Toddler (Age Two) Christmas Crafts

Using an egg carton (cardboard works best), cut out three parts of the carton (don't cut them individually, cut out three together) and paint them white.

Push an orange pipe cleaner through the one of the holes for a "carrot" nose and use either paint or craft stuff from around the house for eyes.

Find some old buttons and make a hat out of black construction paper. If you have yarn, use it to make a scarf.

It will be the cutest snowman you have ever seen!

we made handprint wreaths last year...cut the middle out of a paper plate to get the base, trace her hand once then trace a bunch and let her glue them all over the plate circle (the fingers are the needles). Trace her feet to make the bow.

Making reindeer antlers. I know the gal who watched my daughter when she was 2 made a x-mas ornament wherein she put her handprint on the ornament, she got to paint it, and then pasted a picture of my daughter on the front of the ornament.

I LOVE the pampered chef cookie press! ;o) My son brought a pretty neat craft from preschool last week. They took 3 large sized popsickle (suddenly cannot figure out how to spell that word!) sticks (the tongue depresser size like in the Dr. office) He had glued them into a triangle and glued a red puff ball on at one "corner" and then they drew eyes and glued on antlers they cut out by tracing their hands. It's super cute and seemed pretty easy to do. You can cut out several different sized circles (tearing them out looks even better) and pre-cut hats and eyes noses and let her glue them all together on another paper to create a snowman. I do this with the kids I babysit, they enjoy sitting arond the table together picking out pieces from the center of the table and discussing their projects with each other while they are working.

My kids love doing a gingerbread house. I buy the kit for about $9, and it's not too tough to put together. (I do that part alone!) Although the kit comes with candy, it's usually not enough so I buy a little extra. Then after the house is dried and sturdy, I let my kids go crazy with the candy decorations! It's lots of fun.

When my son was 2 we used some colored constuction paper to trace his hand on,then we cut it out and punched a hole at the top. Thread it with some pretty ribbon or string and its a keepsake! We just put our tree up yesterday and he admired the little hand [he is almost 8 now!]

I know Michaels has a bunch of foam stickers that you can get in Christmas themes. I bought two boxes of those (one box is blue/white/silver snowman and snowflakes and the other is Christmas trees/Santa/etc) and during our Christmas party this Saturday, will give the kids scrapbook paper and have them create a Holiday Scene!

Another idea would be to cut out stocking shapes and use cotton balls to decorate it and then have the kids paint them (finger paints?) Along the same lines, have them decorate a Santa too (cotton for the beard).

I think there is a recipe for creating homemade snow globes online...google that?!

What about a Peppermint Wreath? I think you just get wiring and push it through each candy. You maybe could do this with softer candy that resembles peppermint?

Make a bird feeder with pinecones/peanut butter and seeds. Place on a string and hang outside for the birds Christmas present.

Take pictures of the kids and you can have them create a frame (or frame ornament) with popcicle sticks, stickers, beads, buttons, etc.

Make a snowman with a paper towel (or toliet paper) roll - decorate with construction paper cutouts like the carrots, arms, hat, etc.

Trace the kids hands and have them write what they want for Christmas on them then trace/cut out mittens and have hte kids decorate them and put their wishes inside!

Have the kids write a letter or draw a picture to send to Santa. Walk to the mailbox to mail them. Show them online or on a map where the North Pole is.

Just a few ideas!

Current Catalog (online too) and Orential Trading Post have sticker crafts that are great for little ones.

I also got a box of Wilton cookie cutters at Walmart this weekend. There are 100 cookie cutter in alphabet, numbers, shapes and holiday. YOu can really use them for so many diffeant cooking and craft projects.

Also remember 2yo attention span isn't real long, so you may have to break thing up into shorter crafting sessions.

I've used dltk-kids.com for the past couple of years. They have crafts for different age groups for different holiday, seasons, etc.

How about some plastic or glass plain "see through" ornaments from Michael's. We poured paint on the inside and swirled them around, and added sprinkles and sparkles for an added touch.

Make snowmen with cotton balls, make a reindeer brown bag puppet we just did this and they loved it, make a wreath sprinkle on different smells like cinnamon, nutmeg, etc.

Hi K..
I love that you are doing hands-on fun things with your kids! They are lucky to have a creative thinker taking care of them and letting them have fun making memories as much as crafts.
I know the handprint idea has come up before, but we mama's love those little hands. Maybe you could purchase some inexpensive kitchen towels (they are usually 5 for $5 at WalMart) and use fabric paint to help the kids make their handprint on the towel. Then take a paint pen and write "Mommy's Little Helper" or something cute on the towel and let them give them to their moms for Christmas. It would be a cute keepsake or kitchen accessory that will remind moms to let those little hands be involved in the things they do each day.
Enjoy the Christmas season with your little bunch!
God bless,
Christi

Great question!

