Holidays

Holiday Arts and Crafts

As autumn transitions slowly into winter the holiday season starts here. Halloween falls at the end of this month, with Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza and other winter holidays soon to follow. And of course all of this cumulates with the New Year Celebration. The air is filled with excitement and a festive spirit, and for many that means one thing - aside from pumpkin flavoured everything, that is - arts and crafts time. Whether you are looking to make a few new decorations, some homemade Christmas tree ornaments, gifts to give to loved ones, or something fun to entertain the children when they get off for their christmas holiday, there are plenty of DIY projects just waiting to be taken on.

Halloween

Although Halloween is almost here, there is still time for a few more spooky craft projects that are fun for the whole family and will help bring your decorating to the next level this year. If you are looking for something that will appeal to younger children you should keep the activity simple and short. A great one to consider is constructing paper Halloween ornaments. These can be hung from ceilings, strung across doorways, or taped on walls. There are thousands of templates and tutorials online, from bats, pumpkins, and spiders, to ghosts and witches hats. If you just look around you are sure to come across at least one arts and crafts project that sparks your interest. And the best part is, most of them will only call for construction paper and glue, making them fairly inexpensive.

Christmas

Decorating the Christmas tree is a tradition that most children look forward to every year. Hanging ornaments is always fun, but so is making them. Not only is it a way to entertain your children while they are on christmas holiday, but it will also add a personal element to your Christmas tree. And when the next year comes around your kids will have fun finding the ornaments they made and hanging them on the tree. Empty glass ball ornaments can be a filled with holiday confetti or a photograph, and drawn or painted on as well. This is a fun and simple arts and crafts project that every child can participate in, and it also makes a wonderful gift for your children to give to their friends.

Hanukkah and Kwanzaa

Hanukkah and Kwanzaa are two commonly celebrated winter holidays that also include a gift giving tradition, usually between parents and children. Your children will love making some of the gifts they give this year, and you will love the money you save. A picture frame is an easy and wonderful holiday gift. Frames can be made of everything from sticks, pinecones, and other pieces of nature, to ice lolly sticks, macaroni noodles, foam stickers, mini pom-poms, pipe-cleaners, and more. This project allows your children to express their creativity, and they will love seeing the picture frame they made you sitting on a table or mantle with a special picture of you together.

New Year's Eve

One common tradition to welcome in the New Year is by making as much noise as possible. Children scream and shout, fireworks go off, and everyone counts down to midnight. While you can buy noisemakers for your children to shake and blow and rattle, it is often more fun for them to make. Paper plates, rice, construction paper, bowls, paints, markers and other arts and crafts materials can all be brought out, and your children will love seeing what they can create. Then, when the countdown comes they can all rattle and shake and bang on their own, homemade instruments.

The holiday seasons are full of festivity and celebration. It is a time for families to come together and appreciate each other and all that they have. Delicious feasts are served, immaculate parties are thrown, and new memories and traditions are made. Arts and crafts are a great way to bring children and adults together for a fun and memorable activity this year, and will add more fun memories to the mix.