paper crafts

Gnome Christmas Stocking Craft

December 23, 2024 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

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It’s all about the beard in this cozy gnome Christmas stocking craft. It is so easy to make and super cute to display. Make one (or two or three) to include in your holiday decorating scheme.

Gnomes are lovable, little mythical creatures with large noses and pointed hats. They are super popular in home décor. I love seeing them displayed in stores when I’m out and about around town. Tailored for every holiday season, they come in all sorts of colors and designs. The cheeky, whimsical characters provide endless inspiration for simple crafts to make.

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Supplies To Collect

Gather the following supplies for this charming gnome craft:

construction or cardstock paper
thick yarn
thin ribbon
large pom pom
craft punches
double-sided tape
scissors and pencil
glue stick and glue gun

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Follow me on Pinterest for more early learning ideas.

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The Gnome Christmas Stocking Craft

To make this gnome Christmas stocking craft, start by picking out two complementary colors of cardstock or construction paper.

Next, draw on and cut out a Christmas stocking from an 8 ½ inch x 11-inch sheet of construction paper.
Then draw and cut out a cuff from paper in a coordinating color.

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Afterward, line the top of the paper stocking with double-sided tape, adding more small pieces to the center.

Next, select white or cream-colored yarn and loop it on the stocking, pressing the yarn onto the double-sided tape. Thick, fluffy yarn works well for this craft.

Then stick on a large light brown pom pom nose.

Secure the cuff to the top of the stocking with hot glue, and add a small loop to one of the upper edges for hanging.

Finally, glue on one or more foam or paper-punched holiday shapes to give the stocking extra flair.

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Once you’ve crafted one cozy character, you just might want to make more! This gnome Christmas stocking craft would make a fun family or classroom activity with everyone designing their own. The festive yarn and paper gnomes would display beautifully on a garland.

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December Kindness Activities Printable Set

A December Kindness Calendar and Kindness Jar are two activities to teach empathy and kindness at home or in the classroom. Download this gorgeous pastel holiday printable set of kindness activities in my Skills N Smiles Etsy Shop for a low-low price. You’ll have the December kindness activities ready in minutes!

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More Christmas Arts and Crafts

Click on the pictures below for more Christmas art and crafts ideas.

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Paint Chip Christmas Card

December 20, 2024 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

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Paint chips, available at hardware stores, come in a glorious array of colors and shades with equally splendid names. The rows and rows of paint color samples offer many choices for painting walls and other items. Teachers love to use recycled or donated paint chips for educational purposes such as sorting and matching activities. Creators love them for craft projects. The many-hued paint color samples add beauty to any activity or project and look pretty in this paint chip Christmas card with a tree theme.

Artificial Christmas trees also come in a huge array of colors. In addition to traditional green, you can now purchase a tree in your favorite color. Many come pre-lighted and ready for ornaments to be strung…so easy! This festive homemade card features paint chip swatches in five colors.

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Supplies To Collect

Gather the following supplies for this simple handmade Christmas card:

8 ½ x 11-inch white cardstock
donated or recycled paint chips
adhesive gemstone stickers
pencil and scissors
marker
glue stick

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Follow me on Pinterest for more early learning ideas.

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Making the Paint Chip Christmas Card

To make this tree-themed Christmas card, fold an 8 ½ x 11-inch piece of cardstock in half. I chose a creamy white color for the cardstock as I like it better than pure white.

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Next, draw and cut out a Christmas tree from cardstock to be your tracer. The tree should be slightly smaller than your paint chip samples. A cardstock scrap works fine for this.

Then pick out five donated or recycled paint chips in varied colors for the trees. This is the most fun!

Using the tracer as a guide, trace and cut out small trees from the paint color cards.

Afterward, arrange the tree cutouts on the front of the folded white cardstock sheet, and glue them on using the glue stick. Leave a little space to add a holiday message such as “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays.”

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As a finishing touch pick one tree to add adhesive gemstone stickers to. I had silver gemstone stickers handy, so they were my choice for the dose of glam.

Pen a greeting inside the tree-themed paint chip Christmas card and it is ready to give to someone special during the festive holiday season.

