The holidays just don’t seem complete without doing some good old fashioned crafting. And Christmas popsicle stick crafts are a classic holiday tradition! Be sure to add some of these creations to your master list of Christmas activities for preschoolers.
Related: Christmas Messy Play Ideas
Young children adore getting to add to the magic of the holidays with their very own, hand-made creations. I really do think Christmas art and crafts are some of the quintessential activities of childhood.
I’ve put together a list of crafts to try with your preschoolers this holiday season. This isn’t just any old list of craft ideas, though. It’s one of pure nostalgia. These crafts are all made of popsicle sticks – a classic crafting material that will remind you of when you were a kid, making craft stick creations of your own!
Oh, and please keep in mind that many of the images below are made by adults. I’m sure you know that it can difficult to take pictures while children are hard at work on projects! Plus, we like to get in there and be present with the children as much as possible. So many images are adult versions. Don’t expect your students’ versions to look exactly the same! Let the kids apply their own creativity to each of the projects!
Christmas Popsicle Stick Crafts
Some of these ideas are preschool Christmas ornaments, while others can be used as decorations or even for play!
Related: Christmas Tree Activities
I can’t get over this wooden toy soldier ornament! How clever is that hat?!
Your transportation-loving students will love making the DIY car and truck Christmas ornaments!
This hand-made personalized sled ornament is a great addition to families’ collections of photo ornaments!
Add a pop of color this holiday season with the happiest little tree ornaments!
Guide your students in practicing their fine-motor skills as they create colorful popsicle stick star ornaments using mini pompoms.
Teach a lesson on triangles as your students make the super simple Santa hat Christmas ornament.
Be sure to provide a wide variety of skin tone paints for these craft stick Santas.
This popsicle stick window craft is a wonderful activity for an early dismissal day because it is quick, easy, and the clean-up is a breeze.
Using items that you likely already have in your classroom, create a cute popsicle stick angel craft with the kids.
The North Pole popsicle stick ornaments are so easy to make, and you can be sure to hear some fun North Pole predictions as the kids create them.
Create a simple popsicle stick reindeer craft with your students and then they can use them as puppets for pretend play!
You might hear some jubilant little voices singing Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer as you guide your students in making the popsicle stick Rudolphs.
Which Christmas popsicle stick crafts are you going to make with your students this year? Please do let us know in the comments below!
Christmas Crafting Shopping List
Maybe you’ve decided you want to let your students design their own Christmas popsicle stick creations this year. What a great opportunity to set up a process art activity for them!
If you decide to go this route, you will need some crafting materials perfect for a Christmas theme. Here are a few things I always have around during Christmas time.
- Popsicle sticks
- Jumbo popsicle sticks
- Washable paint
- Red and green glitter
- Googly eyes
- Sparkly pipe cleaners
- Liquid glue
- Red and green pompoms
- Faux pine greenery
- Buttons
- Sequins
- Christmas foam stickers
- Acrylic stars
- Craft berries
And that’s just to name a few. The options for a Christmas process art invitation are endless. Here are a few more ideas:
Why Popsicle Crafts for Christmas?
While I’m a HUGE fan of process art in the classroom, I’m not opposed to crafts! As long as:
- the children are interested in the crafting process (and so many preschoolers LOVE crafts!)
- adults aren’t “fixing” children’s crafty creations
Plus, there are a variety of benefits to these Christmas popsicle stick crafts. Here are a few, off the top of my head:
- Many will be gifts for kids’ family members or caregivers. This helps walk the children through the process of thinking about gifts for others, and the joy on many kids’ faces when they realize they made something for a special person is wonderful!
- A lot of these craft stick projects allow children to work on fine motor skills.
- Even with crafts that have a specific end in mind, we can allow for a lot of room for individual children’s creativity! Let the kids choose the paint colors, what pictures will be added to ornaments, how they want the craft to look, etc.
- The process of making these crafts gives the children a progression to work through.
- And there are a TON of language opportunities during craft-making!
Christmas Preschool Lesson Plans
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