10 Christmas activities for Early Years settings

For Early Years settings, the end of the autumn term is busy enough. With parent meetings, assessments, over-excited little ones, and variable weather to contend with, it's no wonder that educators look forward to that earned winter break.

But we're not quite there yet.

While we're waiting to put our feet up and wait for Father Christmas, there's still time for some festive fun with the children. Enjoy!

1. Salt painting – glittering Christmas pictures

A simple method for creating pictures with a captivating effect.

What you need: 

• Salt,
• Craft glue
• Watercolours or finger paints
• Paper

Here's how:

Paint with glue and sprinkle salt on top. Once dry, paint over it with watercolours – the paint will flow along the lines created by the salt, resulting in a subtle shimmer. The children discover how colours behave on unusual surfaces and experience a small magical result.

2. Tea light snowmen

An idea that creates a winter atmosphere even without any snow.

What you need:

• LED tea lights
• Glasses or empty, clean jam jars
• Cotton wool or white paint
• Colourful pipe cleaners or paper for a scarf/hat

Here's how:

Paint the glass white or cover it with cotton wool, design the face and accessories, and add the lights inside. Now you have glowing snowman friends for your windowsill or table.

3. Pine cone decorations & colourful pine cone trees

Children recycle the natural materials and create with their own unique ideas – each pinecone artwork is different.

What you need:

• Collected pine cones
• Paints
• Glitter / small beads/paper stars as decoration

Here's how:

Paint, decorate, and string up the pinecones – transform them into Christmas tree ornaments or miniature trees.

4. Santa and his elves

Small figures are created from everyday materials. Perfect for small-world play or as a gift for parents.

What you need:

• Empty toilet paper rolls
• Construction paper or felt
• Paints
• Googly eyes
• Paper
• Glue

Here's how:

Paint and decorate the rolls, adding a hat and beard, then draw on a face. Your homemade Santa Claus or elf is finished!

5. Woven Christmas tree

Fine motor skills, pattern recognition, creative thinking—and in the end, a small work of art to be proud of. This activity is better suited to your preschoolers.

What you need:

• Colourful paper strips (e.g., from old craft sheets or calendars.
• Glue, construction paper, or cardstock for the background
• Scissors

Here's how

Cut a large triangle shape from one piece of paper and fold the triangle in half.  Starting on the fold, cut straight lines from the top to the bottom, but not all the way to the edge. The cuts should be about 2cm apart. Open the triangle shape, and you have your basic weaving frame. Next, the children choose colourful paper strips and weave them into the Christmas tree design, over and under, alternating with each strip. The protruding ends are glued to the edge and then trimmed so the tree looks neat.  Finally, the children can decorate their woven Christmas tree as they wish—for example, with paper stars, stickers, or some glitter.

6. Homemade wrapping paper

Creativity, colour knowledge, patterns, anticipation of giving gifts, and appreciating your own creations.

What you need:

• Large sheets of paper or plain wrapping paper
• Paints or stamps
• Optional: Brushes, sponges, potatoes for making potato stamps

Here's how:

Children freely paint or stamp the paper with Christmas motifs: stars, fir trees, fingerprints, dots, stripes—creating a truly personal gift wrap.

7. Christmas in a jar

In addition to sight and touch, a new sense comes into play here – smell. Children become familiar with Christmas aromas and look forward to opening the jar.

What you need:

• Clean jars (recycled jam jars are perfect)
• Natural materials: dried orange slices, cinnamon sticks, star anise, fir branches - you could collect these locally or support the children to dry the fruit slices in preparation.
• Ribbon

Instructions:

Layer the materials in the jar, tie the ribbon around it, pop the lid back on and voila! A small, scented jar that instantly smells like Christmas.

8. Mini Christmas trees

Fine motor skills when threading, understanding of spatial form, and pride in a self-made small object.

What you need:

• A pipe cleaner about 48 cm long
• Some colourful beads
• Optional: stickers or glitter for decoration

Here's how:

First, thread beads onto the pipe cleaner, leaving some space between them. The children then shape the pipe cleaner into a flat spiral and pull it apart so that there is a wide coil at the bottom and a pointed one at the top, creating the tree shape. For some children, it might also be easier to wrap the pipe cleaner around something cone-shaped.

9. Acorn decorations

Make use of nature's craft resources!

What you need:

• Acorns
• Paints
• Felt-tip pens
• Small scraps of fabric, paper or felt for hats and scarves
• Glue, thread for hanging

Here's how:

The children paint the acorns (for example, as Santa Claus, snowman, reindeer, or little elf) and add a mini hat or scarf, made from felt or paper. Finally, glue on a small thread and the acorn becomes a bauble for a tree!

10. Triangle trees

A mini maths activity with a Christmas twist!

What you need:

• Construction paper in several shades of green (or any colour really - who says Christmas trees have to be green?)
• Small clothes pegs
• Scissors
• Glue
• String or thin cord

Here's how :

The children cut out triangles from different shades of green and glue the pieces on top of each other to create a small Christmas tree. Of course, they can decorate them as they like. Finally, each tree is attached to the string with a clothes peg.