It’s that time again. Time to get those ornaments up from the basement, the candles out of the cupboard, and the lights from out of the garage. However, while you’re taking care of the more delicate decorations, your little ones can be working on a holiday project of their own, which you can do together. DIY projects are always great, especially during this time of the year, because they encourage creativity and can bring families closer. 

After looking around the web and searching our memories for the cool crafts and projects that we used to do for the holidays, we were able to put together a little list of some of our favorites that we think you and your helper will enjoy. Mind you, most of the projects on this list are quite simple, but we still recommend that you make these projects a team effort since they involve cutting, gluing, and even glassware in some cases. Just something to keep in mind.

With that said, here are five fun DIY holiday projects for you to do with your little ones!

Whenever we think of or see snow globes, we immediately link them to the holiday season. Surely, we’re not the only ones. Snow globes will always be considered an important piece of the holiday puzzle, but wouldn’t it be cool if you had a snow globe that was homemade by you and your kids and could be used for many holidays to come? It can serve as a lasting memory for them that they can share with their own when they grow up.

Materials:

• Epsom Salt (for snow)
• Shot Glass (or a clear plastic cup)
• Glue
• Cardstock
• String & Button (if you wish to hang it)
• A Center Piece of your choice

Some of you may have done this one back in elementary school. We sure did. This project is actually pretty easy and enjoyable. It can also be quite time-consuming, but that’s half the fun. There are a few of us who actually still have our tissue paper wreath, and if you’re really careful with it, you can use yours over and over. The tissue paper wreath doesn’t really require a lot of supervision, but it goes a lot faster with two people. Plus, when it’s finished, you’ll see just how fulfilling it can be. It’s also great because you can use any color combo you want and can hang it anywhere as well.

Materials:

• A wire hanger or a paper plate with the center cut out.
• A lot of colored tissue paper
• Scissors for cutting the tissue into squares/rectangles
• White glue
• Ribbon and/or string for hanging

If you live in an area where pinecones can be easily found in the park or in your backyard, you may want to think twice before kicking them aside. Pinecones are actually used for various arts and crafts projects, and during the holiday season, they make lovely decorations...after you’ve dressed them up a bit. Make an elf, a reindeer, skier, an owl, or whatever cute characters and creatures you and your little ones can come up with. 

Materials:

• Pinecone
• Felt material
• Colored markers
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Glue gun
• String (if you wish to hang)

The homemade snowflake, (or TP snowflake) is actually one of our favorites because it is so super simple and can be done in various ways. Don’t throw out those spent toilet paper rolls, because you’re going to need them for this project. All it takes is a little bit of cutting, bending/squeezing, and some glue. Of course, you’ll need some more colorful, decorative materials to make pop and look like real snowflakes, instead of just glued together TP rolls, but that stuff you can get anywhere. These are also great because you can make them as big or small as you want and hang them up very easily when they’re done. You and your little ones should definitely give it a try.

Materials:

• Toilet Paper Rolls
• Scissors
• Glue

There are some of us who grew up without fireplaces in our homes, which was fine for 364 days out of the year. But, we would often think to ourselves, “How is the big man in the red suit going to get in so he can leave us our presents?” Well, if you don’t have a fireplace, you and your little one can make one...together. 

The cardboard fireplace is pretty cool because it can be the secret, magical entrance for Santa to come through and can also be used to display some of the other crafts on this list. Hang that tissue paper wreath over it or maybe put those little pinecones and snow globes on top of it. You can even use it for hanging stockings. 

Now, constructing this DIY fireplace is a bit more involved than some of the other projects above, which is why we’re going to leave a link to HGTV’s how-to guide for creating it. There, you’ll find a list of materials and a step-by-step breakdown of each step.

We hope you enjoyed going through this list of DIY holiday projects because we sure enjoyed putting it together. We’re amazed by some of the things you can create by just using some regular materials that you can find around the house or in your backyard. And the fact that these crafts can be created by your kids is even more amazing. 

Who knows, if you preserve them well enough, they may be using them for many years to come. Even if they somehow get lost in the shuffle or during the move, the time spent together working on them will always be there, even when they have little ones of their own.

Sincerely,

Monkeybar Buddies