Oh, Christmas cards. I enjoy getting them, but I can’t stand writing them. In spite on my online ramblings, I’m not really much of a hand writing person. I can never think of anything profound to say in cards. That said, people still seem to like getting them, in spite of my deeply boring commentary, so we continue to send Christmas cards.
Perhaps this is because we do enjoy making crafts. It’s the making of the Christmas cards that we enjoy, far more than the writing in them and sending part. If you’re planning to make cards with your preschooler in the next few weeks, here are some ways your preschooler can help.
Make a marble run card. Get Christmas colors of acrylic paint and put them in blobs in a pan. Add marbles, and run the marbles around the pan until they are covered in paint. Then put each card into another pan with marbles, and run the marbles around on top of the card. Instant art.
Kids love hole punches, and scrapbooking has made so many neat punches available. Punch out your holiday cards. Line the inside of the card with a Christmas color and punch a Christmas image out of the front of the card. Alternatively, punch out shapes from scrapbooking paper and then paste them onto the front of the card.
You can also use homemade pictures mounted on scrapbooking paper for the front of your card. Choose a uniform type of scrapbooking paper and choose felts that match the colors. Give the felts to your child and have him draw objects for the front of the cards. Mount the pictures on the scrapbooking paper and paste them on the front of the cards.
The collage is a fun way to get some of the pre-Christmas, post-Halloween jitters out of your system. Take colorful paper in Christmas colors and mix it with scrapbooking paper. Tear it into tiny pieces. Glue it to the front of the card. If you’re feeling ambitious, use a cookie cutter as a template and trace a shape on each card, then glue the collage inside the shape.