These three Christmas activities give toddlers and preschoolers a chance to explore paper, colors, shapes, and decorating. Choose the version that fits the child’s development and attention span. An adult should stay involved throughout and prepare all cutting, hot glue, sharp wire, and wall mounting before the child begins.
1. Rip It Up
Keep clean scraps of wrapping paper for a supervised tearing activity. Remove tape, staples, ribbon, glitter-coated pieces, and other additions first. Put suitable paper in a container until activity time. Use larger pieces for children who are still learning to handle paper, and skip the activity if a child is likely to eat the scraps.
When it’s activity time, take the storage container out. Those little eyes will be attracted to the bright and cheerful colors that Christmas wrapping paper always has, especially if you’ve been wrapping gifts with wrapping paper that has their favorite characters on it. Toddlers love ripping up any type of paper. Give them the bin and let them rip all the scraps up. Have a small garbage can nearby. This will be a good lesson in disposing of trash properly and not just throwing it on the ground.
2. Big as Me Christmas Tree
This will be a fun activity for your toddler or preschooler, but it will take some prep time for you. You will need a few supplies. You can get big pieces of felt from most craft stores that are at least 36″ x 36″. The only piece you will need that is that big will be the green to make the tree. You will also need fabric glue or two-sided tape, low-temperature hot glue and gun, various other colors of felt (suggested colors: white, yellow, and red), fabric markers, glitter glue, an X-Acto knife, lots of foam board or cardboard, black yarn, wall-mounting velcro strips, and gold glitter foam paper with one long pipe cleaner (which will be used to make the star).
Step 1. Making the Tree
Fold the large piece of green felt in half. Use a black fabric marker and draw one half of a Christmas tree on the felt. Use the scissors to cut the tree out. When you unfold it, you will have a whole tree. Save your scraps for future projects. Next, you should use your low temp hot glue gun to adhere the tree to a piece of foam board or cardboard (which makes the activity much more cost-effective). Using your X-Acto knife, cut around the edges of the tree. If you are a stickler for perfection, you can opt to use a piece of thick green yarn and glue it around the edges of the tree so that the surface you are gluing the tree form on does not show through.
Step 2. Make the Bulbs
Next, cut out various size circles from the other colors of felt. These will be the lights and bulbs for your little hands to put on the tree to decorate it. You should glue these to cardboard or foam board the same way you glued the tree and utilize your X-Acto knife to trim them down. Be sure that curious hands are not around when you are using this tool, and if the little ones are around, keep it away from their reach.
Step 3. Twinkle Twinkle
For a simpler tree topper, an adult can cut one large star from felt or sturdy paper. Attach it securely before play. A pipe-cleaner outline is optional and should be omitted where sharp ends, loose parts, or mouthing are a concern. The child does not need to use wire or a glue gun to enjoy arranging the rest of the tree.
Step 4. Start Decorating the Tree
Initially, start the activity with the tree on a table. Help your little ones to decorate the Christmas tree with glitter glue. You may want to opt to glue your piece of black yarn back and forth across the tree as the string for lights instead of having the little ones do it, as it can be rather messy. Help them make a few dots of glitter glue around the tree for “twinkle”. If you’re in a preschool or daycare setting and you don’t have assistants, you may want to do this part before the kids get started on decorating the tree(s). The advisable drying time for the glitter glue to dry all the way is 24 hours. If a hand gets rubbed across the glitter glue before it has dried all the way, it will definitely smudge and smear.
Step 5. Put Your Tree Up
Stick the velcro mounting tape to the back of the tree. One at the top, two on each side in the middle, and one at the bottom is advised. I find it easiest to put the two pieces of velcro together, stick them to the board, then peel all the paper off the outer piece and stick your tree to the wall where you want it. Remember your people are little, so you want the bottom of the tree close to the bottom of the wall. Once the tree is up, apply either fabric glue or double-sided tape to the back of each circle one by one. The only guidance you should give is being sure the circle is put on the tree and not on the wall. Allow your little people the experience of free-thinking. If you opt to, you can sit at a table and let them decorate the circles with fabric markers before you get started.
3. My First Christmas Wreath
For each child, prepare a paper-plate ring, washable paint intended for children, large sponge pieces, suitable children’s glue, and large paper or felt decorations. Tiny pompoms are not suitable for children who may put them in their mouths. An adult should cut the plate ring and handle any hanging cord or sharp tools before the activity.
Preparation
Before you get started with the kids, you will want to cut the center circle out of the paper plates. You can do this with scissors or a blade. If you have a crafting foam board, just put it beneath the paper plate and cut the circle out. Use foam plates for pouring a small amount of green paint on. You may want to spread some newspaper out to protect any of the surfaces where you are working. You can also get plastic table cloths at the dollar store.
Ready, Set, Paint!
Help children dab paint around the plate ring, then leave it to dry. Once dry, help them attach large paper or felt shapes as decorations. Use suitable children’s glue and let it set according to the instructions. Keep small decorative pieces away from children who still mouth objects. An adult can hang the finished wreath out of reach of the cord.
Have Fun with the Activities
No matter which activity you choose, just be sure to have fun. The idea is to let your toddlers or preschoolers be creative and show their flair.
Set Up for the Child in Front of You
- Prepare blades, hot glue, wire, and mounting materials away from children. Low-temperature glue can still burn.
- Offer only a few large pieces at once so the activity feels manageable.
- Use a tabletop version if a wall-mounted tree cannot be secured safely.
- Stop or change the task if a child starts mouthing the materials or becomes frustrated.
Ways to Add Learning Without Taking Over
Name the colors, compare large and small shapes, or count a few decorations together. Let the child decide where pieces go rather than requiring a perfect picture. A short session can be enough; the finished object is less important than the shared activity. Keep wipe-up materials nearby and wash hands afterward.
For older children ready for a more involved paper project, try the woven Christmas heart tutorial with adult help.
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