We love making our own Christmas cards but it can get tricky coming up with new ideas that are simple enough for young children to be able to manage on their own. Here's a simple card that we made using a few recycled materials from around the house and a little bit of paint.
Materials:
Paint, kitchen sponge, blank cards/folded cardboard, bubble-wrap, recycled cardboard, scissors, glue, paint brush, stickers (optional)
Directions:
Cut a triangular, Christmas-Tree-shape out of your bubble wrap trying carefully not to cut through the inflated bubbles of air. Cut a slightly larger triangle of thick cardboard and stick the bubble wrap (bubble side up) to it. This is your Christmas tree stamp.
Cover your sponge with paint. Try mixing around the colours and putting different colours here and there.
Press your home-made stamp onto your stamp-pad and gently stamp it around to cover it all.
If there are spaces that aren't covered, use your paintbrush to dab with paint. As you can see here, our bubble wrap was quite old and had been used previously by the kids. I found it really hard to find a triangular space with full, inflated bubbles still. For a perfect finish, use new bubble wrap.
Carefully press down your bubble wrap stamp on to the outside of your blank card. Encourage children to gently press around all spaces of the stamp to transfer a clear print.
Revealing prints is such a delight each time!
Even though our end results were not perfect, they were really made by kids and Maddie (aged 4), really enjoyed the process and the results. She was proud of her cards and I was proud of her.
When they are dry, finish them off with a little star sticker at the top (optional) and then they are ready to write your messages inside.
My toddler (just turned 2), had a go of one himself. If you move the stamp while it's pressed down, this is what you get :) Hey, it's a real 2-year-old made card. It got some extra sticker love.
Handy Tips:
- Simplify this activity by having the stamp made and ready for children to press into paint and print onto cards. Assist younger children in lifting the stamp away cleanly from the card. You could add a handle to your home-made stamp to assist them in doing this, by gluing a cork on the back.
- Extend this activity by having your child be responsible for making the stamp out of bubble wrap and cardboard. They can count along the bubbles of air to see how many in each row.
- Make perfect imprints by using a paint brush to individually paint each air bubble. You can paint each one different colours and make all kinds of fabulous patterns!
- Use this opportunity to talk with your child about the triangular shape of the tree, the colours you're using, the people you're making the cards for and other topics that may come up in the course of the experience. This is fabulous for language development and understanding.
- Write the inside of the cards together. Even if your child is pre-writing, involve them in the process and discuss the types of things included in Christmas cards together.
- We share more ideas and tips about making greeting cards with kids here
Happy playing,
Debs :)
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