The most important thing about a gift is not how much money was spent on it, but that there is love and attention in it. And only onehomemade giftcan give such a feeling. If the present comes from a child's hands, it becomes even more valuable. Would you like to make and give away nice Christmas presents with your 3-year-old, but have no idea what craft ideas are suitable for this age? In our article we have collected some great suggestions for DIY gifts that you can make with toddlers. The craft ideas are wonderful for children aged 3 and over, although younger siblings can also join in.
What kind of Christmas presents can you make with 3-year-old children?
Children aged 3 to 4 have already learned some craft techniques. In kindergarten, the little ones do crafts with scraps of paper and natural materials, paint with colored pencils, glue and make their first attempts with children's scissors. Even these skills are enough to make small Christmas presents with the help of parents. This could be, for example, a pendant for the Christmas tree, a nice picture for the refrigerator, a figure made of salt dough or a nice picture frame with a photo. The main thing is that a lot of love and effort is invested in the gift. Would you also like to try it with your child? Then simply browse through our ideas and find a suitable craft project that you can do together with your little one. If you have older children who would also like to get involved in making Christmas presents, then take a lookthese ideasan.
Making Christmas cards with children
Although the Christmas card is not a gift in the traditional sense, all family members would certainly be happy to receive a DIY Christmas card from the child. You can use hand and fingerprints or stick various decorative elements on it - the only important thing is that the card gives you a Christmas atmosphere. Christmas trees, snowmen, reindeer or Santa Claus – all of these motifs are perfect forMaking Christmas cards with children.
Making Christmas presents with children aged 3 and over - ideas from salt dough and modeling clay
Toddlers always want to imitate their parents. And even though they can't make the Christmas presents on their own, they certainly get involved. If you make a Christmas present with your child, not only is fun guaranteed, but it also has many positive consequences for the child's development and for your parent-child relationship. So don't waste any more time and get to work. For the first ideas we present, either modeling clay or salt dough is required.
Make a fingerprint picture frame as a Christmas present for your grandparents
To make a picture frame as a Christmas gift, you should first make onePrepare good salt dough. Let the child shape the dough with their hands alone. Then roll out the salt dough about 1 cm thick. To create the shape of a picture frame, you can either use an old frame as a template or simply cut out the desired shape using a ruler and knife.
You can then stamp the year on the picture frame using a cookie stamp with numbers. Now the child should decorate the frame with their fingerprints. If you want to add a bow or charm, you should make two small holes at the top of the picture frame. The frame is then baked. Preheat the oven to 80° C and bake the picture frame for about 3 hours. After it has cooled thoroughly (preferably the next day), spray the frame with gold paint. You (or the child) can then paint the fingerprints red and green and connect them with a marker to create a colorful string of lights.
Make a photo frame or ring plate as a DIY gift using a handprint
TheChild's handprintAfter a few years it will be a nice souvenir of when it was little. Grandma and Grandpa would certainly be happy to receive such a gift from their grandchild. Here you will find two examples of how you can make beautiful Christmas presents using your child's handprint. You decide for yourself whether you want a nice picture frame with a small heart-shaped photo in the middle, or a painted plate for jewelry or a key.
Make tealight holders out of modeling clay as Christmas presents
These little tea light holders are really cute, aren't they? They are also perfect as a small Christmas present that your 3-year-old can make for grandma or the kindergarten teacher. In addition to modeling clay, you also need large cookie cutters (so that a tea light can fit in them), tea lights and acrylic paint for painting. Roll out the modeling clay to a thickness of approx. 1.5 cm, press a tea light into the middle and cut out the shape without removing the tea light. Allow the modeling clay to dry completely (this can take up to 3-4 days) and then decorate the tea light holders as you wish.
Making gifts for Christmas decorations with small children
At Christmas people often give away things that are considered...Use Christmas decorationscan. Christmas balls and other ornaments, for example, are a nice Christmas gift that you can make with children instead of buying. A few ideas for Christmas pendants made from different materials follow.
Give away DIY Christmas tree decorations
To make Christmas tree decorations as a gift, you can again use salt dough. You can give your homemade tree decorations any shape you want using cookie cutters. These little Christmas trees, for example, are a classic at Christmas. The finished gifts can then be packaged in a beautiful gift box. You can do one for thatprint out the appropriate templateand decorate with the child.
