sock snowmen

Hopefully you’ve taken advantage of UrbanSitter to score a sitter or two so you can get out to enjoy a holiday party or take care of some shopping without the kids. Why not make it fun for the kids and a little easier on the sitter by leaving them with instructions and supplies for holiday crafts to tackle together?

We’ve selected four crafts that will score big points with kids and are simple enough as to not to stress out the sitter. What’s even better? These crafts make awesome homemade gifts. Your kids will love wrapping their masterpiece and will beam with pride when they deliver it to a lucky recipient this holiday season.

Our top four, fun-to-make, homemade gifts, along with instructions and a handy shopping list for each:

  1. 1. Salt Dough Hand Print Ornament

Those tiny hands, whether they belong to your newborn or your 7-year-old, won’t last for long. These classic handprint ornaments made with salt dough are an adorable, touching way to cement a moment in time.  You’ll cherish them so much, you won’t want to give them away… so have the sitter and your kids make one for you, too.  Click for instructions.

Here’s what you’ll need to leave the sitter:

4 cups of flour

1 cup salt

Food coloring

Large Mixing Bowl

Cookie sheet

Canola oil

Small rolling pin

Drinking straw

Ribbon

Photo by Stephanie Severin
Photo by Stephanie Severin

2. Magnified Magnets

This is a good project for bigger kids who have better focus and dexterity than their younger  siblings. Half the fun of the project is hunting down tiny pictures to fit on the back of glass pebbles. Good places to search for images include: scraps of wrapping paper, Christmas cards, homemade drawings, and thumbprints made with a stamp pad. Simply cut out the image and glue it right side up to the flat side of a glass pebble. Once dry, glue a magnet to the back of it. The blogger gives you more detailed instructions, and lots of photo for inspiration.

You’ll need the following, available from a craft supply store:

3/4 inch circle punch

Glass accent marbles/pebbles

Adhesive

Stamp pad

Craft paper, wrapping paper, cards

¾ inch magnets

3. Chocolate-Dipped Pretzels

pretzels
Photo by: food.com/938006

This is a yummy cooking project for kids of various ages.  Everyone can help break up the chocolate; older kids, with the help of a sitter, can dip the pretzels into melted chocolate (candy canes work well for dipping, too); and little ones can sprinkle and/or roll pretzels in crushed candy, sprinkles, nuts or coconut. There is no shortage of recipes for this one, but here’s a favorite of ours.

You’ll need:

Pretzels rods or candy canes

Chocolate chips or melting chips

Candy, sprinkles, nuts, coconut – anything you want to roll them in

Wax paper for cooling pretzels

4. Sock Snowmen

sock snowmanThis adorable craft is perfect for kids and a great way to repurpose those lonely socks missing their match. 🧦 These no-sew snowmen are as fun to make as they are to display, and they make a fantastic holiday gift or decoration.

Simply fill a white sock with rice, tie it off to form the body and head, and then decorate with buttons, fabric scraps, and markers to create a snowman full of personality. It’s a mess-free, kid-friendly craft that doesn’t require glue or advanced crafting skills.

You’ll need:

  • White socks
  • Rice (or stuffing material)
  • Rubber bands
  • Fabric scraps or ribbon
  • Buttons
  • Markers

For full instructions, check out this guide.

Have you found other holiday crafts for kids that your kids are going ga-ga for? We’d love to hear about them. Please share with us!

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