These Christmas crafts for kids will keep little ones busy and help you decorate your home. Talk about a Christmas miracle!
50 Fun and Easy Christmas Crafts for Kids to Get Them in the Holiday Spirit
Updated on Nov. 01, 2024
Tissue paper Santa
How cute is this Santa Claus ornament? Kids can DIY this fun design using white tissue paper for the beard and red felt for Santa’s hat. It’s a creative and festive addition to your holiday decor!
Jingle bell reindeer
Get the kids excited to make their own reindeer jingle bell ornament! All they need is some cardboard, a bell, string and markers to draw a cute reindeer face. It’s a fun, hands-on holiday craft they’ll love creating—and you’ll love displaying!
Wooden Three Kings
Share a meaningful religious quote during the holidays and get your little ones involved in a fun craft by creating the Three Kings who journeyed to see baby Jesus! Use wood or cardboard for their bodies, gold construction paper for their crowns and don’t forget to draw on their faces. Cotton balls glued together make perfect beards!
Cat Ornaments
Cats are absolutely adorable, so why not DIY your own cat ornaments? Cut out cat face shapes from cardboard or felt, paint and draw on their sweet faces, and add triangle-shaped ears for a fun, festive touch!
Straw Christmas tree card
Holiday cards are a timeless Christmas craft that kids will love to make and share with family. Have them cut straws into different shapes, glue them in the shape of a Christmas tree on their cards and add their own drawings of a candy cane topper and little presents underneath! Have them write a cute Christmas quote or Christmas joke for kids inside. It’s a simple and heartwarming activity perfect for the season.
Glitter Christmas tree
How stunning is this glittery Christmas tree? Kids can create their own by using glittery construction paper and colorful pom-poms as ornaments for a dazzling holiday craft!
Marshmallow snowmen
Here’s a Christmas craft that’s both adorable and edible! Stick marshmallows on a wooden skewer and use icing to draw cute snowman faces—fun to make and even more fun to eat!
Snowmen presents
Giant snowmen? Yes, please! Have the kids wrap different-sized boxes with white wrapping paper, then cut out black construction paper circles for the eyes. Use black string for arms, and stack them up for a fun, oversized snowman decoration!
Clay Christmas tree
It’s incredible what you can make with clay! Let the kids try their hand at a clay Christmas tree using green, yellow, orange and any other Christmas colors they want for festive ornaments. A perfect hands-on holiday craft!
Gingerbread house
Gingerbread houses are a must-do Christmas craft for kids that combines creativity and delicious fun! You can easily create your own festive masterpiece by grabbing a kit from your local store open on Christmas Day. It’s the perfect holiday activity you won’t want to miss!
Mom and Dad star ornaments
Your kids will love making these personalized star ornaments just for Mom and Dad. Simply have them paint a wooden star gold and white and once dry, write “Mom” and “Dad” across the center. Loop some yarn or twine through the top to complete.
Paper plate angel
Hark, the paper plate angels sing! For this Christmas decoration idea, paint a paper plate blue and cut it into three pieces to form the dress and wings. Attach yellow construction paper to the plastic spoon as hair and glue together. It’s just about the easiest Christmas craft for kids you can find.
Christmas cards
There’s no Christmas craft for kids quite as special as a handmade holiday card. Skip the free printable cards and help your kids spruce up their card-making game this year by using construction paper and buttons to create fun paper card cutouts in the shapes of Christmas trees, reindeer, wreaths, ornaments and more.
Orange peel garland
After peeling (and eating) an orange, lay out the skin and use Christmas-themed cookie cutters to cut out shapes. From there, thread a string or twine to form the garland.
Pasta Christmas trees
Move over, blue spruce! This is a whole new Christmas tree idea. Help your kids spray paint uncooked pasta noodles in green and silver and hot glue the pasta together to form tree shapes. Don’t forget the bowtie noodle on top!