My daughter is 3.5 but I think a 2 year old could do the ornaments we made this weekend.

The clear ball ornaments someone else mentioned. I let Caroline choose the colors - she chose orange first and thena bout 5 more colors but it turned out beautiful. She chose the colors and I poured them in.

We also added about 20 popcorn kernels to the clear glass ornament, put it in a paper bag, microwaved 1.5 minutes and the popcorn popped inside. Very cute.

The third kind we painted the kids hands white, put a red ornament in their palm, curled the fingers around the ornament. Then, added black eyes, buttons, orange nose (orange sharpie)hats and scarves and they look like snowmen.

I found this on a web site but have heard of it before, making bird feeders from pine cones. You can buy pine cones but if someone you know has a pine tree you can collect them (they will have sticky sap on them, so wear gloves). Wash fresh pine cones in the sink with soapy water. Bake at 200 degrees for an hour on a foil-lined pan to open the cones and remove most of the sap. Keep an eye on the oven to avoid the remote possibility of fire or smoke (I had no problem at all with this). Allow the cones to dry and tie a ribbon them. Spread peanut butter mixed with margarine on them and roll in birdseed. (I've read the straight peanut butter is bad for the birds)Hang outdoors for the birds to enjoy. You can look this up online at About.com/family crafts.

I know that you mentioned that looking through the google list can be exhausting but check out the Family Fun website. In fact, I just downloaded some super cute cards to make with my 2 year old...they're cute and easy but do require paint, so beware! Also, someone else mentioned Oriental Trading and they are super too! Michael's also has a bunch of the same types of craft kits on sale too if you don't want to wait for your order to be shipped. Have fun!

My 2 year old really enjoyed helping me to make a gingerbread house. He ate way to much sugar by the time we were done but he waves to it everyday. lol Good luck!

I used to order from Oriental Trading for Christmas crafts. My kids were about 2 when we started with some of the foam ornament kits, nothing with stringing beads. You'd be surprised how easy they are, and if they aren't perfect like the picture, everyone would still treasure something your child made! (We all had a good laugh hanging my son's preschool ornament with his picture upside down, and he's 11 now. But it's priceless to me!) Just have fun. Another idea for maybe next year....buy a box of cheaper glass ball ornaments, have your child squirt glue in different designs while you turn it, then have them gently roll it in colored glitter. I did this with my 4 year old last year, and they were beautiful! She even gave them as gifts to her teachers!

you can make a handprint wreath. take finger paint put on a paper plate,you could put red on one plate and green on the other and alternate colors. stamp their hand print several times on a piece of white paper. Cut a wreath type circle out of green construction paper, cut out their hand prints after the paint dries and glue on the circle wreath. Their fingers will look more like branches and not sure how many handprints will fill it up but make probably 2-3 pages full of them to be enough to cover the circle. tie a bow at the top or use curling ribbon. These are really cute. one of my kids made one when they were little and I still have it and cherish it. If you really want to keep them in great shape for years to come then laminate the sheets before you cut them out and glue them on a heavier cardstock (heavier than construction paper.

You can also make a hand print reindeer with brown construction paper. Trace the hand and cut it out The fingers are the antlers, the palm of the hand is the face and glue those craft eyes on it, a small red pompom ball for the nose and red or black felt thin line for the mouth. can even tie a string with a bell on it around the bottom like where the wrist part might be if you draw it that far and that would be like the neck of the reindeer. These are also very cute and easy.

K.,

There are lots of handprint ideas, reindeer and angels (the foot is used also) are 2 that I remember. What about a stepping stone with the hand print and footprint in it decorated with red and green marbles or tiles. Ornaments can be made by pouring paint into the glass ball and rolling it around (not more than 3 colors) and turning it upside down to drain in a cup. You can glue tissue paper to a glass ball. Paint a styrofoam ball and roll in glitter or use scraps of ribbon on it. glue tissue paper on a clear glass candle holder it looks beautiful with a candle in it. Those are just the things I can think of off hand. try familyfun.com, makingfriends.com, kaboose these have seasonal ideas and I think they can be made to be simple if you think they are too hard. Have fun crafting.

didn't have time to read the other responses! Handprint reindeer: a circle cut for the head, handprints for the antlers. Decorate as you like!