Totorus

Photo credit by takfoto

If you have kids, you know just how much they love holidays, and especially the Christmas season. Because of their love of the season, maybe you should think about letting your children help decorate your house for Christmas. Kids love to help out, but they can do much more than just helping to set out decorations inside and outside the house. You should think about letting them make their own handmade decorations. They will get a real sense of pride and accomplishment by seeing their own creations on display. They do not have to be complicated, either. In fact there are many different fun and exciting Christmas decorations that can easily be made by kids.

Just about everyone who is celebrating Christmas has a Christmas tree with all the trimmings. If you are putting up a Christmas tree, a fun project for kids that gets them involved is making their own Christmas ornaments. You can use a variety of materials from paper to cardboard to disposable cups and plates. If you have a local craft store, they most likely have guides or cutouts that you can use to make your own ornaments. The pieces themselves are probably very plain, but are shaped in a Christmas shape such as a star or snowflake and it would be up to your and your child to decorate or paint them. If you have younger kids, this is a great project because with a smock and a paint brush they'll be creating their own decorations in no time!

Although Christmas trees are popular, there are lots of other ways to decorate for the holidays. Christmas signs or sayings and pictures are usually put throughout the house. Often there are the popular Christmas messages (Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Ho Ho Ho, etc.) or a picture of Santa claus. You can use these as ideas for your kids. Using construction paper or some sturdy paper, your kids can paint their own pictures or make drawings based on popular Christmas themes. You could always put the pictures on the frig, or to make them even more special you could frame them and put them around the house with other christmas pictures. Children of all ages can do this project and it won't be expensive since you can use materials that you already have.

Another great project that is easy for kids to do is to make a Christmas centerpiece for your table. You can use this if you are hosting a Christmas dinner and all the guests will be very impressed I'm sure. To make an easy centerpiece you can go to your local craft store and buy a large vase or bowl, artificial flowers, and other Christmasy items. Given the basic materials, you can just have your kids use their imaginations and creativity to design the centerpiece. They can even use kid-friendly materials such as construction paper to create additional decorations to add to the centerpiece.

These projects are just a couple of examples of how you can get your kids involved. Just head to the craft store and you will probably see all sorts of ideas or projects that the kids can help out with. But don't stop there. If you do some searching online, you can find all sorts of fun Christmas craft projects, many for free. Just do a search for something like "free Christmas crafts" or "Christmas crafts for kids" and I'm sure you'll find plenty of options. Also, don't forget your local library or bookstores. Many times you'll find craft books geared just for kids to make Christmas crafts. They usually tell you what to buy, have detailed instructions, and sometimes patterns ready to copy.

In the end it doesn't really matter which type of project you choose. Just getting the kids involved in creating homemade Christmas decorations will be a great experience for them, especially if you are involved as well to make it a real family project. For your kids, they will be proud and excited to see their own pictures, decorations, or ornaments displayed for your family - and Santa claus - to see! Most of the options mentioned here are easy to make and don't require a lot of money or time. Just get them involved and you both will have lasting Christmas memories to share.