Keeping children involved in holiday preparations reinforces the need for planning and teaches children the joy of giving.

Holiday Placemat

This idea enables children to make a reindeer placemat that is personalized by the hands and feet of each guest.  During a holiday gathering, have the children make a placemat for everyone attending.

• Place the following materials on a table or in a basket ready for children to use – construction paper, scissors, glue, pencil and marker.
• As each guest arrives, child traces around one foot on brown construction paper or a brown paper bag.
• Trace around each guest’s two hands on a different color of construction paper.
• Label feet and hand cut-outs with guest’s name on the back.
• Cut out the hands and foot and glue on a large sheet of construction paper using the foot as the head of the reindeer and the hands as the antlers.
• Add a red sticker nose, white circles for the eyes and draw in the black pupils with the marker.
• Put the person’s name at the bottom of the reindeer whose feet and hands were used.

• Place the following materials on a table or in a basket ready for children to use – construction paper, scissors, glue, pencil and marker.

Children will enjoy seeing how each reindeer has a different face depending on the size of the foot and hands.  Cutting, pasting, and adding touches of creativity are wonderful ways to keep children actively busy during family gatherings.  Cover placemats with clear contact paper for durability.  Reindeer placemats can be used during dinner or given to guests as a gift.

Holiday Gift to Make

Finding the right gift at the right price for children to give is easier with this idea.  A Photo Decorated Container is a wonderful personalized gift for anyone that all ages of children can make.

• Decide who will receive the gift – teacher, friend, grandparent, etc. and gather about 12 different photos of the person.
• Scan the photos onto plain white paper – placing as many photos as you can to fill up a page.
• The example uses pictures that a child took at summer camp.
• Select a sturdy container – food containers and shoeboxes are good choices.
• Using Mod-Podge, a glue sealer found in craft stores, glue the cut out pictures onto the container in a collage pattern.
• Overlap the photos as needed to cover the entire container.
• When container is covered with the photos, put 1 to 3 layers of Mod-Podge over all the photos allowing drying time between layers.

The container can be given empty or filled with markers, crayons, wrapped candies or other unique treats.  Creating the collage pattern takes some thinking as a child determines which photo fits and cuts to desired shape.  Please remember to use safety scissors when young children are cutting.