Pinecone Christmas trees
A Christmas craft for kids that’s both eco-friendly and adorable? Sign us up! Have your kids scavenge pinecones in the backyard. Then, use hot glue to attach the pinecones to corks to act as the stump. Dip in green paint to complete.
Christmas cardboard balls
All you need for this Christmas craft for kids is colored string and cardboard. Help your child cut out notches all along a circle of cardboard, then insert string and criss-cross to make an abstract snowflake shape. Display on the mantel, the dinner table or even the Christmas tree where it could make for a creative tree topper.
Pasta wreath
Kids will love this fun twist on the classic Christmas wreath idea. Use craft glue to adhere bowtie pasta to a foam wreath form. Spray paint to apply color and for an extra special holiday surprise, attach red bows and roses.
Chimney Santa Claus
This Christmas craft for kids transforms recycled toilet paper rolls into chimneys with red construction paper and a black marker. Use the same tools to create Santa’s hat and feet.
Marshmallow snowman
The snowman has forever been a symbol of winter fun and Christmastime—and the history of the snowman proves it. Celebrate this with a fun Mason jar craft. Have your child fill a Mason jar with mini marshmallows to form the snowman’s body. Then, glue buttons and ribbon to the outside for this creative take on an old classic.
Swirly paper snowman
Help your child cut white paper into a spiral to form the snowman’s swirly body. From there, draw eyes, a mouth and a carrot nose at the top. Don’t forget to cut out a construction paper hat to complete the craft.
Reindeer craft sticks
But do you recall … the most famous reindeer of all? Rudolph has never looked cuter. Help your child glue together alternating red and green craft sticks to create the frame. Then, cut out Rudolph’s head, arms and feet from brown construction paper and glue them to the craft sticks.
Circle snowmen
What’s round, white and absolutely adorable? This Christmas craft for kids! All your kid will need is colored construction paper, scissors and glue, making it absolutely kid-friendly. And talk about creative—your child can craft and decorate these little bundles of snowy joy as they see fit.
Paper snowflakes
We’d be remiss if we didn’t include the most classic of all Christmas crafts for kids—the paper snowflake. No matter how simple this craft is, the magic of unfurling the paper to see the incredible patterns created will always be a Christmas miracle.
Christmas tree card
This craft will have your kids singing “O Christmas Tree” all day long. Have your child design the Christmas tree of their dreams using green construction paper and stickers.
Tissue paper Christmas tree
Cut green pieces of tissue paper into squares and have your child crumple and glue them together to form the shape of a Christmas tree. For an extra special touch, cut up a white cotton pad and use it as snow.
Toilet paper toys
What do Frosty, Santa and a Christmas tree all have in common? They’re made out of toilet paper rolls! For this craft, all your child will need is glue, construction paper and paint.
Felt heart ornament
While this Christmas craft may require a little help from Mom or Dad, your child can still get involved by picking out the colors of felt and, if they’re older, even cutting out the felt into heart shapes. Have a parent finish the job by hand stitching together to form a sweet, handmade ornament.
Origami advent calendar
For this kids’ Christmas craft, use cardstock to form little origami houses to act as an advent calendar. Hide a sweet treat or toy underneath each house and allow children to “open” one house a day.
Craft stick snowman
Talk about a kid-friendly craft! Santa’s little helpers will love decorating a white craft stick with pom-poms, googly eyes and construction paper to create mini snowmen.
Snowmen greeting cards
All your child will need for this Christmas craft are white buttons, blue cardstock, a white pen and some creativity. Have your child glue three buttons in a row to create the shape of the snowman. Draw stick arms, hair, snow and more using the white pen. When done, have them write a sweet Christmas wish on the front or a heartfelt holiday quote to share with a loved one.
Christmas tree snow globes
What’s the only thing better than a holiday-themed snow globe? A DIY holiday-themed snow globe, of course! To create the Christmas tree, paint a pine cone green and decorate it with sequins and glitter and attach to the bottom of a Mason jar lid. Then, fill the Mason jar with glitter and add glycerin (that secret snow globe ingredient!). Screw on the lid, flip the jar over and watch the holiday magic commence.
