Christmas Crafts for Kids – Handprint Wreaths
We are settling into the holiday season with Christmas right around the corner. Ladybug's Preschool has started doing Christmas Crafts for Kids so we're doing some at home as well.
You know how I love sneaking in extra fine motor skills when we do activities and art projects and three-year olds like the variety and challenge of learning new skills! I consider this to be a Classic Christmas Craft but it is also a great Christmas Fine Motor Activity! We did some paper-folding, hand tracing, scissors practice, paper punching, glue sticking and small paper placement. Wow! Can you believe all the great hand muscle development provided by a simple craft that you probably did when you were a kid?! Let's get started!
We actually did this craft twice. The first time was during a playdate with our friends over at Craftulate. Georgina's son F was much more interested in the craft in his own home than my kids were. My kids were mainly very excited to play with F's toys! I set out the materials and F jumped right in! Later that day Ladybug needed something to do while I made dinner so I got it out for her to do and she was much more interested!
The great thing about a craft like this is that it can be adjusted based on the skill level of each child. If your child has mastered the skill for each step, or would like to get started trying it, then have the child do it. If it is a bit advanced, an adult can do that step or you can do it together! Either way, be sure to supervise your child when using scissors and paper punches, just to be safe!
Materials:
Paper plate
2 Sheets of green construction paper
Scrap or larger piece of red construction paper (other colors are optional)
Scissors
Small circle paper punches
Glue stick
Directions:
(Remember to allow the child to do the steps they can do. Help with or do yourself the steps that he or she cannot do alone.)
1. Folding, tracing and cutting: Fold the green construction paper into sixths for preschoolers, eighths for smaller kids or quarters for bigger kids. With fingers pointed towards the short fold, trace the child's hand. Cut out the hand while the paper is still folded. Repeat with other hand on the second sheet of green paper. Cut a circle from the center of your paper plate to leave a wreath sized circle. There should be enough left to allow the hands to be glued on.
2. Paper punching: Using your small circle punch, punch out as many red berries as desired from the red paper. Additional colors can be added as well if desired, I think of them as Christmas lights. We also added a free-hand bow in yellow (that looks an awful lot like scissors, now that I look at it!), which is optional as well.
3. Gluing: Using a glue stick, glue all the hands onto the paper plate rim, covering the plate, with fingers pointed outward- or if you're fancy, with each hand's fingers overlapping the palm of the one next to it. Once all hands have been added, use the glue stick to add the berries (and lights and bow, if using).
Ta-da! Now you have a lovely wreath to hang or give as a gift! And bonus- your kids had lots of great fine motor skills practice! That's how WE do classic kids crafts at our house! How do you do Christmas crafts? Fancy? Open-ended? Messy? I'd love to hear about it! Thanks for coming by!
Are you on the lookout for Christmas Themed Fine Motor Activities for Kids? Stay tuned this Friday for a major, mega, super, awesome set of posts from all of us at Fine Motor Fridays!! We're planning something special and JAM-PACKED with Fine Motor Holiday Activities! In the mean time, come find us on Facebook to stay in the loop! Here are a few of our awesome Pinterest Boards that you might like:
Follow Laura @ Lalymom Fine Motor Fridays on Pinterest
Follow Laura @ Lalymom [Holiday] Christmas DIY & Activities on Pinterest
Thanks for letting us try out your craft! I love Ladybug’s version too.
I love the idea of using hand cut-outs for the greenery!
That’s so adorable! Thanks for sharing on Mom’s Library, I’ll be featuring you this week at Crystal’s Tiny Treasures. Merry Christmas!
Just made 3 of these with my daughters to give to relatives. They are gonna love it – thanks so much for sharing.