The holiday season and handicrafts have a natural connection; just walk into any child care in Rockville, MD, during the holidays and see for yourself! It’s a mystery to most of us how this came to pass. During the hectic holiday season, adding a Christmas project for children to the equation is like saying, “As if parents or caregivers need something more on their plate when it’s already full!”
However, if you and your family want to spread extra holiday cheer, here are some of the favorite holiday crafts from a Rockville child care center.
One of the greatest things about this project is that each tree is unique. Not only because every child is unique in where they place things on the tree, but no one pinecone is ever the same. To make these pinecone Christmas trees, you will need some pinecones and green paint. After painting the pinecone green, you can add some glitter to the wet paint. Once the paint has dried, have kids add small colored pompoms and a star on top. Glue the tree to a corkscrew base.
Kids will enjoy making this adorable holiday noisemaker with you. While you knot the bow, have them thread the bells on the ribbon. Place them at the foot of a bed, above the mantel, or on the front door. Attach three lengths of ribbon with huge jingle bells; knot one end of the ribbon. Loop the unknotted end around a tiny wreath form or a circle-shaped piece of wire. A tiny bunch of seasonal greenery should be wired together and attached to the wreath or circle design. Just above the greenery, hot glue an enormous bow on the wire.
Before Santa comes to deliver gifts, have the kids make reindeer cones that they can use to fill with treats for Donner, Dasher, Dancer, and Comet. Use a brown kraft paper piece to make these cones. Cut it into a shape that can be rolled into a cone. In the middle of the paper, draw a reindeer with big red eyes and antlers. Make a cone shape out of the shape and tape it together. Put birdseed in the cone.
This festive décor is easy to make; just tie green felt strips around a wreath. Cut two distinct hues of green felt into strips. Around a wreath form, tie strips. Using hot glue, place tiny red decorations all over the wreath. To hang the wreath, loop a long piece of wide ribbon around it.
These cute and soft ornaments might make your kids want to learn how to knit or crochet. Wrap yarn around a clear plastic Christmas ornament and hold the beginning of the yarn in place with a small amount of hot glue to make these ornaments. Bamboo cocktail picks are threaded through the yarn to resemble knitting needles. Hang on the tree or around the home wherever you like.
Cut out the white craft paper face of Santa. Use colored pencils to create texture. Cut pink construction paper for the nose, eyes, and cheeks; adhere to the face. Take red and white construction paper, cut out the hat, and glue it to the face. Attach a sizable cotton ball with glue to the hat’s tip. Using white construction paper, cut the shape of a lengthy beard. On the beard, write the dates of the month before Christmas. Place a bottle of glue and a bowl of cotton balls close to where you plan to hang the calendar.
These adorable snowmen would look lovely hung from a tree or attached to gifts. Use markers to sketch snowman faces on wooden craft beads to create these adorable little fellows. Put a piece of baker’s twine through a brown button. Put the thread twine’s two ends through two simple buttons before passing it through the button with the face. To make a hat, pass the twine through five or six black buttons. To keep everything together, knot twine near the top button. Then, tie the twine again about 2 inches up to form a loop for hanging. To make a scarf, cut a tiny strip of red felt and tie it between the top buttons.
Children will enjoy tying baker’s twine around cookie cutters to give them a whimsical touch. Start by encircling cookie cutters with baker’s twine and finish by securing the ends with glue to create these, adding a festive touch to your gifts. If the twine you are using is on the thin side, you can wrap the cookie cutters two or three times. Use extra twine to secure gifts. To give the toppers some color, use colored or glitter spray paint.
Every year, when you put a handmade ornament on the tree, it will evoke wonderful memories, and there are few things more delightful than crafting days spent with the kids. It’s as easy as hot gluing little pompoms, Christmas knick-knacks, and tinsel into solid-backed metal cutters. To hang it, attach a tiny ribbon piece to the back using adhesive or a knot.
Using a white battery-powered tealight, draw a face onto it with a black marker. The light would be the snowman’s nose. You can use googly eyes in place of the black marker. Next, cut a piece of red pipe cleaner about two and a half inches long. Wrap it around the tealight, hot glue the piece across the top, and hot glue two red pompoms. Cut a ribbon to make a scarf and hold it in place with a dab of hot glue. Secure it to the bottom of the tealight.
Using snowflakes or other holiday-themed rubber stamps and light, dark, and white ink, stamp snowflakes onto the front of brown paper bags. Make two holes in the bag’s top using a tiny round hole punch. A length of red and white baker’s twine should be threaded through the holes and tied.
Children of various ages, including toddlers, preschoolers, elementary school students, and older children, can make simple Christmas projects. These activities above are some of our favorites from one of the best school age programs in Rockville, MD, and they are the ideal way to give your young elves some festive pleasure, whether you have ten minutes before dinner or an entire snowy afternoon to spare.
MCCA has been recognized by the Maryland State Legislature for its commitment to Montgomery County issued a quality programs and special needs child care Proclamation in 2016 to MCCA for its commitment to Montgomery County child care for more than 50 years. MCCA was also selected as a 2018 nonprofit finalist for a MOXIE Award for boldness and innovation
MCCA is the oldest nonprofit licensed child care provider in Montgomery County and started its work in 1968 as a Community Action Project of the War on Poverty. Recognizing the need for quality child care programs in their neighborhoods, a group of local activists formed an association to establish centers in Montgomery County that would serve a diverse population and establish high standards for child care. Now, more than 50 years later, MCCA’s dedicated and expertly trained staff continue their tradition of providing high quality child care and play-based education for children.
Families with school aged children who can afford their child care expenses during the school year often struggle to afford the all-day programs they need when school is out for the summer. The Richard Krampf Summer Adventures Scholarship Fund was established to help provide children a safe and stimulating place to spend their weeks when school is out. Please contact an MCCA Director for details on how to apply.