I may of gotten a little ahead of myself this year with the craft advent calendar. But this year I tried to do something really fun for Leo for Christmas. Each day instead of candy he gets a new "Christmas Activity". I tried to do all crafts then I realized that might be really hard so we had to add in some other activities like seeing Christmas Lights, Visiting Santa, and watching the movie Frozen and Polar Express (which is actually a terrifying movie for children). So I'm quickly highlighting a few of our favorite Christmas crafts and activities.
These are true kids Christmas crafts and mind you I took these photos at 9pm on my iPhone so sorry for the crappy quality. We have done more but these have been Leo's favorite so far. For all of these just simple google how to do them or look on pintrest. I just make a few of them up so that is something else you can do. I ran to walmart before all of this started and bought a package of construction paper, cotton balls, pom pom balls, pipe cleaners, and googly eyes. I bought the ones that already had the sticky on them and that made things so easy. Just make sure you have a glue gun too!
1. Paper Plate Santa- This one is great, construction paper, googly eyes, pom pom nose, and cotton balls.... then glue to your hearts content!
2. Pinecone Reindeer- Leo loved this one cause we first went and "hunted" for pinecones.. Add in a nose googly eyes and antlers and you have a reindeer ornament.
3. Kids Hand Christmas Tree- Trace your childs hand, decorate the tree however they want to and then glue it on a popsicle stick. You could also just glue it on some brown paper.
4. Bell snowman- Leo wanted bells at hobby lobby and asked me for a bell craft so this is what I came up with. Stacked 3 bells, used some pom pom balls, sticks, and googly eyes.
5. Salt Dough Ornaments- This was Leo's favorite. We made the dough cut them out and baked them. The following day decorated them. Also I didn't get modge podge to seal them so I just did a 50/50 elmers glue and water and that seemed to do the trick.
6. Reindeer Food- So Leo actually hasn't done this one. We will be doing it Christmas eve so I thought I'd take you through that one.
1. Paper Plate Santa- This one is great, construction paper, googly eyes, pom pom nose, and cotton balls.... then glue to your hearts content!
2. Pinecone Reindeer- Leo loved this one cause we first went and "hunted" for pinecones.. Add in a nose googly eyes and antlers and you have a reindeer ornament.
3. Kids Hand Christmas Tree- Trace your childs hand, decorate the tree however they want to and then glue it on a popsicle stick. You could also just glue it on some brown paper.
4. Bell snowman- Leo wanted bells at hobby lobby and asked me for a bell craft so this is what I came up with. Stacked 3 bells, used some pom pom balls, sticks, and googly eyes.
5. Salt Dough Ornaments- This was Leo's favorite. We made the dough cut them out and baked them. The following day decorated them. Also I didn't get modge podge to seal them so I just did a 50/50 elmers glue and water and that seemed to do the trick.
6. Reindeer Food- So Leo actually hasn't done this one. We will be doing it Christmas eve so I thought I'd take you through that one.

Craft Items:
Cupcake Papers or anything to hold your "sparkle"
Glitter, Sprinkles, or whatever you have laying around
Oats
Plastic Bag (Piping bags work better)
Googly Eyes
Pom Pom Nose
Pipe Cleaner
Bow (If you want to make a girl reindeer)
Not only does Santa need a snack so do the reindeer so make these magical reindeer food to keep them flying though the night. Leo can add in his mixings to his bag and then you simple twist the top. Add in some antlers using pipe cleaners, pop on your googly eyes (self stick ones are the best) and hot glue a nose on. Boom Magical Reindeer Food!! We had all these items at our house so I don't have to buy anything for them. I also thinking this will be a great segway into reading the Night before Christmas and talking to him about the reindeer.
Cupcake Papers or anything to hold your "sparkle"
Glitter, Sprinkles, or whatever you have laying around
Oats
Plastic Bag (Piping bags work better)
Googly Eyes
Pom Pom Nose
Pipe Cleaner
Bow (If you want to make a girl reindeer)
Not only does Santa need a snack so do the reindeer so make these magical reindeer food to keep them flying though the night. Leo can add in his mixings to his bag and then you simple twist the top. Add in some antlers using pipe cleaners, pop on your googly eyes (self stick ones are the best) and hot glue a nose on. Boom Magical Reindeer Food!! We had all these items at our house so I don't have to buy anything for them. I also thinking this will be a great segway into reading the Night before Christmas and talking to him about the reindeer.
And it is just so cute! Don't mind the once again crappy iPhone photo!
Leo has had a blast with his crafts. A few others we have done this year are paper snowflakes (he's practicing with scissors), christmas slime, green peppermint homemade play dough, and Christmas cookies. We still have a few to do I'm most excited about the candy cane hunt around the house, ornament sun catchers and gingerbread houses.
Oh and those of you wondering I order the little advent calendar form amazon and just wrote each activity on paper. Then put the paper back into the calendar so I don't have to come up with new ideas next year! #winning
Oh and those of you wondering I order the little advent calendar form amazon and just wrote each activity on paper. Then put the paper back into the calendar so I don't have to come up with new ideas next year! #winning
I think I will probably blog one more time before Christmas but if I don't get around to it Merry Christmas. This Christmas holiday has been so much fun with Leo!! Seeing Christmas through their eyes is the best although he doesn't quite understand it all it is pretty darn magical for him.
Cheers,
Jess
Cheers,
Jess