How to Make Cute Santas for a Classroom

Santa crafts can be adjusted for various elementary grades.

No matter the available supplies, you can create cute Santas during the holidays by improvising with inexpensive materials that add texture and dimension for kid-friendly projects. Making Santas in the classroom can integrate seasonal crafts with multicultural lessons about holiday celebrations. Teachers might take lessons a step further by relating Santa to map skills regarding the North Pole or animal adaptations of reindeer. You can display Santas on a bulletin board or counter to promote the festivity of the season.

Things You'll Need

• Metal can, paper plate or foam plate
• Dish detergent
• Water
• Towel
• Newspaper
• Acrylic paint and paintbrush, spray paint or crayons
• Cotton balls
• Glue
• Googly eyes
• Craft pom-poms
• Tape measure
• Scissors
• Red felt or red construction paper
• Staples and stapler (optional)
• White felt or white construction paper
• Tissue paper

Instructions

1. Remove the label from a metal coffee or soup can and scrape off any adhesive. Clean the can with dish detergent and water, and dry it with a towel. If you do not have a can, use a paper or foam plate.

2. Cover a work surface with newspaper. Paint the can with acrylic paint or spray paint, or color the plate with crayons in the skin tone color that you desire for your Santa. Allow the paint to dry based on the manufacturer’s directions.

3. Stretch out cotton balls to create fuzzy looking hair. Break one cotton ball in half, stretch both halves and shape them into arches. Glue the arches above Santa's eyes to make bushy eyebrows and glue the cotton balls around the rim of the can or at the top of the plate to make hair. Glue googly eyes on Santa’s face and add a pom-pom nose that matches the skin tone. Glue layers of cotton balls around the bottom chin area and cheeks on the can or plate to create Santa’s beard.

4. Measure the circumference of the can or the diameter of the plate with a tape measure. Cut a piece of red felt or construction paper into a triangle with a base that is half the circumference of the can or the full diameter of the plate. Trace the triangle onto another piece of red felt or paper and cut that piece out. Place one triangle on top of the other and staple or glue the two triangles together along the sides, leaving the bottom open to create Santa’s hat.

5. Glue a white pom-pom at the top of Santa’s hat. Line the inside of the bottom part of the hat with glue. Stick the hat over the opening of the can or top of the plate and apply pressure to affix it to the can. Reinforce the hat onto the plate with staples, if necessary. Glue a white strip of felt or paper around the bottom of the hat. Fold the top of the hat diagonally to the side to create the floppy Santa hat appearance. Glue the side in place, if necessary.

6. Dab Santa’s cheeks with a cotton ball dipped in pink paint to create blush on the can. Tear and scrunch small pieces of pink tissue paper into balls and glue them onto the plate in the cheek area, or color the cheeks in with a crayon.

References

• Artist Helping Children: Santa Claus Crafts for Kids

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish
• DLTK: Santa and His Elves