Home-made Christmas Ornaments for 5-Year-old?

You might already do something like this, but take some time and walk around the craft store, for us it's Michael's. More than likely, inspiration will hit. They have so many great things. I think that I've even seen simple kits that the kids do.

Hi P. ,
I took a cute craft into my daughter's preschool when she was 4 , we painted old lightbulbs brown and glued wiggly eyes on it and a red pom nose to make a reindeer and wrapped a wire at the top as a hook and pipe cleaners as antlers . The kids loved doing this b/c they could make the eyes and nose however they wanted (some were upside down , etc, but that is the fun of a 4 y/o :-) Hope this helps !

2 homemade ornaments that I have found that kids enjoy making are clothespin reindeer and little elves made with a wooden block and felt. The reindeer is made from 3 clothespins, 2 of them glued together make the body and legs and then glue the 3rd one upside down...the top of the clothespin would be the head and the bottom would be the antlers.
The elf...the block is the body, a wooden bead is the head. Cut pants and a hat out of felt and glue them on. Paint a face on the bead. Add any embellishments you might like...shoes,bells, etc.

Lots of good ideas. This one is new to the area,and not in craft stores. Buy a set of clear or colored ornaments [sale prices this time of year] and create unique embellishments, names, and expressions with Uppercase Living. Great for a child with a unique name and/or to make a set for many years to come. See my website at http://MindyN.uppercaseliving.net/ The entire catalog is online or you can make a customized expression. No mess and great results.

Last Christmas, I made a couple homemade ornaments, and there was one my son LOVED doing. He was not quite 4. Get regular party balloons (5 in?) and blow up. However big the balloon is how big the ornament will be. Then, take yarn or embroidery floss (don't take strings apart) and dip in paper mache glue (I use just flour and water - mix together until a paste consistency). Wind the yarn or floss around the balloon however you want. I did straight lines up and down, spiral around, and "crazy" patterns. They all turned out great. Let sit overnight to dry (make sure it is COMPLETELY dry before proceeding). Once completely dry, pop the balloon and attach an ornament hook. You can also add a ribbon or holy to decorate at the hook. To make it sparkly, just mix glitter into the glue.

I'll probably do this project again because my son loved it so much, and it really was pretty easy - and cheap! :)

there are cool websites like about.com and search for making own christmas ornaments and all sorts of craft ideas.
We let the kids do their own every year...
We do a candy cane (turn it into a reindeer with pipe cleaner, pom pom balls for nose (small) and googly eyes.

We have done sandpaper cut it into a christmas shape like a tree, angel, star...ect...and take a cinnamon stick (from spices) and scrap it on the sandpaper, use a hole puncher and put a hole in the top of the shape and run a string of yarn through long enough to make a hoop and to hang on the tree! Smells good and is very cool. (Can decorate if you like).

There are several other ideas like: taking a jar lid and a picture of your child and cutting the picture so it'd fit into the lid, put a hole in the lid, run wire or string through, decorate as you wish, if you wish and tadaa..you have an ornament.

you can search through marthastewart.com, familyfun.com, parenting.com, crayola.com, about.com, google.com...oh I can't think of the others right now...but good luck and have fun!!

It is always fun to make something with the child's photo in it. Put his face on an elf cut-out or if the elf shape would be too difficult, a star or present with his picture in the center and the year on it would be a nice keepsake. I'm sure craft stores have make-it-yourself or paint-it-yourself options. You could make ornaments that look like Christmas cookies. Just use salt-map mixture (flour, salt, water- I'm sure you can find a recipe on the net) and roll them out and cut them with cutters like cookies (don't forget to put in a hole at the top for hanging). Bake them. Then you can paint them. Markers might even work. He could give the extras as gifts to relatives and teachers or use them as gift tags. I hope these simple ideas help and aren't repeats since I didn't read the other suggestions yet. Merry Christmas in advance!

With my daughter's kindergarten class we did a glass ornament. We bought clear glass bulbs from Michael's and poures paint in the top (green, red, silver, gold and glitter). After every color turn the bulb to move the paint all around. Let dry upside down before hanging. The kids all loved this project!!!

