The holiday and Christmas season is a magical time, especially for toddlers. Their eyes light up with wonder at the sight of twinkling lights, colorful decorations, and, of course, the anticipation of Santa's visit. One delightful way to engage toddlers in the spirit of the season is through a simple craft.

Jolly Santa Crafts for Toddlers: Spreading Cheer at Home and Preschool

Crafting not only ignites their creativity but also helps them develop fine motor skills and fosters a sense of accomplishment. In this blog post, we'll explore some cute Santa crafts tailored specifically for toddlers, perfect for bringing joy to your home or preschool. These fun Santa crafts are easy peasy for kids of all ages to use as easy Christmas gifts too!

Use these fun Christmas season and holiday traditions to help the winter season and great activity ideas for Christmas to stay sane and organized. Turn on a Santa Claus favorite Christmas movie, maybe Christmas Carol or Grinch and make these Grinch Themed Rice Krispie Treats!

Crank up the Christmas songs and Christmas tunes and make some Christmas Tree inspired Pretzel Rod Dessert, M and M no bake Christmas bark, Santa's reindeer Little Debbie Snack, and these adorable Christmas Mickey Mouse Inspired cookie bars. These great activities and recipes are the perfect way to have seasonal fun and get into the festive spirit with children of all ages.

We are in the throws of creating Santa wish list templates and planning Christmas gifts and these 50 stocking stuffers that are great for toddlers and preschoolers are fun ideas for family member gifts as well.
This Christmas word search is such a big hit with students as well.

Use these fun Christmas tradition ideas to help the winter season and great activity ideas for Christmas to stay sane and organized. Turn on a Santa Claus Christmas movie, maybe Christmas Carol or Grinch and make these Grinch Themed Rice Krispie Treats!

Crank up the Christmas songs and Christmas tunes and make some Christmas Tree inspired Pretzel Rod Dessert, M and M no bake Christmas bark, Santa's reindeer Little Debbie Snack, and these adorable Christmas Mickey Mouse Inspired cookie bars. These great activities and recipes are the perfect way to have seasonal fun!

How to Use Crafts in the Holiday Season:

Crafting with toddlers during the holiday season can be a joyous experience for both children and adults alike. At home, it's an opportunity for quality bonding time, as you work together to create festive decorations and keepsakes. Preschool settings can also benefit from holiday crafting, as it allows children to express themselves creatively while learning about seasonal traditions and themes. Incorporating crafts into holiday curriculum can enhance cognitive development, promote social interaction, and spark excitement for upcoming festivities.

Toddlers and their families can leverage Santa crafts not only as fun activities but also as meaningful home decor and thoughtful gifts during the holiday season. Here's how:

Handmade Decorations: Encourage toddlers to create Santa-themed crafts like ornaments, garlands, and door hangers. These can adorn various spaces in the home, from the Christmas tree to mantels and windows. Handprint Santa ornaments or paper chain garlands featuring Santa's face add a personal touch to the festive decor.
Table Centerpieces: Toddlers can help create centerpieces for holiday gatherings by crafting Santa-themed items such as paper plate Santas or Santa-themed napkin holders. These homemade decorations will be the talk of the table and add a whimsical touch to holiday meals.
Personalized Stockings: Instead of traditional store-bought stockings, families can involve toddlers in crafting personalized stockings featuring Santa Claus. Provide plain stockings or felt cutouts, along with fabric markers, glitter glue, and assorted decorations. Toddlers can decorate their own stockings, adding Santa faces, reindeer, or snowflakes, creating cherished keepsakes for years to come.
Gift Wrapping Embellishments: Use Santa crafts as embellishments for gift wrapping. Attach small Santa ornaments, handmade gift tags featuring Santa's face, or miniature Santa figurines to presents. Not only do these decorations add charm to gifts, but they also showcase the effort and love put into each package.
Homemade Gifts: Turn Santa crafts into heartfelt gifts for family and friends. Consider creating personalized Santa ornaments, framed Santa handprints, or Santa-themed photo frames. These handmade gifts not only showcase the creativity of toddlers but also convey warmth and thoughtfulness to the recipient.
Holiday Cards: Toddlers can use their Santa-themed artwork to create holiday cards for loved ones. Help them design cards featuring Santa Claus, reindeer, or snowmen using their crafted pieces. Handmade cards add a personal touch and are sure to bring smiles to the faces of friends and family.
Memory Keepsakes: Santa crafts can become cherished memory keepsakes for families. Frame artwork featuring Santa or create a holiday scrapbook filled with photos of toddlers crafting their Santa creations. These keepsakes serve as delightful reminders of holiday traditions and the joy of crafting together as a family.

By incorporating Santa crafts into home decor and gifts, toddlers and their families can infuse the holiday season with creativity, warmth, and personalized touches, making it truly magical for everyone involved.

