[luvapooh]

We do a craft day at our school. Students on our hall rotate through classrooms doing simple crafts to celebrate the season. The students are first grade and third grade. It needs to be fairly inexpensive since parents will be donating the supplies. Does anyone have an idea or know of place on the web to get ideas? Thanks for your help!!!

[ecsmom]

There are several ideas posted on this board. Check out the Kindergarten and preschool forums too. Ideas I have seen here include applesauce cinnamon ornaments, gingerbread houses made on milk cartons with graham crackers. T-shirts made by painting hand and foot prints to make a Rudolph face, candy canes made with beads and pipe cleaners.

[Garden Gal]

One of my favorite take home ornaments is a handprint santa. Using Crayola Modeling Dough that has been flattened into a pancake and dried for a day or two-trace the child's hand. They can then cut the hand out using children's scissors. The thumb goes at the top-color the thumb and top of the palm red using a sharpie pen for santa's hat. Add a stretched out cotton ball for the fur trim on the hat. Stretch out more cotton balls and stick to the fingers for Santa's beard. Use sharpie pens to draw the face. Poke a hole in the hat, add a red ribbon tied in a loop for a hanger. The foil package of Crayola Dough will do about 4 Kindergartner hands. Ask parents to make your dough pancakes.

[kidsrme11]

Here's one I just made. You take two dog biscuits, one small and one big. You glue the smaller one near the top of the bigger one. Make two brown felt ears and a red tongue, glue on googly eyes and a little black puff for a nose and you have the cutest dog ornament around! Don't forget to add a red ribbon for hanging. I used hot glue but you can try school glue and just give it plenty of time to dry. I don't have a picture, but it's really cute!

[AussieBird]

You may find some ideas here:

http://ngfl.northumberland.gov.uk/christmas/

http://www.kented.org.uk/ngfl/festivals/xmas.htm#act

A simple idea is a christmas place mat. Photocopy a Christmas coloring page on A3 paper ( google 'Christmas coloring pages' for a selection); children color brightly, add glitter and stick-ons eg stars and then laminate.

Another idea :Coloring pages that are colored brightly with marker pens ( we call them Textas in Australia), 'painted ' lightly all over the back with cooking oil (on newspaper,using brush or roller) and allowed to dry for a day or two on paper make very good stained-glass style transparent pictures to hang on a window. You can always make a border frame too.

[Teach'n'Learn]

We did these in fourth grade, but I think third grade at least could do it. Get some of those "keyhole" pavers and paint them white. You have to prime them first, if you want perfectly white snowmen. We didn't prime, and our snowman have a more "rustic white" look.

Then you can use "paint markers" to paint two eyes and a mouth. Use an orange button for the nose. Use black buttons for the, well, buttons. Strips of flannel fabric can be used to tie around the neck for a scarf. Big pompoms and a pipecleaner can be glued on the head for "earmuffs."

They are supercute when finished and very fast if they're pre-painted white.

Hmmm...I'm wondering the same thing, LuvaPooh. I am thinking that the tissue paper wreath that I am doing for the Hall-i-Day Celebration is going to be a nightmare, but I guess it is a live and learn situation. There are some great ideas here...

Would love to know where you find the keyhole pavers. I went to a national chain and could not find them. Any suggestions? Thanks.