The festive season is upon us! Most families have already started on the Christmas decorations – trees are up and fairy lights are twinkling.
We’ve got some nice ideas on easy decorations you can make at home with your children. Craft activities can be a good way to spend time with your little ones and begin to start feeling the magic of the holidays. Children get a sense of pride and accomplishment from seeing their works of art hanging in the house and they can they be kept as beautiful memories for future years.
Why not try some of these easy Christmas decorations ideas?
White Clay Ornaments
Recipe: 1 Cup Bicarbonate of Soda, ½ Cup Maizena/Corn Flour, Water.
Add the dry ingredients to a pan and add approximately ¾ Cup of warm water. Keep stirring over a low heat until the mixture becomes thick and dough-like. Take it out immediately and knead then roll out with a rolling pin. Use a cookie cutter to cut out shapes, not forgetting to make a small hole in the top of each decoration so you can add string and hang it up. Leave the clay to dry out for a few hours or you can bake them in the oven on a low heat to speed up the process.
There are a few different recipes around for salt dough but this is our favourite as it comes out with a smooth, white base which is easier to paint on.
One warning, it dries very quickly and has to be rolled out whilst it’s warm, so an easier salt dough recipe might be better for very young children.
Paper Snowflakes
Equipment: Paper, scissors.
Since there’s a zero chance of a white Christmas in Botswana, you can make your own!
This is a good activity for older children to practice their cutting skills. Simply take a square piece of white paper and fold it in half to make a triangle. Fold in half again. Make small cuts and patterns along the edges of the paper and unfold to see your unique snowflake!
You can experiment with shape, sizes, patterns and folds to create your very own flurry or decorate with glitter or sparkles.
If your older children are feeling adventurous, here are some free printable snowflake templates.
Coloured Baubles
Equipment: Card, glue, scissors, craft items, coloured pens or crayons, string.
A nice easy decoration for the younger ones to make. Cut out circles from the card, make a small hole in the top and attach a piece of string for hanging the bauble.
Your children can decorate it using colours, glitter, stickers, fabric scraps or other craft items.
Mini Christmas Trees
Equipment: Craft/Lolly sticks/tongue depressors, wool, glue, glitter or paint.
Glue three wooden sticks together to make a triangle. We’ve suggested craft sticks but you can also take a walk in nature and find three regular sticks of the same length.
Tie one end of a piece of wool to one of the sticks and wrap the yarn around the sticks to make the Christmas Tree. This is a great activity to work on hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills.
You can decorate the tree with glitter or sequins and add an extra piece of wool to hang it up.
Cardboard Characters
Equipment: Toilet rolls, egg cartons, paint, coloured pens, craft items such as stickers, pipe cleaners or pom poms.
Paint toilet rolls to look like your favourite Christmas Characters. Add buttons, an orange nose and smiling face for a snowman or use cotton wool to add a beard for Santa. You can hang up your decorations using string or a pipe cleaner.
Make mini Christmas trees by cutting out the middle cones of an egg box and decorating with your craft supplies.
Enjoy more sentimental stories of what Christmas means to these families in Botswana. Let us know in the comments what you’re looking forward to this festive season. As always, if you liked these stories, please share them with your friends.
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