Christmas Countdown Colouring Advent Calendar {Free Printable}

Count down to Christmas in a fun and creative way with this free printable Christmas countdown colouring calendar. Featuring 25 festive squares, each with a different Christmas-themed picture to colour, it’s the perfect way to add a little magic to each December morning and build the excitement for kids as they await Christmas Day.

The countdown calendar can be used alongside a traditional advent calendar, or as a substitute for one if you're looking for a sugar free way to countdown to Christmas that also doesn't involve bring more little trinkets into your home. It’s a simple daily, screen-free activity that combines creativity, routine, and holiday joy all in one.

Roll & Draw a Gingerbread Man: Free Printable Christmas Game

Get ready for some festive fun with this roll and draw a gingerbread man game. Perfect for Christmas, kids need to roll the dice to decide their gingerbread man’s features. What shape will he be, will he have a bite missing?! What buttons will he have and will he be in disguise? Every gingerbread man will be one-of-a-kind.

This printable game is a wonderful way to combine learning and creativity. Ideal for kids to play at home, in the classroom, or at Christmas parties, it helps kids practise number recognition, counting, and fine motor skills as they draw. Download the free printable roll and draw game template below and let your little ones start designing and decorating their own gingerbread men.

Torn Paper Christmas Tree Craft

If you’re looking for a simple and festive Christmas craft for kids either at home or in the classroom, this torn paper Christmas tree is the perfect holiday activity. Children can rip, tear, and glue pieces of paper to create their own special Christmas tree. 

This hands-on craft is not only fun and easy to set up, but it also helps build fine motor skills, strengthens little hand muscles, and encourages creativity as they design their own unique tree. I've also included a free printable Christmas tree template to make it even easier.

Recycled Christmas Ornaments & Decorations Kids Can Make

Did you know lots of items found in your recycling bin can be used to make adorable Christmas ornaments and decorations? Making homemade recycled Christmas ornaments and decorations is a fantastic way for kids to express their creativity while also learning about sustainability. Reusing recyclables from around the house to create upcycled art and crafts is a great way to teach children how something that's been used can still be transformed into something beautiful, rather than being discarded.

These handmade decorations help the environment, are a budget friendly gift option and can also become a personal, heart warming tradition to include in your holiday celebrations. In this post, we’ll share fun and easy ideas for creating eco-friendly Christmas decorations kids can help make. Lots of these would also be great to make as affordable class take home gifts.

Popsicle Stick Snowflakes

Popsicle stick snowflakes are a super easy, affordable and fun way for children to create their own handmade decorations. They're fun to make during winter or at Christmas time and let kids recreate the sparkly magic of snowflakes inside to brighten up the house. Follow our easy step by step instructions to learn how make your own popsicle stick snowflakes with your kids.

Ugly Christmas Sweater Collage Craft for Kids

My kids love nothing more than being given a variety of craft items and being able to free range and create masterpieces, so it's no surprise that collage and process art activities are high on rotation here. This ugly Christmas sweater collage craft we did this week is a perfect way to incorporate collage into Christmas crafts.

I've created a free printable blank ugly Christmas sweater template you can download and use to make this craft with your kids or students too. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

Easy Paper Plate Christmas Wreath Craft

If you're looking for a fun, festive Christmas craft to do with the kids, try this paper plate Christmas wreath. Not only is it a super easy craft to set up, it's also a fantastic way for kids to enhance their fine motor skills and express their creativity.

Decorate a Gingerbread House Craft {Free Template}

If you have younger kids and the thought of making and decorating an edible gingerbread house has you wanting to rock in the corner {don't worry, you're not alone, that's exactly how I felt} then try this easy gingerbread house craft activity instead. I promise it's a lot less messy, it won't collapse and there's no sugar high after.

I've also included a free printable template to make the activity even easier to set up if you're a teacher and want to do it as a group activity in the classroom, or are using it at a playgroup or a childcare centre.

38 DIY Advent Calendar Ideas for Kids

As a child the magic of Christmas isn't just about Christmas Day itself, there's also so much joy and excitement throughout December knowing Christmas Day is getting closer and closer. One of the easiest ways to build that excitement is with an advent calendar. You don't have to automatically go out and buy a chocolate filled one from the store though, there are plenty of ways to get creative and make your own unique DIY Advent Calendar that's special to your family.

I've searched the web and put together a list of 38 different DIY Advent Calendars the kids will love. There's so many different types of DIY advent calendars including tree shaped countdowns, Christmas villages, book advent calendars and printable Christmas countdowns. You don't have to be super crafty to make them either, as long as you can follow directions and know your way around scissors and glue you're set.

DIY Elf on the Shelf Swing

Do you have a little Elf friend who comes and visits your house each year around Christmas time? My girls love it when our elf, Elfie, comes to visit each year. She doesn't get up to too much mischief, but she does like to be a little bit funny, and she's known to use objects from around the house in her antics. One her most memorable tricks was when she made her own Elf on the shelf swing from an empty toilet paper roll.

The girls loved waking up in the morning to find her swinging from the roof and then another morning she was swinging from our fan watching TV! They thought it was hilarious that she'd used a toilet paper roll to make her own swing. If you think your elf might have fun swinging from the roof as well, Elfie has let me in on her design plans so your elf can make one too.