Christmas arts and crafts are an essential part of any child’s holiday experience. Whether they’re at home or in their preschool class, kids expect to have a holiday arts and crafts session – like using acrylic paint for rock painting – at least once during the season. That’s why it’s good to have a few easy Christmas painting ideas ready to make your kids’ holiday experience special.
Keep reading to discover some easy Christmas painting ideas that will have your kids getting creative and excite them for the holiday season.
Mistletoe Painting
A mistletoe painting is arguably one of the most classic easy Christmas painting ideas for preschoolers. One reason for this is that it’s easy to do.
All you need for this easy Christmas painting idea is a sheet of paper or poster board and green paint. Be sure to lay some newspaper down on the ground where your workspace will be because this can get messy!
Pour your green paint into a shallow container. Take your barefoot preschooler and get them to step into the shallow container of paint. Have the sheet of paper immediately in front of them, and guide them to place one foot onto the sheet, and then the other, ensuring that they’re side by side.
Guide your child off the sheet of paper onto the newspaper and put your preschooler’s artwork somewhere safe to dry. In the meantime, go rinse your preschooler’s feet before they go running around the house!
Decorate your kid’s mistletoe painting with additional details such as a ribbon or white berries.
Paint Wooden Ornaments
Another easy Christmas painting idea is painting wooden ornaments. This is one of the simplest painting ideas that you can do with your kids, but sometimes simple is all you need.
There are a variety of Christmas ornaments that you can get from your local dollar store or online, such as this set of 100 Unfinished Pre Drilled Wooden Shape ornaments that features reindeer, stockings, snowmen, and other popular Christmas figures. Painting each 2D wooden Christmas ornament will give your kids an opportunity to show off their creativity.
Paint Styrofoam Ball Ornaments
If wooden ornaments aren’t your first choice, and you want to provide your kids with a cleaner slate, then another easy Christmas painting idea is to paint styrofoam balls.
Not only are styrofoam balls inexpensive and safe for your preschooler to play with, but they’re also easy to paint and get creative with. Paint them one color or make intricate holiday designs, then hang them on your tree.
What’s more is that you’ll end up with classic Christmas ornaments that won’t break the way that glass ornaments easily do. This pack of 40 styrofoam balls will give you more than enough material for you and your kids to create fun ornaments.
Make DIY Painted Holiday Gift Wrap
This easy Christmas painting idea is fun for your kids and can be useful for you. Having your kids decorate your holiday gift wrap ensures that you add an extra personal touch to each of your gifts this season.
All you need for this project is paint – acrylic paint, for example – and a solid color roll of wrapping paper, which are generally inexpensive. White is the best color to choose as it gives you the best base to work with, but you can also go with classic Christmas colors such as green and red.
To decorate your wrapping paper, you can give your preschoolers paintbrushes and sponges, or you can even let them fingerpaint. Guide them to painting their favorite Christmas designs, such as Christmas trees, snowflakes, or snowmen. Personalize it further by having them write their name or sign it with their handprint. Leave your wrapping paper to thoroughly dry and roll it up until it’s time to wrap the presents!
Paint a Cardboard Christmas Tree
Another easy but effective Christmas painting idea that your preschoolers will enjoy is painting their own personal Christmas trees.
This is an incredibly easy paint project to set up, as all you need is a cardboard cutout in the shape of a Christmas tree – something that you can even do yourself. The benefit of making the cutout yourself is that you can make it as big or as small as you and your kids desire. Better yet, cut out a life-size Christmas tree to give your child even more of a landscape to get creative on.
Make Homemade Christmas Cards for Family
If you’re looking for another easy Christmas painting idea that results in something personal to share with your loved ones, consider having your kids paint your holiday cards.
This is an incredibly easy idea, and the sky’s the limit in terms of how you can go about it. You can stay simple, use sheets of paper, and give your kids complete creative control. Or, if you have older kids, you can provide guidance with Christmas card painting kits, such as this Diamond Painting Holiday Greeting Card kit where you can paint with resin sequins.
This is a great activity to do early in the holiday season so that you have enough time to mail them for Christmas!
Make Christmas Figures Out of Blocks
The last easy Christmas painting idea is an all-around arts and craft project. Try making your favorite Christmas characters out of blocks. From Santa Claus to Frosty the Snowman, your kids will have a great time getting creative and bringing their favorite Christmas figures to life with this fun Christmas craft.
All you need for this craft idea is three-to-five wooden blocks, paint, paintbrushes, a hot glue gun, and whatever additional accessories you think are necessary for your kid’s desired characters, such as:
- Cotton balls
- Pom poms
- Pipe cleaners
- Googly eyes
Start by painting the wooden blocks your desired colors. Let the paint dry, then hot glue the cubes together in a stack. From there, add your accessories using the hot glue gun. Once done, you’ll end up with a few new Christmas decorations that you can either hang on your tree or place around your home!
Recap: The Best Easy Christmas Painting Ideas
To recap, the top easy Christmas painting ideas are:
- Mistletoe painting
- Wooden ornaments
- Styrofoam ball decorations
- DIY holiday gift wrap
- Paint a cardboard Christmas tree
- Homemade holiday Christmas cards
- Make Christmas characters out of blocks
Whether you choose to do one of these painting ideas or find the time to try them all, you’ll end up with crafts and decorations that will at least last you this holiday season. Plus, you’ll make new memories that your kids will keep for the long run.
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