As a grandmother, I love creating special moments with my grandchildren. Some have been a little too special.
As I’m contemplating what crafts to do with my grandchildren this year, I have to consider past mistakes, and current skill level.
Past mistakes:
- Be careful when making slime! Don’t let it get into anyone’s hair. My granddaughter got some in her hair and we had to cut the slime out which left some jagged and short ends in her hair. It’s grown out and now we laugh at the memory.
- To use glitter or not? NOT! LOL! I still have glitter from last year’s crafts coming out of corners in my house. It permeates everything, including fabrics. Of course, some crafts just have to have a little sparkle but don’t give the entire container of glitter to little ones. Try to limit the amount of glitter used. But then again, memories flood back when you find that glitter during the year.
- Decorating cookies. This can be loads of fun and ways to make fond memories. We learned my grandson likes to lick the icing off of the knives and puts the knife back in the icing…. yes. He contaminates all the icing. And he’s quick in doing so! Cookies also mysteriously disappear when grandpa is around. Apparently, his role is quality control testing.
This year, my grandchildren are a bit older. I searched and searched craft ideas that fit their skill level. If a hot glue gun is required, I will be using it and keeping it away from the grandchildren. I finally settled on the following crafts:
- Reindeer and Christmas trees ornaments made out of cinnamon sticks. For the Reindeer – break the cinnamon sticks into the same size, glue them in a triangle, add google eyes, add pipe cleaner antlers, add red pompom for nose, glue twine to the top and hang as a tree ornament. For the Christmas tree, you use one longer cinnamon stick, and 3 shorter ones with each one being a bit shorter than the last one. You glue them in the shape of the tree, add pompoms and glitter as ornaments, glue twine top, and hang as an ornament.
- Pinecone Ornaments. Pinecones with mini pompoms sprinkled with glitter (yes, I said glitter). Decorate the pinecone right side up. Glue mini pompoms wherever you like, put some glue here and there, and sprinkle with glitter. Let them dry, then turn the pinecone upside down – glue twine on the bottom to hang as an ornament. You get an added benefit if you use cinnamon/spice-scented pinecones.
- Hot cocoa jars. Using small mason jars, fill each one with hot cocoa, chocolate chips, mini marshmallows, and put a colorful square piece of cloth in the lid. Add a handwritten label and each grandchild has a gift to give to their teacher or to a friend.
- Lighted garland. Use a 50 ft strand of white lights. Use wide burlap ribbon in varying holiday colors (the kind that’s about 5 inches wide or so). Cut burlap ribbon strips. Divide them between the grandchildren. The strips are then tied in colorful patterns on the strand of lights. They can hang the colorful strand of lights in their home or their bedroom or give it to a loved one.
All of these ideas can be found on many websites. Do your research and add your own creative ideas to tweak the project and make it your own. The end result is to make more memories, have a fun time, and have something to remember their time with grandma and grandpa. Happy holidays!
Categorized in: General
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