Easy Christmas crafts and activities for kids

• Cover a cardboard tube with patterned paper.
• Cut a triangle head and two large and two small oval ears out of paper.
• Glue the smaller ears inside the larger ones and fold in half. Glue to top of triangle.
• Cut felt circles for eyes. Glue googly eyes to felt. Add pom-pom nose.
• Glue the triangle to the top center of the tube.
• Use straws and pipe cleaners to make antlers.

Watch a video on how to make this craft!

• Cut a sock shape out of two pieces of felt.
• Staple the edges together a half inch from the sides, leaving the top open.
• Glue rickrack over the staples to cover them.
• Add a felt loop to the top corner of the stocking for hanging. Decorate with felt and buttons.

Watch a video on how to make this craft!

• Cut five 18 x 24-inch triangles from cardboard.
• Score the center of each triangle to make it easier to bend.
• Fold each triangle in half and glue together.
• Use clothespins to keep the pieces together.
• Paint the tree white.
• Roll corrugated paper around a cardboard tube to make the tree base.
• Cut a star from felt.
• Add a wire to the bottom of the star to attach to the tree.

String O'Dots

• Cut two yards of string.
• Every few inches, place a sticker on the string and then press another sticker back to back.
• String around the tree.

Fa-la-la-felt Skirt

• Trim the edges of a two by two-foot piece of felt to make a circle.
• Glue rickrack to outer edge of the circle.
• Decorate with felt circles.
• Place under mini-tree.

Twin Trees

• Paint two cone water cups green.
• Wrap rickrack or ribbon around one.
• Decorate with pom-poms.
• When the paint dries, apply a thin layer of glue to the second cup and cover with glitter.

Jolly Ol' Santa

• Paint a cone-shaped water cup red.
• Cut out a circle face shape from felt and snip top of face to make it flat.
• Cut a felt beard and mustache and glue to face. Add black dots for eyes.
• Wrap pipe cleaner around the point of the cup and the middle of the cup to make the hat and jacket trim.
• Glue the face to the front of the cone. Add a small pom-pom for a nose.
• Glue paper feet to the inside of the cone.

• Cut snowman shapes out of felt.
• Decorate each snowman with a felt top hat.
• Punch a hole on each side of the snowman.
• String with baker's twine.

• Cut two circles out of paper.
• Bend one in half and glue one side to the second circle.
• Cut and glue a paper ornament topper to the top of the circle.
• Glue a piece of string to the back of the topper.
• Glue to cardstock.
• Pull the string tightly and glue to the back of the card.

• Paint clothespins and an embroidery hoop.
• Glue clothespins onto the hoop.
• Cut two felt leaves and glue near the top of the hoop.
• Glue small felt circles and buttons to the leaves.
• Thread a string through the top of the hoop.
• Cut a dove shape out of felt. Glue a teardrop wing to each side. Decorate with feathers.
• Add a black-marker dot eye to dove.
• Pierce the beak of the bird with a scissor tip and slide a one-inch piece of white floral wire through the slit to make an olive branch.
• Attach two felt leaves to each end of the wire.
• Glue dove to the wreath.

• Cut circle shapes from a new kitchen sponge. Make “stamps” by hot-gluing a non-sharpened pencil to one side of each circle.
• Dip circles in paint and decorate wrapping paper, newsprint, or scrap paper with cheery dots.

• Trace a cookie cutter on a piece of felt and colored paper.
• Cut out shapes and glue together.
• Punch a hole at the top center of the tag.
• Add a string to attach to a gift.

It's not officially winter until you make a paper snowflake. Learn the folding tricks online at snowflakes.barkleyus.com (we challenge you not to spend at least 15 minutes with this tool). Once you've got a bunch, string them up to hang on the tree, the mantel, or over a doorway. Have a toddler? Let him "decorate" the paper with crayons, markers, or stamps before you make the cuts.