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More Christmas Tree Activities

Color Explosion Science Experiment

Build A Christmas Tree Steam Activity

Christmas Tree Decorating Center

Candy Cane Tree Experiment

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December Kindness Activities Printable Set

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More Christmas Art and Crafts Activities

Click on the pictures below to access more Christmas art and crafts activities.

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Baby Chick Theme Activities

April 18, 2024 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

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These baby chick theme activities are inspired by Mo Willem’s picture book titled “That Is Not A Good Idea.” The activities include two storybooks about chicks, a chick headband craft, chick songs and chants, a hen and chick coloring page, discussing the life stages of a chicken, and performing “The Chicken Dance.” A free downloadable chick headband template is included in the post.

Picture Books About Hens and Chicks

Two picture books perfect for a baby chick theme day are:

“The Cow That Laid An Egg” by Andy Cutbill. In the humorous story, chickens hatch a plan to help a cow that thinks she is ordinary feel extraordinary. A little chick hatched from an egg is part of the plan.
“That Is Not A Good Idea” by Mo Willems. The characters in the picture book are a wolf, a hen, and a brood of chickens. The story is suspenseful and fun and has a delightful surprise ending.

Chick Headband Crafts

These simple chick headband crafts look super cute and help get little learners in the mood to act out baby chicks in rhymes, chants, and action songs. Pick one design to create with your little learners. Then invite them to wear it for music time and dramatic play.

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Children welcome the opportunity to use specialized art supplies in a craft. Wiggly eyes and a feather tuft accent this first chick headband.

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To keep the craft simpler, use construction paper for the entire headband. The colorful paper headband looks equally sweet.

To make craft preparation super easy, download this free chick headband template to use for the craft.

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Chick Headband PrintableDownload

This printable is for individual or one classroom use only.

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Don’t have construction paper in the colors needed? No problem. Download the template and invite participants to use crayons to color the pieces before assembling them into a chick headband.

Songs And Chants About Baby Chicks

Wearing a chick headband sets the mood for language arts and musical activities. The fun baby chick songs and chants featured in a blog post by Teaching Mama are perfect for the theme.

Chick Coloring Page

A simple hen and chick coloring page is a good calming activity. There are many options to choose from online.

Life Cycle of a Chicken Figurines

Hen and chick life cycle figurines by Safari Ltd. are great accessories to use to explain the life cycle of a chicken.

The Chicken Dance Song

A fitting ending for the baby chick theme day is dancing to a version of The Chicken Dance song. It’s bound to send everyone off in good spirits.

These baby chick theme activities are perfect for an Easter, spring, or farm animal theme.

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Celebrate Diversity Paper Craft

April 5, 2024 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

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April is Celebrate Diversity Month, and people are encouraged to participate in activities that celebrate people from different ethnic backgrounds. This easy Celebrate Diversity paper craft draws attention to the diversity in people by representing different skin colors.

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Supplies to Collect

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To create this eye-catching diversity craft, gather the following:

skin-colored construction paper
green, blue, and red construction paper
18-inch x 18-inch sheet of white art paper
glue stick
scissors and pencil

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Follow me on Pinterest for more early learning ideas.

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The Celebrate Diversity Paper Craft

To make this celebrate diversity paper craft, start by tracing each child’s hand and arm on a skin-toned piece of construction paper.

Next, cut out the traced arms and hands.

Then cut a circle from blue construction paper, a half circle from green construction paper, and a heart from red construction paper.

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Use a glue stick to affix the blue circle onto a large sheet of art paper that is a minimum of 18 inches x 18 inches in size. Glue the green half circle on top of the blue circle, and add on the red heart.

Afterward, arrange the skin-toned arms and hands around the paper earth and glue them on.

Finally, trim off pieces of paper arms that extend beyond the sides of the white art paper background. If desired, write the words “Celebrate Diversity” on the top section of the craft.

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Your diversity craft project is ready for display.

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Earth Day Paper Craft

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Earth Day was first celebrated in 1970 and is now scheduled every year on April 22. Including an earth with a heart on it depicts the importance of caring for our earth, and allows this Celebrate Diversity paper craft to double up as an Earth Day activity.

