Christmas Card Ideas

[Guest]

Thinking about ordering materials for Xmas cards. Ideas anyone?

 

I don't want 30 all the same, but would like to provide array of resources so chn can make up their own mind what they want to do, but model a few ideas to them.

 

Come on, I know you'll all have brill ideas.

 

xx

[Rea]

Glitter in different colours and shapes, tissue paper (usually green, red and white this time of year) gold and silver paper, sparkly pipe cleaners, cotton wool, christmas stampers, christmas catalogues to cut up, real christmas cards to cut or to look at for ideas. I used to use anything to be honest, whatever they wanted. We also used to take a photo of each child in the santa hat and dressed in a bit of tinsel to put inside the card.

Card in different shapes and sizes. Do you want the religious aspect of christmas looked at or the usual robins and baubles? If you've got a church near by could you go for a visit and talk about the reason for christmas and then go back and make cards maybe relating to the nativity.

[Hello Kitty]

We did painting with salad spinners the other week and liked it so much - as did the children I hasten to add - that we decided to do them in shiny paint for Christmas cards. A bit abstract as not a picture of anything traditional but pretty adn kind of snowflakey if you squint a bit - now you've mentioned baubles though - they could be baubles

[Hello Kitty]

We did painting with salad spinners the other week and liked it so much - as did the children I hasten to add - that we decided to do them in shiny paint for Christmas cards. A bit abstract as not a picture of anything traditional but pretty adn kind of snowflakey if you squint a bit - now you've mentioned baubles though - they could be baubles

[Panders]

I just put the resources out and let the children go to town! They are given a pot which they can put in all the things they want to stick down, (stickers, glitter balls, cut up pieces of old Christmas cards, etc.etc.)they choose the colour card they want and if they need help to do any writing an adult will help them, finally they can wiggle on some glue and glitter. They always look fab.

 

One year I think we took photographs of the children and trimmed them to credit card size, on the back of the photo we stuck a credit card sized calendar of the year and then laminated it together. We made a couple of diagonal slits in the front of the Christmas cards and slid the photo/calendar into that. the children then decorated the card as they wished.

[HappyMaz]

Christmas is one of the few occasions each year we succumb to what I call 'fluffy duck syndrome light' and we offer the children shaped cards to decorate. Then we just offer the resources, and let them decide what to put, where and how. We've had cards made into 3-d sculptures before now, and usually each one is individual, save for the odd child 'borrowing' an idea from a friend.

[Guest]

My favourite and much revisted card is the handprint Christmas tree. I didn't do them with this reception class when they were in nursery with me last year so it may come out again. A choice of green shades of paint to make one clear handprint on a card. At another session when the prints are dry we'll have a mass craft with a large variety of resources to decorate our tree just how we wish. I like to add a bucket and a piece of tinsel on the top my own I always make an extra 2 of whatever card I do for myself to give my own children as I think they like it when mum handmakes them one instead of buying 'to a wonderful daughter'.

 

I also like finger print robins and salad spinners but we've done that for Divali with florescent paints on black with glitter.

Edited November 14, 2010 by Guest

[redjayne]

Am liking the fluorecent paint on black with glitter idea !!! Off to source resources as we speak

[Gezabel]

oh must been having a mental block (nothing new!)

Please could someone remind me how the salad spinner painting works

[Guest]

I was wondering that - but I don't know and never heard it before..

[Panders]

oh must been having a mental block (nothing new!)

Please could someone remind me how the salad spinner painting works

 

 

Hi Geraldine, Basically, you cut some paper to fit the bottom of the salad spinner "cage", then the children spoon blobs of paint onto the paper. Put the lid on the spinner and get the children to move the handle round, the centralfugal (sp ) force then makes the paint spray out on the paper. When the paintings are dry, we have added drizzles of glue and glitter and stuck them on to cards.

Edited November 18, 2010 by Panders

[Guest]

That sounds good and well worth trying! Need to go out and buy a salad spinner now!

[Panders]

That sounds good and well worth trying! Need to go out and buy a salad spinner now!

We got ours for a £1 in a charity shop

[trasong]

Hi all,

Last year we made christmas crackers. We pre-cut a selection of coloured pieces of card and then provided them with a selection of collage materials to decorate them. When the chidren were dressed up for the nativity we took individual photographs of them, backed them onto gold card and laminated them (about the size of a credit card, completed). we then punched a hole punch in the card and tied the picture on the front. The idea was that if the parents didn't want to keep the card after christmas they could just detatch the picture as a keepsake. The parents really liked them as they said is was sometimes hard to get a picture of their child close up and they all looked original.

[Guest]

In the past I've made Christmas tree decorations but they could be easily attached to a card...

Cut xmas tree shapes/ triangles from green card and give the children a selection of coloured threads to wrap around the card to look like beads/ tinsel. The children can then add sequins of their choice or use paint with glitter mixed in applied by fingers to make dots (baubles).

Another simple but effective idea is to give them card cut into Christmassy shapes (baubles, stars etc.) and just let them stick on an array of spangley, glittery bits, then stick this onto the front of a card.

 

Also whilst we're on the subject of xmas, what about reindeer food? Get some small self-seal food bags and mix oats with glittery cake sprinkles. Tell the children that they should sprinkle it on their step or garden on xmas eve and the glitter will attract the reindeers and they will eat the oats (actually birds will appreciate the free xmas meal but we don't need to let the little ones in on that secret!). Attach a small print out of this poem:

Sprinkle on the lawn at night

The moon will make it sparkle bright

As Santa's reindeer fly and roam

This will guide them to your home.

or

Make a wish and close your eyes tight,

Then sprinkle it on your lawn tonight.

As Santa's reindeer fly & roam

This food will guide them to your home.

[finleysmaid]

oohh how sweet

[HappyMaz]

Also whilst we're on the subject of xmas, what about reindeer food?

Brilliant! Have often thought about doing this, but usually not at the right time, if you get my drift! Will try to remember for this year! Especially as it will be the last Christmas at pre-school for all our children!

[Guest]

hi all, this is my first post after lurking around this forum for some time thought it was about time that I shared some ideas of my own.

 

I teach in a C of E Infants school so ideas for religious card designs were limited. I chose to do an angel with them. Circle cut out from pink card for the face (features drawn on), a triangle cut out from silver card for the dress, white cut out doilies for the wings and some gold tinsel on the top for her halo.

 

I've tried to let the children be creative, modelled it to them only once and put out the resources in trays on a table. I'm actually really enjoying making them with them and they turned out better than I expected. The activity isn't as child initiated as I would like but it's hard trying to get them be creative when there are so many activities to complete over the festive period!

 

I'll try and post a photo of the finished product

[Guest]

I've decided to go for Angels too. We have a stack of folded plain black card and then a selection of white/silver/gold craft pieces and the children can create their own angel-white feathers, doilies, cotton wool, polystrene balls, white card, tinsel, pipecleaners, paint, net fabric, felt and anything else I find rumaging in the cupboards. I've found a powerpoint of Enya singing Angeles (her song not robbies!) which has a slideshow of angels in art which we will watch first for inspiration for our own ideas of what an angel looks like. There are angels or messangers in Islam so its an inclusive craft idea for all our children. The morning is numeracy so thats all going to be angel based too