Christmas is finally here! It is a wonderful time of the year, where we try to focus more on our loved ones than on the daily grind of life.
However, it can also be a stressful time as we rush about fulfilling all the season’s jobs, investing tons of money and effort into buying presents, decorating our home and preparing for parties.
Our kids will also be on holiday for over two weeks, which gives us time to enjoy each other with the challenge of keeping our beautiful little creatures entertained while performing the rest of endless tasks.
To try and help you in this balance act we have some ideas for craft activities than will get your kids creative juices flowing while practicing the Reduce-Reuse mantra, so that we can this and many more Christmases without damaging our beautiful planet:
- Create your own cards! Everyone loves receiving homemade cards from the children. You can go different routes, from just getting an A4 sheet of recycled paper, folding it and having the kids draw their design (or in my case, a scribbled firetruck + illegible name :)), or you can buy recycled/recyclable packs of blank cards from companies like paperbox and eco-craft. Do you have any art that you don’t know what to do with? Is there something you could upcycle to make/transform a christmas card and add a personal touch? Alternatively, try printing out a ready made design to color or go all the way with a full crafting project (see some ideas here). The key here is to focus on the fun rather than the perfect card. That is really what would warm up your loved one’s hearts!!
- DIY some decorations for your home that will mean something and you can even gift on the day to grandparents and other family members. Try tree biscuits, a Christmas pomander or one of these fantastic ideas (toilet roll snowflake anyone?).
- Why not create your own wrapping paper? Have a look at your existing magazines with your children. Have them choose pictures they love and use those pages for wrapping. Or why not buy some recyclable plain wrapping and add your own picture/decoration – something that will make your loved ones smile.
- Craft your own gift tags by reusing last year’s Christmas cards and using scissors or a paper punch to create the right shape. Attach a piece of string to finish up.
- Decorate your Christmas hats! This is a great activity for Christmas Day. Find some of your hats and bring them downstairs for people to grab one and decorate with christmassy things laying around. It will give everyone a laugh and keep the children busy for a little while.
- Christmas crackers!!! Try this tutorial and use things at home for the cover paper and gifts. Write your own jokes and wishes inside for a super-personalised touch.
- Make your own Christmas wreath. Beautiful creations with a bit of extra love! Try using foliage or things you may already have at home such as tissue paper or buttons.
- Create your own set of Christmas vouchers that you can use as a present from you to your children or from your children to you. Try things like, “tidy my room” or a lunch at Pizza Express.
Send us your creations, or post direct on Instagram @sustainableamersham #littlegreenadventures_amersham
