The glue is already on the table, the paper is cut, and your child has just announced that this craft is boring. Most lists of easy christmas crafts for kids give you twenty ideas and not one word about how long each takes. Here are eight crafts that finish in twenty minutes or less, in the order that keeps a small child with you to the end.
Quick answer:
- Crafts: eight, each between ten and twenty minutes, made from paper, a plate, craft sticks and things from the recycling bin.
- Order: start with the ten-minute crafts and finish with the twenty-minute ones, so the child is warmed up before the longer job.
- Glue: glue stick, white glue and tape only. No hot glue anywhere.
- Ages: most crafts work from three years old with a grown-up cutting; two need scissors skills from five.
- Cutting is the slow part: for a house or an angel, a printable Christmas craft template gives you the shape already drawn.
Easy Christmas Crafts for Kids That Take Under 20 Minutes
A craft that takes an hour is a project, not an evening. Every craft below is built to finish inside about fifteen minutes of a young child’s attention, or to have a clear place to stop.
The lists you find first are full of materials and steps. Few of them say how many minutes a craft takes, and fewer say what to do when the child walks away halfway. These eight crafts fill that gap: each has the minutes, the age, the mess level and a place to stop.
Looking for easy christmas crafts diy ideas with no shopping trip? Everything here uses what a normal kitchen drawer holds. For the cutting-heavy shapes, a gingerbread house papercraft removes the drawing step.
How to Make Easy Christmas Crafts for Kids Without Losing Them Halfway
Children rarely quit because a craft is hard. They quit because the middle is boring: the second glue stripe, the fourth identical cut. Four habits fix that, and you can start any of them today.
- Shortest first: begin with a ten-minute craft. A finished thing in the first ten minutes buys you the next one.
- Pre-cut the boring part: cut the strips or circles before the child sits down, so you do the cutting and the child does the choosing, gluing and decorating.
- Make a stopping point: you can leave every craft below once the main shape is done, and the decorating can happen tomorrow.
- Keep the table small: put out one craft, one glue stick and one pile of paper, because extra choices are the second reason a child drifts away.
You keep a child at the table with a finished craft in the first ten minutes, not with a clever one. If cutting the shapes is where you lose them, a printable template skips that step.
Craft 1: Paper-Strip Christmas Tree, 10 Minutes
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Materials: green paper cut into strips, a sheet of plain paper, a glue stick, a scrap of yellow paper.
What you do: glue the longest strip near the bottom, then shorter strips above it, until the strips make a triangle. Add a star on top.
Age and mess: from three years old; almost no mess. Stop here: after the tree, the star is optional.
This is the warm-up. Pre-cut eight strips in different lengths and your child only has to put them in order, which is a small counting game in disguise. Afterwards, winter coloring pages make a quiet cooldown.
Craft 2: Paper Chain Garland, 15 Minutes
Materials: red and green paper strips, a glue stick or tape.
What you do: make a ring from the first strip, thread the next strip through it, close it, and keep going until the chain is as long as the window.
Age and mess: from four years old; no mess. Stop here: any time, a short chain is still a chain.
The chain suits a child who needs busy hands. If you set a goal of ten links each, a mixed group finishes together, and a printable angel papercraft is a calm next step.
Craft 3: Thumbprint Reindeer Card, 10 Minutes
Materials: a folded card, a washable ink pad or brown paint on a saucer, a marker, a red sticker or a dab of red paint.
What you do: press a thumb on the front of the card, draw antlers and two eyes with the marker, and add a red nose.
Age and mess: from three years old; some mess, and wipes help. Stop here: after the thumbprint, you can draw the face for a toddler.
This one works for the youngest child in your group, and you can send it as a gift. More ideas for the same day are in Christmas Eve activities for kids.
Craft 4: Paper Plate Snowman, 15 Minutes
Materials: a paper plate, white paper or paint, an orange triangle for the nose, scraps of fabric or paper for a hat and scarf, black marker.
What you do: cover the plate in white, glue on the hat and nose, draw the eyes and buttons, and add a scarf of a paper strip.
Age and mess: from three years old; medium mess if you use paint, almost none if you glue paper. Stop here: after the white face and nose.
If you tear white paper onto the plate, you get the same snowy look as paint with no drying time. For a house for the snowman, the gingerbread house papercraft fits next.
Craft 5: Fold-and-Cut Snowflake, 10 Minutes
Materials: a square or round sheet of thin white paper, child scissors.
What you do: fold the paper in half, in half again, and once more into a cone. Cut small shapes along both edges, then unfold.
Age and mess: from five years old, since the child needs to cut a curve; no mess besides paper bits. Stop here: after the first snowflake, the second one is a bonus.
For a snowflake that takes more patience, the angel papercraft is the next step, and party games burn off the energy afterwards. Younger children can crumple and tear the paper instead of cutting, and you still get a pretty result.
Craft 6: Cookie-Cutter Wrapping Paper, 15 Minutes
Materials: a roll of plain paper or brown kraft paper, a few cookie cutters, a sponge, thin washable paint on a plate.