P., we have not only purchased an ornament for each member of the family, but also made some every year as well. Now have so many ornaments, we have to set up multiple trees and I love it. In fact, I will miss it greatly when my kids are all grown (most are now) and want to take their ornaments with them. Anyway, I have gotten a lot of ideas from Oriental Trading Company. Looking through their catalog, it's easy to find small projects that are just right for little ones. JoAnn's and Walmart have ornament crafts each year as well. I never bought the kits, but have taken ideas and made them our own. Some examples: painted shells, paper mache' balls turned into Rudolph, styrofoam balls turned into snowmen, cardboard reinforced wrapping paper folded and cut into paper lanterns and so many more.

If you would like more ideas we've used or would like some specific directions for some of them, please don't hesitate to let me know.

P.,
My boys have made some keepsake ornamentsin the past. One of my favorite was a hand print Santa, because I have a copy of their hand print when they were younger.
You need a white foam sheet from the craft store. Markers, glitter, paints, pom-poms, whatever you prefer. We did markers, glitter and pom-poms. Trace his hand on the foam, and cut it out. Place it upside down, with fingers pointing down. The thumb becomes the hat, so color it red w/pom-pom at the bottom and across the rim part. The fingers all become the beard, we used some type of white glitter here. Draw a face you can use google eyes too. They are cute, we hang them on the tree every year. It's a good idea to give to grandparents. You can even use them as a tag on a gift.
I found this cute reindeer one too, it includes a footprint as well.
http://www.allfreecrafts.com/christmas/reindeer-art.shtml
Have fun!
T.

You can hel him glue a picture of himself on a christmas
ornament and he can give them to his grandparents as a gift.

One idea we did as kids was to take a styrofoam ball and decorate it with glitter, confetti, yarn, etc, and then my mom would add the year somewhere on the ornament.

Another thing we did was to take an egg carton and cut the cups apart where the eggs sit, paint/glitter each cup, and string them together with yarn/ribbon to look like bells hanging on a string.

I know this isn't specifically an ornament, but we also used to do paper chains out of construction paper by cutting the paper into long strips and glueing the ends together to make a ring, and then keep going as long as you want! It can look really cool with lots of colors or just traditional red and green. We had ours on our Christmas trees for years!

Have fun!

I take my son up to the craft store, like Micheals, and let him pick out an ornment to make for each person. One year we did wood cut outs, another glass ones. THe ladies at Micheals can tell you what other supplies you need to finish the task at hand and helpful hints. :) Everyone seems to love getting their yearly oreiment from my son and he loves seeing them on their trees each year when we visit!

At 5 a safer option might be salt dough. My kids made these ornaments at 5 & 6 years old. Just google "salt dough" for a recipe. Salt dough looks like bread dough, so once hardened (you bake them) you can paint them like we chose to do. Any inexpensive craft paint will do. FUN times two. Creating and then painting. It is a great option if your child is creative and likes to be original, and if they like play doh.
One note, use a straw to punch out a hole at the top BEFORE you bake so there is a place to put a hook or string. You can do free form or use cookie cutters. Very easy and lots fun!
Another recipe you can use is for applesauce ornaments. These are also not for eating, but you can make gingerbread men and women with these as they look more gingerbread in color. They have a great cinnamon aroma and we made these at 3 & 4 yo with cookie cutters. No painting involved. After baking we put tartan fabric around the necks in bows for the boys, and glued some on the heads for the girls.

I see that someone has already given you the clear ornament idea. My children made those when they were younger and loved them.

Stampin' Up will be selling ornaments kits starting on October 1st. They have two different ones. You can view their mini catalog and the larger catalog by going to www.debbienewman.stampinup.net. You can also check out my blog at www.debbienewman.typepad.com. I will will be posting every few days with new ideas. Should you decide to order the kits, if you place it through my website you will get the best price possible. Hope this helps.

