There are several fun activities that you can do with your children during this festive holiday season, and we are not just talking about giving gifts here. One of these activities is to create wonderful art crafts that your children will surely love. Here are some of the easy-to-do craft ideas.

Reindeer Puppet

This is a very simple puppet made out of a paper bag. The antlers are made out of your child's own handprints.

You will need:

Paper bag
Construction paper (red, black, and white)
Glue
Scissors
Markers or crayons
Wiggly eyes (optional)

Instruction:

Trace the hands of your child on a piece of construction paper and cut them out. These will serve as the reindeer's antlers.

Fold along the creases of the paper bag until it is flat. Make small triangular folds (folded underneath) on each corner on one side of the bag's bottom flap. The flap will serve as the reindeer's head.

Cut a pair of small circles on the white construction paper and a pair of smaller circles on the black paper. Glue the black circle on each of the white dots. These will serve as the reindeer's eyes. You can also use wiggly eyes as well.

Cut a big dot on the red construction paper to serve as the reindeer's nose.

Glue the antlers behind the reindeer's head, making sure that the "fingers" spread apart.

Glue the eyes and nose on the reindeer head of the paper bag.

Using a marker or black crayon, draw a wide and curvy "W" under the nose to serve as the reindeer's mouth.

Put the reindeer puppet on your child's hand and interact with it!

Mini-Santa Hat

Have a miniature Santa as a hat! This craft is easily done using construction paper and cotton balls.

You will need:

A large red construction paper
Scraps of pink, yellow, and black construction paper
Pencil
Scissors
Hole punch
Red marker or crayon
Stapler
Glue
Cotton balls

Instruction:

Draw and cut a a half circle about 18 inches in diameter on the red construction paper. You can use one side of the paper as the flat side of the semi-circle.

Turn the half circle into a cone hat by meeting the two corners of the flat side and have that edge combine together. Staple along the seams.

Cut a small circle out of the pink paper to create Santa's face. Glue it on the cone, slightly near the tip.

Cut a strip of black paper to create Santa's belt. Glue it along the cone, a few inches below the pink circle.

Cut a small yellow rectangle and glue it at the center of the black belt to serve as its buckle.

Glue a cotton ball at the tip of the cone, making it the top of Santa's hat. Glue cotton ball around the cone just above Santa's face. This serves as the bottom part of Santa's hat.

Glue cotton balls around Santa's face to serve as his beard.

Cut out two tiny black circles using a hole punch and use it as Santa's eyes. Glue them on the pink circle.

Draw a smiling mouth on Santa's face using a red marker or crayon.

Put it on your child's head, or on your head. This hat is ideal for Christmas parties at home, making more hats for everyone to wear!

Gingerbread People

Decorate a room with a string of gingerbread people! Drape the string over the windows or even place them around the Christmas tree.

You will need:

Brown grocery bag or construction paper
Pencil
Crayons or markers
Scissors
Glue or sticky tape
A long piece of string or yarn, preferably brown or red

Instruction:

Using a pencil, draw a gingerbread person out of brown construction paper or grocery bag. Make sure that you draw legs for a male or draw a skirt for a female. Don't forget to draw a rectangle over the head, which the gingerbread man would hang from once it's folded.

Cut out the gingerbread people using scissors. Draw face and clothes on them, just like the real gingerbread.

Fold the rectangle over the head.

Attach each gingerbread person to a long string using glue or sticky tape. Secure the rectangle with glue or tape.

Hang your decorative gingerbread people across the room or on a Christmas tree!

Stand-alone Star  

This three-dimensional star can stand alone on a table. The options for designing these stars are endless.

You will need:

Stiff paper like cardboard or cardstock
Pencil
Scissors
White acrylic paint
Poster paint (different colors)
Paint brush
Sticky tape
Printed paper (optional)
Glue (optional)

Instruction:

Draw and cut two large identical stars on a cardboard.

Paint both sides of each star with white paint to serve as base for your colored paints.

Decorate both sides of the star using poster paint.

Another suggestion is to trace the stars over printed paper like a wallpaper then glue them over both sides of each star.

Cut a slit on both stars. One star should have a slit from the tip to the center, while the other from the bottom to the center.

Slip the two stars together along the slits. Place small strips of sticky tape where the slits meet. This is to secure the star.

Place the star on the table and let it stand.

Paper Christmas Stocking

You can make a hand-made Christmas stocking out of old grocery bags! You can hang it and store some candy and small toys!

You will need: 

Think grocery bag, brown paper, or brown felt
Pencil
Scissors
Glue
Hole punch
Red yarn
Markers or crayons
Assorted construction paper
Glitter glue (optional)

Instruction:

Draw and cut two identically-shaped large stocking on thick brown paper. 

Glue the two stockings along the edges. Make sure that you do not include the top opening.

Punch holes along the glued edge of the stocking.

Weave a long piece of red yarn in and out of the holes. Leave a loop of yarn at the back end of the stocking's opening and tie it in a knot. Use to knot to hang the stocking. Decorate your stockings with colored markers, crayons, or construction paper cutouts (using Christmas-themed items like holiday trees or snowman). You can add finishing touches with streaks of glitter glue.