Millions of excited children wake up on Christmas Day to see what goodies Santa has bought them. Yet, different regions around the world have their own unique traditions. Did you know that in German children leave Wellington boots outside of their door for Santa to fill up with gifts? Or that Slovakians fling a bread dough mixture at the ceiling as a way to work out if they will have a successful crop season the following year? Craft projects provide a fun and interactive way to teach little ones about Christmas traditions and customs. From light up Christmas globes to pretty tree toppers, we reveal three simple craft projects that you can make with your child at home.
Light Up Globes
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| Image via Flickr by JD Hancock |
Light up any space in the home with a gorgeous paper mache globe. This inexpensive craft project will educate kids about different geographical locations while also helping to unleash their creative skills. This craft project does take several days to complete, and it is a little messy, but the results are well worth it in the long run.
To create these pretty ornaments at home you will need a balloon, paper mache paste, a shallow container, newspaper cut into 1" strips, a plastic cup, a wooden skewer, tissue paper, a disposable tablecloth, paints, and some Christmas lights. You can buy most items from a craft store, but check out light specialist for lights as they're excellent places to order high quality Christmas lights from.
Protect your workspace with the disposable tablecloth then place the plastic cup on the plate. Inflate the balloon and position the tail of the balloon inside of the cup so that it acts as a holder. Dip the newspaper strips in the glue and lay them over the balloon one by one but leave a small circle around the tail of the balloon so that you can later use it as an opening. Repeat until the entire balloon is covered in newspaper, and then place it in a warm room to dry overnight. Repeat the process the next day with the newspaper strips and leave it to dry overnight again.
Have your children dip strips of newspaper in green or blue paint and then place them on the balloon as if mimicking countries and oceans. You can have an atlas to hand so that your children can see the location of different landmasses; you can also name the different countries and explain their Christmas traditions during this step.
Let the paper mache globe dry overnight again and then give your child a bamboo skewer to let them pierce the balloon by the tail and then poke holes in different major cities around the globe. Insert the Christmas lights through the opening in the bottom of the balloon and voilà , your light up globe is complete!
Christmas Passport
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| Image via Flickr by hjl |
A simple craft project that will help to improve your child's geography knowledge is the Christmas passport. There is no right or wrong with this project but you will want to encourage your child to create a small scrapbook full of maps, stamps, paintings, and drawings. You can print off outlines of countries, flags, and fun facts, and lay out all the required craft materials such as a miniature scrapbook, paints, paintbrushes, and glue. You can also add to this scrapbook throughout the year as a way for your children to document their worldly adventures.
Christmas Tree Toppers
Christmas simply isn't complete without a Christmas tree topper, and what better way to have one than to make it at home with your children? A super stylish, classic, and no-mess design is the cone shaped topper. Help your child to roll some thin card into a cone shape and then allow them to decorate the cone with glitter glue, paints, ribbons, sequins, and any other craft bits and bobs you have in the home.
So there you have it, three fun crafts that will be a joy to make during the festive season.
Happy holidays!
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