It's that time of year. Lights are hung all around town, Christmas trees are filled with ornaments, the presents are wrapped tightly for the special surprise hidden inside, pictures with Santa Claus are taken to please mom, and let's not forget about all of the family fun that is incorporated into celebrating the birth of our Savior.
In all of the chaos that is hosted during the month of December, there is also some downtime involved when students are out of school for the break. With that spare time of laying around the house being "bored," here are five different fun crafts that children can do to create a memory.
#1 Craft is: MarshMan
This craft consists of any color construction paper that the crafter chooses, marshmallows, and of course, different color markers to draw on a unique snowman face, arms, and accessories to make the snowman stand out. You can even make it more fun and have the crafter pick out a name for their creation or on the back of the construction paper, they can tell the story about their snowman. When starting out this craft, have the child write the story behind their upcoming creation. It does not have to be a long detailed biography, but in a few years, the child will have something to look back on and laugh about. After their story is written, it is time to make their new friend. Flip the construction paper over to the front and make three glue circles of different sizes to form the snowman body, and from there the child will stick the marshmallows according to their circles. Once the glue is dry, they can begin to make their snowman's face and add in the crazy accessories.
#2 Craft is: Hot Chocolate Ornament
This craft is also a good easy gift for maybe their teacher or friend. Start out with simple clear glassed ornaments, and have the child poor in hot chocolate. Once all of the hot chocolate is in place, then they can add in small marshmallows or sprinkles for color and don't forget to close off the ornament with the top and a fun ribbon to coordinate with the sprinkles chosen. Within 5 minutes or less you now have a cute ornament for decoration or a gift that your child can put to use.
#3 Craft is: The Best Gift
This craft is a sweet way to tie in the true meaning of Christmas. As you notice, the present has ribbon around it like normal presents do, but this ribbon is thicker than most. The "t" stands for the cross that Jesus was crucified upon. By having your child cut out a square to represent the gift box, and then the ribbon.. Explain to them that the best gift of all is not all of the presents that Santa Claus is going to bring, but it is the gift of salvation and knowing that Jesus Christ loves them more than anything. Once you have told your child this story and the significance behind their craft, it will be something that they can hold onto forever.
#4 Craft is: Footprint Rudolph
Everyone knows the cute story of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and how it is okay to stand out from the rest of the crowd. In this craft all you need is a plain printer paper, brown paint, one paint brush, googly-eyes, a red puff-ball, and a black marker. When starting out this project you will begin to paint your child's foot with the brown paint, hold the foot in place for 20 seconds and then once it is dried it is time for the crazy part of creating Rudolph. Glue on his googly-eyes, and red nose, and don't forget his antlers! After completing this craft you can add in any color construction paper for a pop of color and support for the craft.
#5 Craft is: Jesus in a Manger
What a precious craft to create with your child. For this project, have your child pick out one hand, paint it brown and apply the hand onto the paper of your choice, once the hand is removed allow the paint to dry. After waiting for the brown paint to dry, you can give your child the brush that contains the yellow paint on it, and during the time that you are waiting for the yellow paint to dry this is where the creativity begins. You can use printer paper to make Baby Jesus. Have your child cut out a small circle to be known as Baby Jesus's head, and an oval shape for the body of Baby Jesus wrapped in a blanket. Once both pieces have been cut out to the appropriate size, your child can start on the face of Baby Jesus. Does He need to be sleeping, or does He need to be awake and happy? From there your child can color the blanket. The last step to this craft is gluing Baby Jesus onto the manger with hay. Explain to your child that their hand represents the manger that Baby Jesus used as a bed, and how the yellow paint is used as hay that Baby Jesus laid His sweet head upon. This craft is not only for fun, but it also gives you as a parent a good way to tell the story of Baby Jesus, and the journey that Mary and Joseph went through in Luke chapter two, verses one through twenty. What better way to do a craft with your child, but also to have the opportunity to express such a beautiful story about Baby Jesus who is the King of Kings?
You may do one craft, or maybe all five. But in the midst of all of this crazy Christmas crafting, just remember that there would not be a CHRISTmas without Christ.