Making Christmas Ornaments

On rainy days, there is nothing better than craft-time. Crafts are productive projects that allow children to pass the time creatively while creating something that can be given as a gift. And often times, the parents can join right in on the fun.

Even many recreational programs and summer camps include craft time to help boys and girls exercise the artistic side of their brains—sadly, in the age of television, not a lot of time is dedicated to artistic endeavors.

But craft time is important, and some of the best crafts are making Christmas ornaments. Ornaments provide endless options in both design and materials, and children will always be able to think of Christmas ornaments to make, for friends, family and even themselves. And choosing the right Christmas ornaments to make is a decision that lives on forever—year after year, during tree decoration time, that child will always remember the homemade Christmas ornaments he or she made.

Exercising the Brain

When deciding which Christmas ornaments to make, a few factors need to be taken into consideration. For instance, materials are important. While many ornaments can be made from scratch, others will need certain stencils or pre-made materials. Still, there are so many Christmas ornaments to make that each craft time can focus on a different style or design, leading to countless activities for countless rainy days. Some of the most popular Christmas ornaments to make are wooden ornaments.

These are usually sold pre-cut, and children can paint them with acrylic paint and even write their names and the date they painted them. Still others are balls that can be designed with glitter and other pieces of material and string that can easily be glued on, although adults will want to help if a heated glue gun is used.

Other Christmas ornaments to make include ornaments made with pipe cleaners and felt. These can be cut into various shapes including animals, insects and even people. Pipe cleaners can be used to craft anything from antennae to hanging hooks, and eyes can easily be glued onto anything from butterflies to reindeer. These ornaments are some of the most challenging, but some of the most rewarding Christmas ornaments to make because nothing is pre-designed. Instead, the entire creative process is orchestrated by the children, and they create from a few raw materials something magical and something real that can be remembered every year at Christmas time.

Making Christmas Ornaments