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More Celebrate Diversity Arts and Crafts

Celebrate Diversity Printable Set

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These Celebrate Diversity coloring activities with an “I Belong” theme help children feel seen, accepted, and valued. Designed to nurture confidence and a sense of inclusion, this printable set includes three coloring pages (two are editable), and matching bookmarks to color. The printable is available in my Skills N Smiles Etsy shop.

Celebrate Diversity Heart Art

Three Black History Month Crafts

Five Black History Month Crafts

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More Earth Day Arts and Crafts

Earth Day Bead Craft

Earth Day Heart Art

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St. Patrick’s Day Gnome Craft

March 11, 2024 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

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Leprechaun activities are a fun part of St. Patrick’s Day for children, and this St. Patrick’s Day gnome craft is a fun one to include in the Irish-themed celebration. There is a free leprechaun gnome template to download to make the paper craft easy to prepare.

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Check out these two St. Patrick’s Day printable products in my Skills N Smiles Etsy shop:

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St. Patrick’s Day Gnome Craft Supplies

This cheeky craft is made primarily of cardstock paper, with a few additional supplies. Gather the following for the craft:

three shades of green cardstock paper
tan, orange, black, and white cardstock paper
8 ½ x 11-inch white, yellow, or mint green cardstock
green glitter cardstock
shamrock confetti
tiny gold pom poms or craft buttons
glue stick and white glue
scissors and pencil

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St. Patrick’s Day Gnome Craft Preparation

To prepare this March craft, cut a leprechaun body and hat from two different shades of green cardstock.

Next cut a round nose, two round hands, and two oval feet from tan cardstock paper. I used paper punches for the shapes but included circles and ovals in the downloadable template in this post.

Afterward, cut a heart-shaped beard from white or orange cardstock, and a money pot from black cardstock.

Cut the rim of the hat from green glitter cardstock.

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Click on this link to download the leprechaun template for this craft.

Leprechaun Gnome PrintableDownload

This printable is for individual or one classroom use only.

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Then select mint green, white, or yellow 8 ½ inch x 11-inch cardstock to glue the leprechaun parts on.

Finally, pick tiny gold pom poms or small buttons to represent gold, and have available shamrock confetti.

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The St. Patrick’s Day Gnome Craft

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To make this leprechaun gnome craft, use a glue stick to affix an oval body onto a piece of 8 ½ x 11-inch cardstock, and add the heart-shaped beard and leprechaun nose.

Next, glue on the hat and add a glitter green rim.

Then add two oval feet, the money pot, and two round hands.

Affix a confetti shamrock to the end of the hat and add one or more to the center of it for decoration.

Finally, glue tiny pom poms or small buttons on and above the money pot to represent gold.

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Instead of using shamrock confetti, pom poms, or buttons as finishing touches, you can cut apart St. Patrick’s Day necklaces to use for your craft. The tiny coins on the necklace can be used as treasure, and the necklace shamrocks can be used instead of confetti ones.

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Wouldn’t a group of paper-crafted gnomes look adorable in a St. Patrick’s Day display?

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St. Patrick’s Day Sheep Craft

Shamrock Paper Plate Lion Craft

Leprechaun Sensory Jar

Leprechaun Sensory Play

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[Read more…]

paper crafts

Supplies To Collect

The Gnome Christmas Stocking Craft

December Kindness Activities Printable Set

More Christmas Arts and Crafts

Supplies To Collect

Making the Paint Chip Christmas Card

More Christmas Tree Activities

December Kindness Activities Printable Set

More Christmas Art and Crafts Activities

Picture Books About Hens and Chicks

Chick Headband Crafts

Songs And Chants About Baby Chicks

Chick Coloring Page

Life Cycle of a Chicken Figurines

The Chicken Dance Song

Supplies to Collect

The Celebrate Diversity Paper Craft

Earth Day Paper Craft

More Celebrate Diversity Arts and Crafts

More Earth Day Arts and Crafts

St. Patrick’s Day Gnome Craft Supplies

St. Patrick’s Day Gnome Craft Preparation

The St. Patrick’s Day Gnome Craft

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