Toilet paper roll Christmas tree calendar
To make this fun, upcycled Christmas craft, first tape recycled toilet paper rolls in a pyramid shape. Then, cover in green construction paper. Finally, decorate each of the rolls with numbers one to 25 to finish the advent calendar.
Paper plate snowman
For this Christmas craft for kids, have your child use cotton pads to build the shape of the snowman before decorating with markers, ribbon and some mini pom-poms for snowy effect.
Christmas tree greeting cards
Fold a piece of paper in half and cut triangles to create the paper Christmas tree. Do this a second time, then stack for a 3D effect. Decorate with a brown construction paper stump and twine bow on top.
Candy cane hearts
This kids’ Christmas craft requires minimal materials. Simply glue two candy canes in the shape of a heart to a piece of decorated paper.
Cupcake wrapper garland
Glue three cupcake wrappers stacked on top of each other to form mini Christmas trees. Once dry, glue to a piece of string to complete the garland.
Button snowmen
Glue three buttons to a piece of paper to form the body and add a black construction paper hat to complete the look.
Duct tape ring Christmas tree
Paint empty duct tape rings green. Once dry, glue them together in a pyramid shape to form a Christmas tree. Decorate your creation with pom-poms and glittery stars.
Santa puppets
First, cut out a triangle using red construction paper and glue to a craft stick. Then glue half a cupcake wrapper to make Santa’s beard, a white circle to form his head and add a small white circle on top to complete his hat.
Christmas tree ornament
This homemade Christmas tree ornament is the gift that will keep on giving. Paint three thick craft sticks green and once dry, glue them together to form a triangle. Then, decorate using buttons, a star sticker on top and a piece of recycled cardboard as a stump.
Popcorn Santa Claus
This kids’ Christmas craft is so scrumptious, you may be tempted to take a bite! First, paint Santa’s hat and face details using watercolors. Then, form his beard by gluing popcorn in a triangle shape.
Pinecone Christmas trees
Paint the pinecones green and attach tiny white pom-poms to act as snow. Once dry, hot glue the bottom of the pine cones into recycled caps to act as a pot.
Going green wrapping paper
To take your child’s Christmas crafting to a whole new level … have them custom DIY wrapping paper! Cut a Christmas tree stamp out of a sponge then stamp green paint onto a repurposed brown bag to create a pattern.
Wooden stick holiday characters
To make the craft stick snowman, glue together six craft sticks with one lying diagonally. Paint the top half and diagonal stick black for the hat, and the bottom half white. Draw on eyes, a carrot nose and a smile.
Santa Claus candy package
This is an adorable way for kids to give their friends candy on Christmas. First, fold red cardstock into a freestanding triangle shape. Decorate one side with Santa’s face, made out of construction paper and pieces of a doily. Slide a lollipop face down into the triangle and staple on either side to secure.
Paper Christmas trees
Cut out a Christmas tree using white cardstock. Then, have your child glue down strips of green construction paper. Decorate with fun holiday-themed ribbon.
Angel garland
Use patterned paper for a fun twist on this classic kids’ Christmas craft.
Pinecone ornaments
Glue colored pom-poms to pine cones before hanging with a piece of twine for a rustic Christmas ornament.
Christmas masks
As a fun Christmas craft for kids, decorate masks for the ultimate holiday cheer. Glue on pom-poms and cotton fluff for a bona fide Santa’s beard.
Why trust us
At Reader’s Digest, we’re committed to producing high-quality content by writers with expertise and experience in their field in consultation with relevant, qualified experts. We rely on reputable primary sources, including government and professional organizations and academic institutions as well as our writers’ personal experiences where appropriate. We verify all facts and data, back them with credible sourcing and revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.
