Creative Family Fun

Your one-stop shop for kids activities and family fun

Christmas

Kid’s Co-op: Christmas Fun

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It’s Kid’s Co-op time! Link up your favorite kid-related posts and then check out all the fun that has been linked up from other bloggers.

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Last week there were so many great ideas linked up to the Co-op. Since we’re already deep into Christmas at the Creative Family household, I wanted to highlight three fabulous holiday ideas that were linked up last week.

Please join up and share your favorite post. (And, we’d love you forever if you’d link back to us!) Your link will show up on all of the hosts’ blogs. It’s time to link up, visit some new blogs, and have a lot of fun!

 

 

Crayon Resist Candy Canes

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At the end of my candy cane round-up, I promised you our own candy cane project. And, here it is – our crayon resist candy canes.

After a short art lesson and a little bit of magic, we had a pretty new Christmas decoration.

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Supplies Needed:

White paper
White oil pastels or crayons
Red liquid water color
Scissors
Glue stick
Green paper (or color of your choice)

To prep this project, I drew a simple candy cane shape on white paper. We used white copy paper because that is what I had on hand. Thicker drawing paper or watercolor paper will give you a much crisper image.

I then gave the girls the white oil pastels and had them color in some stripes. After a few cries of “I can’t see it Mommy,” and a promise that the stripes wouldn’t stay invisible for too long, they started working. Make sure to apply the oil pastels or crayons thick. I gave the girls free reign on this project, so some of their white stripes were lighter than they should have been.

After the stripes were done, it was time to paint. This is where the magic happens.

We used our red liquid water colors and started painting. It was fun to see the paint bead up over the white stripes and disappear!

After the paint had dried, the girls cut out their candy canes and glued them onto green paper.

They added embellishments with gold paint pens and we hung them up to enjoy them all season long.

Have you been doing any Christmas crafts yet?

10 Candy Cane Crafts & Activities

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It’s easy to get lost in the wealth of Christmas activities around the blogosphere and Pinterest.

In order to help you find the best projects, I’ll be posting more roundups than usual this month.

This first roundup is all about candy canes. Crafts, treats, learning & fun!

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Make paper candy canes with The Chocolate Muffin Tree. They’re fun, easy, and you won’t need to go shopping for special supplies.

You can find a free printable Candy Cane Unit and Tot Pack at 2 Teaching Mommies. Counting cards, pre-writing exercises, size sorting, and more!

Make and Takes shows you how to make chocolate-dipped candy canes. Pair them with hot chocolate for a fun neighbor gift.

Turn your candy canes into reindeer! A Pumpkin & A Princess shows you how to make this classic craft.

Make a scented marbled candy cane garland with Growing a Jeweled Rose. It uses homemade candy cane paint. Fun and messy!

Dress up your candy canes with these free printable wildlife candy cane clingers from Wildlife Fun 4 Kids. It would make a great decoration or gift!

Use your candy canes to do math. Teach Preschool gives you some fun ideas.

All it takes are a few simple supplies to make adorable button candy cane ornaments. Hop on over to The Activity Mom to find out how.

Make beautiful fingerprint candy canes with Leapfrog & Ladybugs. They would be a perfect gift for the kids to make themselves.

Happy Hooligans shows you how to make these simple tissue paper candy canes. They are a great last-minute craft that would look beautiful hanging on the tree.

And, stay tuned tomorrow for our own candy cane craft!

Santa Hat Ornament

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Now that Thanksgiving is over, we’ve officially started Christmas crafting.

Our first project was a Santa Hat Ornament.

They were easy to make and you probably already have all the supplies on hand.

Make a simple Santa Hat Ornament to hang on your Christmas tree this year when you create this simple Christmas craft for kids.

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Make a simple Santa Hat Ornament to hang on your Christmas tree this year when you create this simple Christmas craft for kids.

Supplies Needed:

Red card stock or construction paper

Circle template

Scissors

Tape (not pictured)

Ribbon or string

Glue

Cotton balls

Make a simple Santa Hat Ornament to hang on your Christmas tree this year when you create this simple Christmas craft for kids.

How to make a Santa Hat Ornament

To prep this project, trace a circle on the red card stock. I used a bowl from our play kitchen as my template. Search around your house for a circle the size that you want. It shouldn’t be hard to find.

After tracing your circle, draw a line from the center to the outside edge.

Then you will need to cut out your circle and cut the line from the edge to the center.

Make a simple Santa Hat Ornament to hang on your Christmas tree this year when you create this simple Christmas craft for kids.

Once your circle is cut out, you will want to form it into a cone.

Before forming into the cone, tape the ends of your ribbon inside the hat so that the loop will stick out the top.

Tape the edges of the paper securely to hold the cone shape.

Make a simple Santa Hat Ornament to hang on your Christmas tree this year when you create this simple Christmas craft for kids.

Pull your cotton balls apart so they are nice and fluffy.

Apply a line of glue around the bottom of your hat and also around the tip. Apply your cotton fluff to the glue.

Make a simple Santa Hat Ornament to hang on your Christmas tree this year when you create this simple Christmas craft for kids.

Ta-da! Now, you’re done with your ornament. Once the glue is dry, you can hang your Santa Hat Ornament on your Christmas tree.

What Christmas crafts are you planning on doing this year?

Make a simple Santa Hat Ornament to hang on your Christmas tree this year when you create this simple Christmas craft for kids.

You may also like one of these Christmas crafts:

DIY Scratch Art Christmas Ornaments

Salt Dough Candy Cane Ornament

Stained Glass Star Suncatcher

Mini Wreath Photo Frame Ornaments from Teach-Me Mommy

Gift Guide for the Young Artist

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We love art supplies and find that they always make a great gift. This gift guide is designed to give you fun ideas for your art-loving kids. I’ve got everything from stocking stuffers to big gifts. I hope you can find something your little one will enjoy!

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

This set of bamboo brushes from Imagine Childhood would be perfect for your little painter.

Most of my favorite art books for children are written by MaryAnn F. Kohl. Discovering Great Artists: Hands-On Art for Children in the Styles of the Great Masters (Bright Ideas for Learning will help your kids learn about the great artists while making fabulous art.

You can learn about art masterpieces and play games at the same time. This fun set of Art Up Close Cards comes with instructions for four different games.

Every artist needs a fun spot to to create their masterpieces. These small colorful notebooks would do the trick.

One of my favorite things to make art with are watercolor pencils. They’re easy to use and this set of Faber and Castell Watercolor EcoPencils would be great fun.

If you want some fun paint to go with those paint brushes, these Natural Blends Paint Colors would be perfect and easy to stuff in the stocking.

These Crayon Rocks are perfect for even the littlest hands.

With this Young Artist Texture Painting Set, your kids will have fun experimenting while creating.

Every artist needs an easel and this Melissa & Doug Deluxe Standing Easel is the perfect choice for your young artist.

Stick these Melissa & Doug Rainbow Scratch Art Boards in your kids’ stockings and they will have fun creating their own masterpieces.

Art Lab for Kids: 52 Creative Adventures in Drawing, Painting, Printmaking, Paper, and Mixed Media-For Budding Artists of All Ages
is an amazing resource of art projects for kids at any level of artistic skill.

There are so many art kits available that it becomes hard to choose the best. But, the Artterro Creativity Kit is one of my favorites. It’s eco-friendly and full of high-quality supplies.

What would you recommend for the young artist?