Hi P.,
I think you can still get "shrinky dink" crafts. We used them to make our name tags at our first MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group this year. I don't know where you could get it. Try craft supply stores and the Internet. Your son could color a picture, and then you shrink it down to be able to glue onto an ornament. On another note, I'm an almost 40 mom to a 4-year-old girl. I'm not planning to have more children unless we decide to adopt. How do you deal with the worry of an only child growing up lonely? Pets aren't much of an option due to allergies... Thanks! R.

you can make a dough out of applesauce & cinnamon (a lot of cinnamon), roll it out & use cookie cutters to make the shapes for the ornaments. use a straw to cut out a hole for the ribbon to hang the ornament. they air dry on cookie racks & when dry, can be painted if you choose.

they smell fantastic!

You can let them paint a wooden, plaster, or one of the plastic see thru (stain glass type) from any of the craft stores or places like Wal Mart. I used to pick up pine cones and let them paint them with glitter or snow paint.

We did this with my daughters girl scout troop. Get clear (it doesn't work as well with the frosted ones)blubs and take the top part off ( the hook and metal part) then pour differnt color paint (one at a time) and swwirl it around to cover the entire bulb. Then take the bulb and put it in plastic cup with tthe opening of the bulb down first in the cup) and let the excess paint drain out. These look great and no two are alike. Good luck!

My 5 year old just made an ornament at Marcy's Clayground. They have lots of different ones to choose from and then he can paint it any way he wants to. We just picked ours up yesterday and it turned out really good.

We like to go to the "paint/fire/glaze" type pottery places to make our ornaments.

I sell Usborne books and we carry a variety of activity books. We have them for all the different holidays. We even have Christmas Stencils for making your own cards.

Here is my book website: www.ubah.com/T2267

Feel free to pass on my website. If you put in an order , it comes directly to your home in a week.

Email me back for more information. I do parties and you could get free books. Sales for Oct. $400 and you get $120 in free books.

J. R.
Educational Consultant

Here are a couple of ideas......

Buy a clear "ball" ornament.....either the frosty clear or just clear will work. Place a few drops of different color tempra paints inside (what ever colors you like.....I like to use gold, green, and red w/a little white). It doesn't take much paint, and you can add more if you like throughout the process. Cover the opening with a papertowel and shake the ornament as much as you want. The effect is really cool. Once the paint dries, put the "lid" on and hang.

Another idea is to take the clear "ball" ornament and fill it with potpourri, or whatever you son would like inside. The craft stores have all kinds of "little" things like stars or tiny toys, anything that will fit through the "ball" hole.

My kids have made both of these ornaments and really enjoyed making them. In fact, they make an ornament for all of my husband's family on the years that we host the annual family Christmas party. We add a bow to the top of the ornaments and put the date on the outside with a paint pen that you can find at any craft store.

Enjoy!
T.

There is a magazine called oreintal trading. It has wonderful and easy crafts in it. IT also is not really that expensive, Check it out.

My kids started making their own ornaments when they were 1. Go browse at Michael's or Hobby Lobby and you'll see TONS of ideas. The most popular (they make alot and give to grandparents/aunts/uncles/teachers) is the foamy picture frames. You can buy a kit in a bag to make a dozen for just a couple dollars (use the weekly 40% off coupon in the paper to make it cheaper) at Michael's. It has the front and backs that you stick together with a small photo inside plus lots of foamy stickers to stick around the outside of the frame. Even comes with the string.

Our tree is great to look at because we have a small picture of each child every year on their ornaments. I also stashed an ornament away each year that they don't know about and will give them all to each child when they leave home as a cool keepsake.

Another idea we do is buy the little wooden or gypsum premade/precut ornaments. All you do is paint them and tie a ribbon on them to hang. I remember painting the gypsum shapes as a child and my parents still hang some of the surviving non-broken ones up some 30+ years later.

Couple of really easy ones are Pine Cones (you can use glue/glitter/paint) and Popcicle sticks (think glittery snowflake). ALso really easy are candy canes made out of pipe cleaners and beads. Good luck... :) sounds like a fun afternoon project.