Your child can decorate the salt dough figures as they wish. If you plan to bake the ornaments, it's best to use glass beads. These should not melt at high temperatures, which would certainly be the case with plastic decorations. Also don't forget to make a small hole at the top so you can attach string for hanging later.
If some of the glass beads wobble after baking, simply glue them in place. Now all that's left is to paint the Christmas trees. This provides a good opportunity for the 3-year-old child to master their painting skills with a paint brush.
Snowflake pendant made from popsicle sticks
Another great idea for small Christmas presents are these colorful snowflake pendants. Only 4 popsicle sticks are needed per snowflake, which you first paint with the child and then glue together. Now comes the most fun – decorating the snowflakes. The variations for decoration are almost endless: whether glitter, rhinestones, pompoms, Christmas bells or even smaller snowflake stickers - provide as many decorative elements as possible so that the child can develop their creativity.
Making Christmas presents out of pasta with 3-year-old children
Children simply love it when they make crafts with unusual materials. Instead of using stickers and decorative stones, you can decorate the homemade ornaments with pasta. Small pasta such as stars, ears, rings and wheels are particularly suitable for this, but you canUse almost any form. There are two ways to color the pasta. Either put the pasta in a freezer bag with a zip lock, pour a generous amount of acrylic paint over it and knead the paint until the pasta is colored on all sides. Or you can color the small noodles later - with paint and a brush, or with spray paint.
To make the pasta pendants as Christmas presents with your child, first cut out the desired shapes from cardboard. Then apply some glue to the shapes and let the child stick the noodles on. A loop for hanging can then simply be glued to the back of the ornaments.
Christmas tree made of cardboard and pasta
Make a small rice picture and give it away
It doesn't necessarily have to be pasta. How about, for example, making rice pictures with your child? Whether it's a whole winter landscape on a piece of paper or small Christmas pendants, such an original work of art as a gift would certainly bring joy to relatives. Like the pasta, you can color the rice any color you want before crafting.
Make your own snow globe as a Christmas present
Snow globes are another classic Christmas gift that you can make with children ages 3 and up. If you design the ball with a photo of the child, you will get the perfect gift for grandma. Don't forget to laminate the photo. You can find instructions and many other wonderful ideas for homemade snow globesin this article.
Making Christmas presents with 3-year-old children: painting candles
Candles offer another great option for Christmas presents from the children. Little hands can transform a simple white pillar candle into a real work of art. The children can paint candles either with acrylic paint (coating the candle with a candle painting medium beforehand) or with modeling beeswax. The wax can be easily shaped with your fingers and stuck to the candle. Let the little ones' imaginations run wild!
However, if the candles are painted, an original design is guaranteed. At the age of 3, most children cannot yet draw precise shapes, but this makes the pictures unique. You can also decorate the finished candles as Christmas presents with matching gift ribbon.
Make little angel lamps out of plastic cups
These cute angel lamps also make wonderful Christmas gifts that you can make with small children. For this you need plastic cups, paper and colored pencils, scissors, adhesive tape and LED tea lights. First draw the individual parts for the angels on the paper - heads, clothes and wings. Then the children can paint them and stick them on the plastic cup. Make the cute angels shine with an LED tea light under each cup.
Make bookmarks out of felt
Next to a book is aBookmarks make the perfect giftfor all bookworms. These winter bookmarks can be made with 3-year-old children from felt sheets or foam rubber sheets. Draw the outline and let the child (under supervision) cut out the bookmarks. Then decorate! Provide suitable stickers for decoration. Finally, punch a hole in the top part of the bookmark with the hole punch and add a tassel or ribbon bookmark.
Make colorful wax crayons and give them away
Do you meet other families with children at Christmas and would you like to exchange Christmas presents? Then these colorful figures made from wax crayons are a great idea for a gift for the children. To do this, small pieces of wax crayon in any color are filled into a suitable silicone mold and baked at 90° C. As a resultmelt the crayonsand after they have cooled down, you will receive new colorful crayons in the selected shape.
