and round off the two corners at the open end.
    3. Cut two slits from the fold, stopping where the curve starts: that's three loops.
    4. Hold one in each hand at a right angle, with the folds on the outside.
    5. Weave the first loop: inside the first, around the second, inside the third.
    6. Weave the second loop the other way: around, inside, around.
    7. Weave the third like the first, sliding it up gently as you go.
    8. Open it into a little basket, and glue on a paper handle.
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Pick by age and time

By age: 2 to 4, 4 to 7, 7 and up. By time, with the age each one starts at:

An age is where a child can start with help. Older children enjoy the early ones too, and a five-year-old can do plenty of the younger group alone.

🍎 For your classroom

What's in the craft box

Nothing here needs a trip to a craft store. The whole page runs on paper, a glue stick, tape, kid scissors, crayons and a little washable paint, plus what would otherwise go in the recycling: cardboard tubes, cereal boxes, old greeting cards. Odd socks finally have a job. If you're short of one thing, swap it: a torn magazine page makes as good a tree as green paper.

Three things to do before you start

  • Cover the table. Old newspaper or a flattened box saves the most cleaning, and the mess level on each card says when you'll want it.
  • Clear the small things. With a baby or toddler in the house, put the rice, buttons, cotton balls and rubber bands away as soon as the bigger child has finished with them.
  • Read the grown-up steps first. They are in bold. There are no real candles or flames in any step, and nothing that needs a battery. The only heat on the page is an oven, on one card, and that's a grown-up's job.

When Christmas comes in summer

It's the start of summer in Australia and New Zealand in December, so a paper snowman can look like a joke (a good one, if you like). Three cards start from where you are: the Beach Christmas card, the Pōhutukawa flower card and the Paper Christmas beetle. Stars, chains, gift tags and the twig tree don't mind the weather.

Questions parents ask

What are some easy Christmas crafts for kids?

Paper chains, paper stars and gift tags are the easiest, and each takes about ten or fifteen minutes with paper you already have. For a child who can't cut yet, try the torn-paper tree or the fingerprint string of lights.

What Christmas crafts can a toddler do?

Tearing, pressing and printing. The torn-paper tree, the fingerprint lights and the handprint wreath all work from about age 2 with a grown-up beside them, and a grown-up does the cutting.

Which crafts work for a whole class?

Paper chains and paper stars, since each child needs only paper and kid scissors and a room's chains can be joined into one long one. The fold-and-cut snowflake suits older grades. Leave the paint and the rice for a smaller group.

We don't celebrate Christmas. Are any of these still useful?

Some families don't celebrate Christmas, and these crafts work just as well as winter crafts: snowflakes, stars, paper chains and the sock snowman have no holiday on them. The winter games are about snow and cold days too.

Can you eat salt dough?

No. It looks like cookie dough, and it isn't food: there is enough salt in it to harm a pet or a small child who eats it. Keep the dough and the ornaments out of reach. If someone eats some, call your poison center, doctor or vet.

Is this free?

Yes. Peabody is free through the end of 2026, with no ads and no sign-up to start. A phone propped up at the table is all you need for the steps.

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Checked against how Peabody works on 2 November 2026. Written with help from AI, from Peabody's own code and library. Peabody is a learning app, not an assessment: if you're worried about your child's learning, talk to their teacher. How Peabody's pages are made.

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