The festive season is here with a bang. For many people, decorating the house is an essential part of getting ready for the holiday season. With a bit of planning, you can get your kids to participate and have fun at the same time.
Involve Kids in the Decorating
Why should you get the kids involved? As parents all over the world will tell you, any task involving kids is bound to get messy. It will never get done on time either. Simply supervising the kids when they do something can be exhausting for adults. But there are several good reasons why you should involve kids in the decorating process.
It’s Fun!
No matter how old kids are (unless they’re teens of course!), they love to participate with adults. Involving them with decorating can be fun for the whole family. It’s a great way to avoid the inevitable boredom that comes with being out of school for the holidays. Besides, decorating together can be a quality bonding time for everyone.
Show the Effort and Time
Many children have no idea of the time and effort that goes into making the holiday season festive. Involving the kids is a great way to show them what goes on behind the scenes. While really young children may not be able to do much, they can still watch and learn.
Start a new family tradition where everyone decorates together. You can also involve your friends, neighbors, and family members. Setup the date and time for all the kids to make their own festive decor!
DIY Crafts for Kids
How exactly can you involve children – no matter their age – in decorating? Here are a few ideas:
Handmade Christmas cards
Source: Hoosier Homemade
Bring back the old Christmas tradition of handmade cards. Granted, many of us don’t have the time to do it ourselves. Most families end up buying cards at the store. So why not involve the kids this year?
The best part about handmade cards is that they’re not expensive. Grab some good quality paper from an art or craft store for the kids. Ask them to make personalized cards for everyone they know including friends, family, and even their teachers. Who doesn’t appreciate a heartfelt Christmas card made by a child?
DIY Tree Ornaments
Source: Sweet Red Poppy
Most of us have old tree ornaments that we reuse every year. Some of these might have survived from our own childhood. Give your children the chance to add to the family ornament box by making their own.
Very young children can make tree ornaments from cardstock and colorful paper. Help them decorate it with shiny glitter or crayons. Older children can work with more fragile or heavy materials like glass, plastic, or metal. Check out our blog post on DIY-ing your own ornament, there are dozens of ways you can adapt to your own family traditions.
Make Garlands
What else do can we use as decor during Christmas? Think garlands, wreaths, and bouquets. Hit up your local craft store for ideas and materials. You don’t have to make the entire item from scratch either. Get some inexpensive wood or unpainted items that your children can decorate themselves.
Snowflakes are another good idea. Kids can make them out of coffee filters, colored cardstock, leftover paper plates, and popsicle sticks. Almost anything you have lying around will work. Make them out of construction cards and glue shiny paper to make them twinkle. Stick some cotton balls on top to mimic snow. You can also use the cotton balls trick to make any item ‘snowy.’ The possibilities are endless, especially when you’re a kid!
Create a Christmas Diorama
This works well as a group activity, especially if you have kids of different ages. Grab an old shoebox or cardboard box. Task the children to make a Christmas scene of their choice. It could be Santa and the elves, the North pole, or even Santa’s toy workshop.
Again you don’t need to buy a lot of expensive stuff. Cotton balls, q-tips, popsicle sticks, newspapers, crayons, and their imagination is all that you need.
Draw Simple Pictures
If all this seems like too much work, there is an even simpler idea. Get your children to draw some pictures you can use on decorations. String up a whole bunch to make crafty garlands for the family room. Or collect them all in an album that they can add to each year. Bust them out when the grandparents come to visit or at the family party.
The best part of involving kids in decorating for the holidays is the results. Everyone gets to see their work on display. Who doesn’t like that? Christmas is the season for family and togetherness. Make it that much more special with DIY arts and crafts from the youngest members of your family!
