Christmas Activities for kids ~ The Stay @ Home Choice

Now I was going to save this post for next Christmas, but then was thinking if any of you are like me, you plan on doing all these Christmas activities, but then don't get them ready until November. This way you have a whole year to prepare, order supplies, and create. Then come next Christmas all you have to do is set them up and watch your kids have fun!

Christmas is such a great time of year. A time to remember how God loved us so much and sent his Son for us. This is such a great time of year to teach our kids about God's love and his sacrifice for us. I love teaching my girls about Christmas. I also love to do Christmas activities with them, and while this year was more for Baby Girl, Peanut had some fun too. There are a lot of different activities that you can do and do them on a cost-friendly budget. The best part about these activities are that they are adaptable to what you have on hand, or what you can get affordably. The main thing you will need is felt.

Felt is such an affordable material and you can get a lot for your money's worth, making it easy to invest in. You can always pick 1 or 2 colors to buy in a bigger quantity and then buy a bunch of colors on a smaller scale. There are so many things you can do with felt. Tune in next week to see some more projects that are popular now, but until then enjoy some Christmas crafts!

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So here are a couple of my favorite felt Christmas activities to do with my girls.

Felt Christmas tree:

What you will need:
felt
glue
sharpie
circle items to trace
ruler
command strips
optional items:
glitter

Now I don't have a pattern, but it's really simple. I got this idea from Pinterest via this blog. She has a lot more Christmas ideas too, so !

Tree: I just free handed this. On tip I have is to fold the felt in half, then cut half of your tree. That way when you unfold it you have a symmetrical shape. If you aren't able to get your hands on a large sheet of felt, you can make a smaller tree that can fit on a cookie sheet. But remember if you buy 1 or 2 colors in large quantity its a good investment, kids LOVE felt!

Bulbs: I just used different sized circles to trace; cans, jar ids, anything circular you have around the house. Adjust the circular things to trace based on the size of your tree.

Presents: I drew different sized boxes. Then I cut out strips and cut them to the length of the box.

I used the command strips to hang it to the wall. They hold just enough to keep it from falling, but it doesn't tear up the wall.

I made this last year and then this year decided that it needed something, so I added some glitter. It's amazing what a little glitter can do.

Block Nativity Original Inspiration:

This is my in-laws, both my husband and his sister grew up playing with it. They also were taught the Nativity story through it. The following is a link to the pattern book; however, it's not in stock currently. It is about 30 years old, but you might be able to find it in print still, otherwise you could probably work from the photos.

I also added some patterns at the bottom of this post that my mother-in-love created herself.

What you will need:
2x4's
sand paper
saw of some sort (or have your local hardware store cut the 2x4's for you, it's usually a free service)
felt
glue
additional if wanted:
glitter
ricrack

1. Cut the 2x4's into desired lengths
2. Sand the edges and corners so that they are safe for kids to play with
3. Make your Wiseman, Joseph, Mary or animal pattern and glue together.
4. Then glue onto the desired wood piece.

You can order a sample pack of felt on amazon for about $11.00. You get 42 squares sized 5.9 x 5.9 inches,in assorted colors.

Or you can opt for the assorted colors in larger squares; 9x12 and get 50 for $20.59, that comes to about $0.41 cents a piece.

Or if you know what colors you want you can order larger squares; 9 x 12 inches at 0.35 cents a piece from Michael's. Cost varies depending on where you are located, so make sure to do your own pricing before buying.

Below are some free patterns, I'd love to see what styles you come up with!