Kids' Christmas Crafts With Styrofoam Balls
There are few times a year more exciting for children than Christmas. Yet the traditions and anticipation leading up to the big day can be just as exciting as Christmas Day itself. Therefore, helping children create their own Christmas crafts can help them get in the spirit and pass the time until the big day. Styrofoam balls are a great material for such crafts, as they are versatile and easy to work with--even for little hands.
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Woodland Creatures
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No matter what climate children live in, they can quickly be transported to a winter wonderland with snowy white woodland creatures. These are easy to make with just some Styrofoam balls and pipe cleaners. Disney's Family Fun website has enough templates for many creatures like bunnies, reindeer, snowmen and bears to create a veritable forest. Pipe cleaners form the "skeleton" of the woodland creatures, as they are easily bent into body shapes and antlers. Small Styrofoam balls can used as heads, larger ones as bodies, and threaded on the pipe-cleaner frame. Buttons, sequined pins, and other decorations create eyes, noses, and other essential features.
Super Snowflake
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Every child hopes for a white Christmas, but the weather doesn't have to comply to create a super snowflake. This is a slightly more complex craft, and children will need supervision when using sharp tools--an opportunity for parents to bond with kids and share their skills.
Parents should start with dowels or bamboo skewers appropriate for the size of the area they want to decorate (a door or wall). Cut 6-inch and 3-inch Styrofoam balls in half to form the center of the snowflake. Insert the dowels or skewers evenly around the center ball--adding Styrofoam balls and other shapes onto the dowels. Halfway up the dowel, attach wire that will form a circle connecting all the dowels--threading additional Styrofoam shapes onto the wire between each spoke. Continue adding foam shapes until the dowels are full. Spray with glitter spray if desired.
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Christmas Ornaments
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Decorating a Christmas tree is a festive tradition, but it is always disappointing when a beloved ornament breaks, and sharp glass can also be dangerous for young children. This makes Styrofoam ball Christmas ornaments--especially those that children make themselves--a great alternative. Parents should poke a hole through the ball with a pen and then allow children to thread ribbon through the hole and all the way around the ball. Different color ribbons or cords can also be wrapped around the ball in this manner. Taking another ribbon, tie it in a knot at the bottom to keep it from slipping through the ball, and then use the loop at the other end to hang it from a branch. Kids can also glue colored beads or other decorations to the finished ball.
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References
- Photo Credit christmas decoration image by Alison Bowden from Fotolia.com
