Christmas is the perfect time to get creative with kids, and this whimsical yarn and glue DIY Christmas ornament craft is a perfect way to keep it simple.
This activity will help your child build color recognition skills and also offers a dose of scientific inquiry-based thinking.
This DIY Christmas ornament craft should take about 10-20 minutes, and it’s something your child can treasure forever, too!
Also try these cute craft stick Christmas tree ornaments.
Setting Up Your DIY Christmas Ornament Craft
Materials
For this activity, you’ll need just a few materials you probably already have at home:
- Freezer paper or wax paper
- Food coloring
- White yarn (affiliate link)
- School Glue
- Popsicle sticks (affiliate link)
- Pencil
- 3 small bowls
- Glitter (Optional)
Preparation
Before you invite your child to the table, do a quick prep:
- Tape a long piece of freezer or wax paper to the table. This makes clean up a lot easier!
- Place the three bowls on the paper along with red, blue, and yellow food coloring.
- Cut at least 6 pieces of yarn about 12 inches long.
- Have a few baby wipes handy for those sticky fingers!
Ready? Gather up your toddler or preschooler and get ready to create!
My two year old was able to do this project almost completely by himself. Try letting your little one develop a little independence and keep as hands-off as possible.
Find more ideas for homemade Christmas ornaments here.
Making Your DIY Christmas Ornament Craft
First, fill each of the three bowls with about 1 inch of glue.
Let your child place a few drops of blue, red, and yellow food coloring in the separate bowls.
I talked with my son about these special colors called “primary colors.” We can use these three colors to make any color in the rainbow!
Have your little one use the popsicle sticks to stir the food coloring and glue in each bowl. It’s so fun to watch the excitement on their faces as they watch the colors appear!
Now, tie a piece of yarn to your pencil on one end. Let your child hold the pencil and dip the yarn in one of the bowls, coating the yarn completely in the glue mixture.
Show him how to place the coated yarn on the freezer paper, making whatever designs he chooses.
We chose to make whimsical curly designs, and my son loved it! You could certainly aim for star or heart shapes if you wanted.
Repeat for the other two colors as well.
Add A Little Color Learning to the Fun!
Now you should have three ornaments in the primary colors: red, blue, and yellow. This is where learning comes into play!
Have your child make the following color combinations by adding more food coloring to the existing glue mixtures.
- red + blue = purple
- blue + yellow = green
- yellow + red = orange
Before they mix the colors, encourage inquiry with a few good questions.
“What color do you predict will appear? Why do you think so?”
Have your child mix the new colors in each bowl. As the new color combinations appear, ask,
“Was your prediction right? Why or why not? Can you explain what happened?”
Here’s where you can circle back around to the generalization you made at the beginning of the activity:
“Remember, we said that we can use primary colors to make any color in the rainbow. Guess what? We just proved it with our very own experiment.”
Even toddlers and preschoolers can begin to grasp scientific inquiry!
With the remaining three pieces of string, repeat the process of coating the yarn and arranging it on the wax paper.
Before you let the ornaments dry completely, you can sprinkle each ornament with glitter. I’ve never met a toddler who didn’t like glitter!
There you go! Whimsical DIY Christmas ornaments with a dose of early learning science thrown in.
Christmas couldn’t get any more fun!
Let your kids create their very own spiral Christmas tree craft!
What will you create with your toddler or preschooler this Christmas?
Yarn and Glue DIY Christmas Ornament Craft on handsonaswegrow.com
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