Kids Craft- Making Calendars
With the new year here, I’ve got a fun kids craft for working on during winter break. Let’s get ready for the new year by making a homemade kids calendar. You can use your calendar to showcase artwork or even your memories, like these kids scrapbook pages.
Supplies needed for Kids Craft Calendar:
Calendar template (You can find several 2012 calendar templates at this link)
Construction paper, printer paper, or drawing paper
3 small binder rings
Three-hole punch
Glue or tape
Choose one of the calendar templates and print out. You will want each month on a separate sheet of paper. Add in any special holidays, birthdays, or special occasions that you would like to remember.
Now, it’s time for the fun part of this kids craft! Draw pictures to correspond with each month. For example, draw a snowman for January, hearts for February, or spring flowers for May. Make sure your child signs their name at the bottom just like a real artist would do. Another option is to make collages for each month using family pictures or magazine pictures. It would be fun to use Christmas pictures for December and Halloween pictures for October in this kids craft.
If you’re doing this kids craft with a younger child or even a toddler, you could have fun with handprints. Keep things simple by just making handprints in colors to coordinate with the month, such as red for February. Or, you can get a little more creative and turn those handprints into pictures. Make a handprint turkey for November or a handprint ghost for October.
Once you have your artwork completed, it’s time to assemble your kids calendars. Try to visualize a store-bought calendar and how it’s put together. Attach the January template to the back of the February artwork, the February template to the back of the March artwork, etc. When the calendar is hanging, you will want your month’s artwork at the top and the calendar template hanging at the bottom. After your calendar pages are in order, use your three-hole punch on all the pages. Attach them together using the small binder rings.
Kids Craft Fun
Do you have any fun artwork suggestions to put on a calendar for kids?
If you’re looking for some great birthday party ideas that both girls and boys would love, why not plan an art party. This party doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive and I guarantee all the kids will love it.
Any type of art activity would work great at this party. One birthday idea would be to give the kids fabric paint or fabric markers and let them decorate a plain t-shirt or even a tote bag, such as these personalized totes.
Reserve one area of wall space for mural painting. Tape up large sheets or paper or use a roll of brown paper wrapping paper. Have the children work together to make a mural. The kids will enjoy it and this would be a perfect activity to work on while waiting for the guests to arrive.
Here is a short five minute video from 5 minute life Videopedia on how to host a children’s art party.
Birthday Party Ideas- How to Host a Childrens Art Party
More Birthday Party Ideas-Art Party
Another birthday idea that would be fun for this party would be collaborative drawings. Have the kids sit around a table with a piece of paper and crayons. Set a time for 15 seconds and have them start drawing. When the time is up, have them pass the paper to the right. Set the timer again and have them start drawing. Keep passing the papers until everyone has had a chance to add something to each piece of paper. I bet you’ll have some fun and crazy drawings!
For decorations, I would have the birthday girl or boy color, draw and paint pictures. You can then hang these up gallery style. Print up a sign that says “__________’s Art Gallery” filling in your child’s name. Focus on primary colors if you use balloons or streamers. Also, use primary colors for plates, napkins and silverware.
Your refreshments can be simple. I would make some simple cupcakes and use different colors of icing on them. Arrange them on a plate to look like a painter’s palette. Another fun birthday idea would be to have a supply of sugar cookies and icing. Let the kids showcase their artistic talent by decorating their own cookies.
The party favors don’t have to be expensive. I would recommend buying small notebooks or sketch pads and pairing them with crayons, colored pencils or even watercolors. Send this home with the guests along with one of the collaborative drawings.
Do you have any birthday party ideas for an art party?
When the family is gathered, it’s time to have some fun with these musical Christmas kids games. There are many great Christmas activities for kids and families that involve Christmas carols. You can sing Christmas carols as a group or go caroling around town. You can even read books together about different Christmas songs. We have a great resource about storytime for you to read, if you’re looking for tips on enhancing your read-aloud experiences.
But, if you’re looking to play a few games and have a lot of fun, here are a couple of good Christmas kids games!
Guess the Lyric: Guess the Lyric is a fun trivia game that you can make yourself. All you need to make this is a pile of index cards. On each card, write a portion of the lyrics of a Christmas carol. You can make these as easy or as hard as you need. If you are playing with a mixed-age group, you may want to make one set of cards for the kids and one for the adults. Here are a few examples for your cards: “Bells on bob-tail ring/Making spirits bright” Answer: Jingle Bells. “He knows if you’ve been bad or good/So be good for goodness sake!” Answer: Santa Claus is Coming to Town. “In the meadow we can build a snowman/And pretend that he is Parson Brown” Answer: Winter Wonderland. Work in teams or individually and see who knows the most Christmas carols. I can guarantee everyone will have fun! You can find an extensive list of Christmas carols and their lyrics at The Caroling Corner if you need help with making this fun trivia game.
