Are you looking for ways to share some Christmas fun with your kids? With the help of our Play Specialist Sue, we’ve put together a few awesome ideas of easy and affordable Christmas-themed crafts for you and your child to try!
Christmas Tree Sensory Bottle
Ingredients
- Green plastic bottle
- Pompoms (ideally Christmas coloured)
- Sequins
- Green glitter
- Green glitter glue
- Water
Method
- Squeeze a liberal amount of green glitter glue into the green plastic bottle, about the half the bottle should be good.
- Add some green glitter, sequins, pompoms – anything sparkly, to the bottle.
- Fill the bottle with warm water, screw the cap on tight and give the contents a good shake.
If the sensory bottle is full with enough glitter, sequins and pompoms and you’re satisfied, glue the cap on with super glue or a hot glue gun.
Optional: add a star sticker to the outside of the bottle to make it look just like a Christmas tree!
Warning: Possible choking hazard, especially with babies, toddlers or oral sensory seekers.
Memory Bauble
Ingredients:
- Clear bauble
- Thin ribbon of choice
- Measuring tape
- Copy of poem
- “This ribbon is very special as soon you will see. Untie it and you’ll find that it is the same size as me!”
Method:
- Print or write out a copy of the poem with this year’s date
- Measure child’s height – cut ribbon to be the same length
- Thread the ribbon into bauble and reseal
- Attach poem with some extra ribbon
- Optional: Write child’s name with a glass pen on the bauble
Contact Paper Christmas Tree
Ingredients
- Contact paper
- Cut-up strips of Christmas coloured paper
- Christmas bits and pieces (ribbon strips, pompoms, sequins etc.)
Method:
- Draw the outline of a Christmas onto the paper side of the contact paper. Cut it out.
- Remove the paper backing
- Use lengths of ribbon to ‘seal’ the edges
- Have your child decorate the inside area that is sticky
Jingle Bells Christmas Sensory Bin
Ingredients:
- Small bells
- Sparkly pom poms
- Cotton balls
Method:
- Add ingredients into a clear tub
Play tips: Allow your child to play and explore with their hands – talk about the differences in how the materials feel. You can talk about the other sensory components as well, such as visual (what colours and sizes they see) and auditory (whether the different materials are noisy or quiet). Practice transferring materials from one bin to another, which can actually be great practice for hand-eye coordination and crossing the midline. You might like to also encourage your child to sort/separate the items into different containers.
