December is the perfect time to enjoy some Christmas crafts with the kids.
“Mommy, Mommy! Can we do our craft now?” My daughter had pulled out the card from the day’s pocket on our Christmas Countdown Calendar. The card read, “Do a Christmas craft,” and she was excited to see what the craft would be.
The simple Santa craft I had planned turned out to be a big hit.
This craft would be great for preschoolers, but my 6 and 8 year-old both had fun cutting, gluing, and adding their own ideas to the Santa craft.
In fact, as soon as they finished they asked if they could make this reindeer craft to keep Santa company.
Shape Santa Craft
You will need:
- Construction Paper
(We used this fun marbled construction paper.)
- Markers
- Glue
- Googly Eyes
- Cotton Balls
For very young kids you might want to have the parts pre-cut. For preschoolers you can draw the shapes and have them cut them out themselves. (Work on those scissor skills!)
Older kids can do the whole thing on their own.
We used a 5 1/2 inch diameter circle for Santa’s head. A 5 x 7 inch rectangle became his body. Arms and legs were made from 6 x 1 inch rectangles, and a triangle with a 5 inch base became his hat.
If you are working with toddlers or preschoolers you can talk about each shape as it is used.
Once Santa’s main parts are assembled, let your child decide what details they want to include. My son decided he wanted to fold the arms and legs accordion-style. He also wanted a belt, mittens, and boots.
Cotton balls make a fun, three-dimensional addition to Santa. Pulling the cotton balls apart a bit to form his beard is a great for working muscles needed for writing skills, and most kids like playing with the soft cotton as well.
My son does NOT like gluing cotton. (It drives him nuts when it sticks to his hands.) So, he settled for just a few pieces as Santa’s beard. Kids could also choose to skip the beard or use markers to draw it on. Let them make the craft their own.
My daughter on the other hand LOVES pulling the cotton apart and had fun giving Santa a full beard, mustache, and adding fuzzy, white trim to his hat.
They were both very proud of their shape Santa craft and couldn’t wait to hang them on the doors.
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Looking for more Christmas craft inspiration?
Ginny Marie says
I love using the accordion fold for arms and legs. So good for fine motor skills! Your Santas are very cute!
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OneMommy says
I was surprised my son chose to do them that way. His fingers kept getting tired, but he did manage to do 2 all by himself and the other 2 with a bit of help. Definitely good for fine motor skills and hand strengthening. 🙂