Items to Have on Hand for Toddler Crafts/Art: Before diving into Santa-themed crafting with toddlers, it's helpful to have a few basic supplies on hand.

Here's a list to get you started for cute Christmas crafts:

Construction paper in various colors
Safety scissors (for adult use with supervision)
Non-toxic paint
Paintbrushes
Glue stick
Cotton balls
Pipe cleaner
Googly eyes
Washable markers
Stickers
Craft foam
Pom poms
Paper plates
popsicle sticks / craft sticks
tissue paper
white paper

Santa Themed Toddler Crafts:

Santa Paper Bag Puppet - Paper bags are very inexpensive to purchase and are fun craft to put together easily. This is a great easy Santa craft to work on as a family, toddlers will need help with this from siblings or adults. I usually have the rest of the materials already on hand, making this a really inexpensive craft project. Even younger children can help glue the pieces of the big guy Santa puppet together. Following instructions is a skill children need for school, and making a craft at home is a great way to practice that skill. When we craft together, my kids are also honing their fine motor skills and their imaginations! Creating a simple craft is one of our go-to boredom busters. I like this Christmas spirit craft for little kids even though it may be a bit harder because it can double as a gift bag for classroom parties for trinkets getting sent home too.

2. Torn Paper Santa Hat - Probably one of the most simple Santa crafts on this list, but toddlers little hands will love having permission to rip apart the red paper. Let your messy little monster rip until their heart desires before gluing on the free printable template. This easy craft takes no time but could be cut out and hung up as a mantle decoration or in the classroom. Do not overthink Christmas themed crafts, the littlest kids do not need anything complicated to have so much fun.

3. Fork painted Santa craft - everyone know that Santa's big beard gets a lot of attention from young kids. So tap into this easy Santa Claus craft centered around his beard! Print the free template and pour white paint onto a flat surface, like a plastic plate, ensuring easy dipping for the fork. Grab a sturdy steel fork from the kitchen. Dip the fork into the paint, covering the bottom fully, and stamp it onto Santa’s chin. The completed version makes cute Christmas cards and is so much fun to make! Ho Ho Ho!

4. DIY Santa Hats craft - This DIY Santa hats craft idea is such a cute and easy paper Christmas hat that you’ll love to make! Learn how to make a Santa hat out of paper. This simple Christmas craft is fun to make with your kids and doesn’t require too many steps or materials. You don’t need a paper Santa hat template for this project because you will use one whole piece of construction paper per hat that you make.

Kids of all ages can join the fun and make this holiday art project. If you love Santa Claus and can’t wait for him to mosey on down the chimney, you will enjoy making this DIY paper Santa hat with your family! Wear these cute Santa hat crafts all month long!

5. Build a Santa worksheet - Building fine motor skills is a critical part of preschool development. Fine motor skills involve working with the small muscles to control movements in the hands, fingers, lips, and tongue. Developing these crucial skills helps preschoolers to eat, use cutlery, dress, tie their shoes, and learn to hold a pencil. This cute Christmas activity preschool worksheet is a great way to help your students practice counting. Children will use cotton balls to glue on Santa face and then can count the number of cotton balls used!

6. Santa Handprint Craft - This Santa Claus craft is so easy and fun, that even the littlest elves will want to make one. It would also make a beautiful Christmas gift for someone special! One of the best things about making handprint crafts is how easy and cheap they are to make. For this craft, all you’ll need are a few common household craft supplies and the free template!

7. Santa Handprint Adorable ornament - This simple yet sweet santa ornaments are a great addition to a Christmas tree and will be a treasured Christmas craft forever.

5. Cotton Ball Santa Claus: Using a piece of red construction paper as the background, help your toddler glue on cotton balls to create Santa's beard and hat. Add googly eyes and a pom-pom nose to complete the jolly face.

6. Santa's Sleigh Collage: Provide toddlers with pre-cut shapes of Santa, his sleigh, and reindeer, along with assorted colored paper for the background. Let them arrange and glue the pieces to create their own festive scene.

7. Paper Plate Santa: Using a paper plate as the base, have toddlers paint it red. Once dry, add a white beard, googly eyes, and a red hat with cotton ball trim. For extra flair, glue on a small paper sack filled with cotton ball gifts. Fun ideas for the entire Christmas season can be found on simple everyday mom!

Crafting Santa-themed creations with toddlers and the whole family is a delightful way to celebrate the holiday season and create cherished memories. The fun project will end up being a favorite Christmas crafts that are displayed for years to come.

Whether it's at home with family or in a preschool setting with friends, these simple yet adorable easy Christmas crafts are sure to spread joy and excitement. So gather your supplies, unleash your creativity, and let the magic of the season shine through in every perfect Christmas craft Santa creation!