What you do: dip the cutter in the paint, press it on the paper, lift it, and repeat in rows.
Age and mess: from three years old; this is the messiest craft here, so cover the table. Stop here: whenever the sheet is full enough to wrap a small box.
The result is useful, which keeps children going: you wrap a real present with it. While the paint dries, a cozy winter coloring page keeps hands busy.
Craft 7: Craft-Stick Tree Ornament, 20 Minutes
Materials: three craft sticks, white glue, green paint or marker, a small yarn loop, a bead or sticker for the top.
What you do: glue three sticks into a triangle, colour them green, decorate with dots, and tie on the yarn.
Age and mess: from four years old; low mess, but the glue needs a few minutes to set. Stop here: after gluing, then colour while it sets.
While the glue sets, the child can decorate a card or pick the ribbon colour; a house to colour fits that gap too.
Craft 8: Cardboard Tube Snowman, 20 Minutes
Materials: an empty toilet-paper tube, white paper to wrap it, an orange paper triangle, markers, a strip of felt or paper for a scarf.
What you do: wrap the tube in white paper and tape it, draw the face, glue the nose, and wrap the scarf around the middle.
Age and mess: from four years old; no mess. Stop here: after wrapping, the face can wait.
This one finishes the set because it asks for the most steps, and by now your child has had three or four small wins. If you want one more quiet project afterwards, the paper angels are ready to colour.
Pick a Craft by Age, Minutes and Mess
| Craft | Minutes | From age | Mess |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paper-Strip Christmas Tree | 10 | 3 | Almost none |
| Paper Chain Garland | 15 | 4 | None |
| Thumbprint Reindeer Card | 10 | 3 | Some |
| Paper Plate Snowman | 15 | 3 | Low to medium |
| Fold-and-Cut Snowflake | 10 | 5 | Paper bits |
| Cookie-Cutter Wrapping Paper | 15 | 3 | High |
| Craft-Stick Tree Ornament | 20 | 4 | Low |
| Cardboard Tube Snowman | 20 | 4 | None |
For a toddler, pick the thumbprint card. For a mixed-age group, pick the paper chain. For a rainy hour with a seven-year-old, start with the snowflake and finish with the tube snowman. If you want something quieter between crafts, a set of cozy winter coloring pages gives a calm ten minutes.
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Get downloadsA paper craft where the child colours, cuts, folds and sticks together a gingerbread house. You need A4 paper or card, pencils, scissors and tape or glue; younger children need a grown-up to help.
Three paper angels in three poses, with black-and-white templates so the child chooses every colour. A4 paper or card, pencils, scissors and tape or glue.
Twenty-five winter scenes with bold, easy outlines: cottages, cocoa mugs, mittens, reindeer and fireplaces.
Printable Papercraft When Cutting Shapes Is the Slow Part
Six of the eight crafts above use shapes you can cut from a rectangle or a circle. The house and the angel are different: you have to draw, cut and fold the shape accurately, and you spend twenty minutes on it before the child starts. By then the child has wandered off.
A printable papercraft puts the outline on the page. You print it, and your child colours it, cuts along the lines and assembles it. Look at the listing for the number of pieces and the print size before you buy, and check the licence if you print for a class.
When the table is full and the afternoon is long, Christmas activities sorted by how long they hold helps you plan the order, and classroom Christmas games suit the days when none of the crafts hold.
More: Christmas Eve activities for kids, Christmas bingo printable and all Christmas activities for kids.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best easy christmas crafts for kids?
The best ones finish in ten to twenty minutes and leave you something to hang up. The paper-strip tree, the paper chain and the thumbprint card are the quickest, and the tube snowman is the most satisfying for children of five and older.
How to make easy christmas crafts for kids?
Choose one craft, pre-cut the boring parts, put out one glue stick and one pile of paper, and start with the shortest craft first. You decide the order, and your child decides the colours.
How to make easy christmas decorations for kids?
You can turn the finished crafts into decorations: a paper chain across a window, snowflakes taped to the glass, tube snowmen on a shelf and wrapping paper on every present.
How to make easy christmas ornaments for kids?
The craft-stick tree is the simplest ornament: three sticks, white glue, green colour and a yarn loop. Let the glue set before you hang it, and tie the loop yourself.
What if my child loses interest halfway?
You can stop at the marked point. Every craft above is complete enough to keep once the main shape is done, and you can leave the decorating until tomorrow. A printable template is the fallback when the cutting is what lost them.
Key Takeaways
- Eight crafts, each ten to twenty minutes, from paper, a plate, craft sticks and a tube.
- Start with the ten-minute crafts and end with the twenty-minute ones.
- No hot glue: a glue stick, white glue and tape are enough.
- Pre-cut the boring parts, keep the table small, and stop at the marked point if the child leaves.
- When cutting the shape is the slow part, a printable papercraft draws it for you.
About the author: Hi, I’m Tess. I taught preschool for nine years and now make the printables I used to photocopy at 7am. Every craft here has been tried with a real group of kids before it goes up, and I tell you how long it actually held their attention, not how long it should have.
