Free Printable Letter to Santa Template

One of the most exciting parts of Christmas as a child is coming up with your Santa list and writing a letter to Santa at the North Pole then desperately waiting for Christmas Day to see if you got what you wanted. This year I made my own letter to Santa template for my girls and I've added it here so you can download it and use it too.

Writing a letter to Santa is not only exciting, it's also a great way for children to practice their handwriting, helps with language development and is a fun way to build their hand strength. Even if you have younger children you can fill out the writing sections and then they can colour in the images at the bottom. 

December Play Activity Ideas for Toddlers & Preschoolers + Free Play Calendar PDF

I'm putting together monthly play calendars to make it easy for you to create a month of fun for your kids at home or in the classroom, every month of the year. December includes Christmas and New Years Eve, so to celebrate the festive season the December play calendar focuses on Christmas trees, DIY ornaments, Santa and the reindeer and fireworks themed ideas for toddlers, preschoolers and school kids. The activities include a mix of art and craft, sensory, science and play ideas as well as books to read aloud during the month.

Each activity is explained in detail below, including how you can extend or adjust the activity based on your child's age. You can also download our free interactive December activity calendar pdf with links to instructions for every activity to save for future reference.

33 Christmas Toilet Paper Roll Crafts for Kids

We love using toilet paper rolls for lots of different crafts at our place, there's literally hundreds of different crafts, games and DIY toys that can be made from toilet paper rolls. We've used them for Halloween toilet paper roll crafts so it makes sense to put together a list of Christmas toilet paper roll crafts as well.

These Christmas cardboard tube crafts can easily be done by preschoolers or school children as a classroom art project. Make these cute gingerbread men, elves, Christmas trees, reindeer, Christmas decorations and of course Santa himself. Use them to decorate the classroom or your home for Christmas or in small world play.

The Best Black Friday 2023 Deals: Toys, Books and more

If you're looking for some awesome Black Friday deals for 2023 then you've come to the right post! I love nothing more than looking up bargains and shopping online, so naturally I've been scouring the internet for the best deals in the lead up to Black Friday. 

I've found quite a few stores that are already having early sales and have linked them below. If you have more Christmas shopping to do, or just love a great bargain, check them out.

DIY Christmas Sweater Ornaments

These DIY Christmas sweater ornaments are the perfect Christmas craft for kids of all ages to make during the holiday season. Children can colour in our free printable black and white Christmas sweater template however they like to create their very own Christmas sweater designs {no sewing needed!}. 

As a bonus these ornaments are also a cute keepsake you can bring out to decorate the Christmas tree with each year.

Elf on the Shelf Ideas for Older Kids

If you've been doing the Elf on the Shelf for a few years like us, your kids may be getting older and closer to the tween/teen age where simple, or even funny elf pranks might not cut it any more. My oldest daughter is nearly 11 and she's still super excited for Elfie to visit, but it's definitely getting harder to come up with ideas that entertain her. 

If you're looking to keep the magic alive, or just continue on your fun family traditions, you may need to adjust your elf ideas to something a bit more outrageous {FYI toilet humour usually goes down a treat too}. 

Tweens and teens can be very picky about the things they like and if you want them to remain enthused about the elf visiting it's best to work with what they love, so my biggest tip for older kids is to get the elf to do ideas that relate to their current interests. 

Whether it's their favourite game, Netflix show, a trending Tik Tok, or YouTube prank, we all know kids this age want to be cool and theirs elves will need to keep up! So I've put together a list of 25 elf ideas for older kids that are based on popular culture and current trends.

Buddy Elf Toilet Paper Roll Craft

The girls love watching Christmas movies each year from November onwards and one of our favourite ones is Elf. Buddy the elf, who's actually a human that was raised as an elf at the North Pole, is as obsessed with Christmas as my kids, so naturally he's one of their favourite Christmas characters. It helps that Will Ferrell is hilarious and infectious in his portrayal as Buddy and you can't help but wish you were Buddy's friend in real life.

To bring Buddy to life in our house we decided to make a toilet paper roll Buddy elf that's inspired by the real Buddy and the movie Elf, including his striped hat, green jacket and yellow tights. Get our free printable elf template and follow the instructions below to make your own Buddy inspired elf.

Rudolph Toilet Paper Roll Craft

With his shining red nose that saves Christmas, Rudolph the red nosed reindeer is the most famous reindeer of all. Children can make their very own Rudolph with this simple toilet paper roll reindeer craft. Upcycle a humble toilet paper roll, with a few other basic craft items, by following our step by step instructions to bring Rudolph to life.

We love toilet paper roll crafts in our house because toilet paper rolls are the most readily available craft resource and they're free! Plus they're recyclable so they're good for the environment. Check out our favourite Halloween toilet paper roll crafts and Christmas toilet paper roll crafts.

What To Do If Your Kids Find The Elf During The Year

We all plan to put the elf away in a special hiding spot at the end of December, but sometimes after 25 days of elf shenanigans you're just so tired you chuck it in the easiest spot at the time and think I'll move that later.... However, sometimes later never comes and you may find yourself in a situation where curious kids accidentally stumble across their elf at the wrong time of the year! 

Santa Paper Cup Puppet {+ Free Template}

If you're looking for a cute Santa craft to try this Christmas, make this paper cup Santa puppet. With just a few basic craft supplies your kids can make a Santa puppet that waves his arms up and down. Follow our instructions below to learn how to make an articulated Santa puppet using paper cups and our free printable Santa template.