How to Make Christmas Tree Ornaments With Children

Make Christmas tree ornaments with your kids each year.

Christmas tree ornaments can be made from many things around the house. Your children will enjoy being crafty and creative while making ornaments. You also can give the homemade ornaments as gifts to family members. Start a tradition this year to spend an afternoon every December making Christmas tree ornaments with your kids.

Things You'll Need

• For Christmas Stars:
• Frozen treat sticks
• Paint or colored markers
• Glue
• Glitter and/or salt
• Ribbon or string
• For Cookie Ornaments:
• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups salt
• 1 cup water
• Food coloring or paint
• Rolling pin
• Cookie cutters
• Glitter
• Drinking straw
• Ribbon
• For the Snowman:
• 6 drinkable yogurt containers
• Thick rope or sturdy string
• 6 tea light candle holders (candles removed)
• Permanent marker
• Orange construction paper
• Scissors
• Small nail

Instructions

Christmas Stars

1. Color frozen treat sticks with paint or colored markers.

2. Create a star shape by gluing 5 sticks together at the center. Allow the star to dry.

3. Add glue to desired areas of the star and decorate with glitter and/or salt. This will create a crystallized effect.

4. Glue the ribbon or string to the star to create a hanger. Hang on the tree.

Cookie Ornaments

1. Mix 2 cups of flour, 2 cups of salt, and 1 cup of water to make the dough. It should not stick to your hands. If it does, add a pinch of flour until it is smooth and moist.

2. Separate the dough into different balls for each color you want. Add food coloring to each ball. You can leave some balls in their natural color and combine colors to make new colors (blue and yellow becomes green).

3. Roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out desired shapes using cookie cutters.

4. Decorate with glitter, extra dough or anything else that is safe to bake in an oven.

5. Use the drinking straw to make a small hole at the top where the hanger will go. Bake at 250 degrees for 20 minutes. Check on the ornaments after 10 minutes and check frequently until they are finished.

6. Paint the cookies after baking if you did not use food coloring in the dough. Put a piece of ribbon through the hole and hang on the Christmas tree, or give as gifts.

Snowman

1. Clean out the yogurt containers and remove the labels. Remove tea light candles from their holders.

2. Cut out six small triangles using the orange construction paper. These will be the noses on the snowmen.

3. Use the nail to punch two holes--on opposite sides--in each tea light candle holder. The holes should be large enough for the rope or string to fit through. For safety reasons, you (not the children) should punch the holes.

4. Run the string through the holes and tie a knot.

5. Put glue on the inside of the tea light holder and place it on top of the yogurt container like a cap.

6. Glue the orange construction paper on as the nose. Draw the eyes and mouth with the market, and hang on the tree.

Tips & Warnings

• For the Christmas star, get small pieces of wood or twigs in place of frozen treat sticks for a different look. You can also make bells or trees.

• For the cookie ornaments, add a pinch of flour if the dough turns sticky after adding the food coloring.

• When handling sharp or dangerous objects, watch the children carefully, or cut everything yourself.

References

• Activity Village: Christmas Star Decoration
• DIY Alert: Salt Dough Cookie Ornaments
• For the Love of Food: Homemade Snowman Ornaments