Christmas Carol Pictionary: It’s always nice to have Christmas activities for kids that are inexpensive and easy to put together. Christmas Carol Pictionary is one. You’ll need several strips of paper, large sheets of paper or a roll of brown paper gift wrap, and several markers. Write the names of several Christmas carols on separate sheets of paper. Fold up the strips and stick them in the bowl. Divide into two teams. The teams will take turns sending one person up to the large sheets of paper to try and draw the carol that they pull from the bowl. The teammates then have to guess the name of the carol that is being drawn.
Get ready for a lot of laughing while you’re enjoying these fun Christmas Kid Games Christmas activities for kids and families!
Please share your favorite fun Christmas kids games your family likes to play.
One of my favorite Christmas activities for kids is an advent calendar. An advent calendar is a way to count and celebrate the days leading up to Christmas. There are a million ways to make one or if you’re not the crafty type, you can usually buy one in just about any store. I’ve always thought of filling advent calendars with candy or even small gifts, but that doesn’t have to be the only option. Why not fill your advent calendar with activities that you and your family can do together to celebrate the holiday season? There are plenty of Christmas crafts and activities to fill your calendar.
You can fill envelopes with Christmas crafts or activities, then open one each night. Or, make a paper chain and upon removal, each chain would suggest different Christmas crafts or activities. Tuck strips of paper with activities printed on them in the calendar you already have. The possibilities are endless!
I know the holidays can be busy and also very stressful. But don’t worry; these activities are not designed to put more on your plate. Some are small, some happen in the home, others involve going somewhere; but all of these Christmas activities for kids are designed to help you spend more quality time with your family over the holiday season.
Here are some fun ideas of Christmas activities for kids to add to your calendar:
- Make Christmas cards, such as these ones kids craft homemade cards
- Read a favorite Christmas book
- Read ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas
- Feed the birds
- Volunteer together as a family
- Decorate the Christmas tree
- Bake Christmas cookies
- Watch a favorite Christmas movie
- Deliver cookies to the neighbors
- Shop for Toys for Tots
- Make Christmas ornaments, like these homemade ornaments
- Drink hot cocoa
- Write letters to Santa
- Take a family Christmas picture
- Make paper snowflakes or any other of your favorite Christmas crafts
- Drive around and look at lights
- Make a Christmas craft together
- Visit a live nativity
- Visit Santa
- Sing Christmas carols
- Wrap Christmas gifts
- Make homemade fudge
- Go caroling
- Make gingerbread men
- Read the Christmas story out of the Bible
Please share any Christmas activities for kids that you and your family share every year?
Birthday Party Ideas That Your Children Will Love
Coming up with fresh birthday party ideas when you’re a busy Mom can be one of the more challenging aspects of parenting. There is a lot of pressure on parents to host bigger and better parties with ever increasing amounts of bling. Not only is it expensive, but there can be a bit of work involved in finding the best birthday party ideas for your next bash. Treasure Box Kids brings you imaginative birthday party ideas for children of all ages. Read our post on how to host a Little Mermaid Party for a special birthday treat.
I always like to get my children involved in planning their parties, that way I get a great idea about what they really want, and don’t feel the need to compete with the entire neighborhood. It’s important to create memories that will last on for years for your children than it is to splash your cash.
Birthday Party Ideas from the ‘Cat in the Hat’
I always love to create birthday party ideas that my child will remember. Having the latest character theme is great, but if you really want to host a party that the kids will love then consider hosting a theme party with a character that is universally loved by both boys and girls and will appeal to a wide variety of age groups.
Dr. Seuss is a children’s author whose lessons carry on into adulthood. Everybody knows and loves the books, and even the film. The most successful children’s party I ever hosted was a ‘Cat in the Hat’ party. You can pick up a mountain of Dr. Seuss themed party paraphernalia at your local party store. I’d also suggest looking on E-Bay and other online stores for discounted merchandise. There is so much that you can do with a Dr. Seuss party theme.
The most important part is that you can use any colors to decorate your birthday party area. Of course, your standard Cat in the Hat colors are red, black and white, but all primary colors are great for a children’s birthday party. You can accent different parts with ‘Cat in the Hat’ merchandise without breaking the bank.
Dr. Seuss birthday party ideas allow you to be as creative as you want to, from rhyming invitations to ‘Cat in the Hat’ cakes and a the best part of all is that the books themselves will give you great birthday party ideas and games to play. You can take traditional party games and give them a great ‘Cat in the Hat’ slant very easily.
You do not need to have birthday party fears, when a ‘Cat in the Hat’ gives you birthday party ideas!
Share with us your Birthday Party Ideas for a Cat in the Hat Birthday Party!
