At Little Magpies, we know that the most special gifts are the ones that are made by little hands. If you’re looking for a way to touch the hearts of your family and friends this Christmas, we’ve pulled together our top 10 favourite gift making guides to share with you. Just follow the link for the full instructions.
Each item we’ve chosen is designed for small children to make and can be created with a simple selection of craft items. And the added bonus is that you don’t just get the pleasure of giving a really unique gift, you also get to enjoy creating it with your little ones too.
Gifting a home made piece of art is a lot of fun for your children and a real treat for the person who receives the gift. Here are our favourite festive art projects that make fantastic (and straightforward) festive gifts.
There are so many great blogs out there for converting handprints into art. We love is as a gift idea because it’s a wonderful way to treasure a tiny handprint while giving something that will be beautiful on the wall.
This Reindeer Handprint blog from onekriegerchick.com is a great way to combine handprints and festive fun. It’s easy-to-follow instructions make a lovely piece of festive art that is a great gift for anyone.
Parents.com has a great selection of ideas for clever gifts to make with your children this Christmas. We love these ink blot prints because they not only are easy to make for all ages, they also give your children a sense of wonder as they fold and unfold the page and discover what they’ve created.
Ink Blot Prints are super-easy to make and only require paper, paints in colours of your choice and paint brushes. You can mount the finished artwork on Christmas Cards and gift tags or place it in a frame to create an original and unique artwork.
Read the full instructions here.
There’s something really special about handmade Christmas tree decorations – especially when your child is 10 and looks back at a decoration they made when they were 3 with amazement. Christmas tree decorations make a lovely gift for friends and family and a special way to personalise your own Christmas tree.
One of our favourite Christmas decoration craft ideas is this Sparkly Star Craft simple glitter star from toddlerapproved.com. The instructions are clear and easy to follow and with their own toolkit your little ones will enjoy personalising each star. Don’t forget to write their name and the year on each decoration (or get them to) so they can enjoy seeing it in years to come.
We also love these Reindeer Baubles from littlebitfunky.com. They are a lovely way to personalise a set of Christmas baubles with little fingerprints. The trickier bits can be done by an adult or an older child, but these are a great way to personalise a gift for someone your children love.
If you prefer a more natural looking gift, why not go foraging for sticks on a lovely sunshiny walk then come home and create these Easy Twig Reindeer Ornaments from firefliesandmudpies.com. You can’t go wrong with a gift that’s mostly made from sticks and your children will love exploring how their found treasures can be made into a reindeer’s face.
It wouldn’t be Christmas without salt dough ornaments and this craft blog from vivaveltoro.com shows you how to make salt dough ornaments that feature your children’s foot and hand prints. It’s a great guide and also includes instructions for making and decorating santa, a reindeer and a range of other decorations.
It’s hard to resist a sweet treat at Christmas – especially if they’re gifted to you. There are a wealth of good recipes online but we chose these two because they’re easy to create with children and look great too.
The great thing about these Decorated Christmas Sticks from kidspot.co.nz is that they look great but they aren’t fiddly for little fingers. A splash of colourful icing and these biscuits make a lovely and simple homemade Christmas gift. Pop them in a jar and add some ribbon and you have a gift that any teacher, friend or relative is going to love.
Fans of Sally’s Baking Addiction may already be familiar with this great recipe for Christmas Cookies in a Jar. Children have lots of fun measuring out the ingredients into a jar in beautiful layers, and can even make a jar to put under your own Christmas Tree so that they can enjoy baking their own.
You can try different combinations of ingredients for different sweet treats but we love this recipe from Sally and the free printable to decorate the jar that your children can colour in for a unique touch.
There’s a lot of fun in creating something special to gift at Christmas and it’s even better if you can personalise it or do some smart recycling. These two gift projects have been chosen because they offer the chance to do both.
This is so lovely and festive, and a wonderful way to get your children involved in foraging for and creating a Christmas gift. Creating a Scrap Ribbon Christmas Tree is a blog from firefliesandmudpies.com and combines creativity and knot tying skills.
From hunting for a great stick on a walk to choosing ribbons or selecting fabric offcuts. Your children will love getting planning, designing and creating these trees and whoever receives them will love such a unique Christmas gift.
Your children will love transforming themselves into paper elfs with this Paper Elf Craft project from thebestideasforkids.com. The only challenge you will have is getting them to give them away.
The project is great to complete and designed to be easy to get involved with for children of all ages. Once complete you can hang your elves from your Christmas trees, put them in the windows, and gift them to friends and family to add a touch of homemade festive magic to their homes.