From Snowperson advent calendars to a Christmas tree abacus… make sure to tag us in your festive creations! Thank you to @playful_porter on Instagram for creating these wonderful festive art & crafts!

Christmas Bauble – Tape Resist Art 

I talked to Porter about the tape resist art we had done before and asked her if she’d like to do a Christmas–themed version. We discussed different ideas but settled on baubles. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help your little ones:

Step 1: Porter carefully drew a circle after I had asked what shape we would need. I cut out the shape as the cardboard was too tricky for her.

Step 2: She then chose tape and paint colours and we got started. Porter stretched the tape over the cardboard in different directions and carefully folded it over the edges.  

Step 3: Porter then had the most fun squirting the paint into the bowls. She giggled when she heard the noise. She said, ‘oooh squidgy’ when she pressed the sponge into the paint.  

Step 4: For some of the sections, Porter chose to only fill with one colour and in the other sections she wanted to mix. Porter loved shaking the glitter on top!  

Step 5: Once dried, we peeled off the tape to reveal the patterns. Porter said ‘wow’!

Snowperson Advent

Porter and I have been busy preparing for advent by getting crafty with these super cute snowperson DIY advent calendars.  

The carrot noses are attached to the paper plate with a split pin which allows you to spin it so that it points to the date in December!  

Step 1: We added the numbers! Porter had to concentrate on this and realised about halfway through that she needed to write them smaller to fit them all on!  

Step 2: Then we added facial features. Porter wanted to draw hers with a pen and added face paint stars and hearts!  

Step 3: Next, we made hats to keep our snow people warm! Porter wanted her to have a soft cosy pink hat and drew it out before having some help to cut it out.  

Step 4: We added the nose using a split pin. This is a great opportunity to practice those fine motor skills. Allowing Porter to do this herself gave her a strong sense of pride!  

Step 5: Lastly, we added decorative elements. Giving Porter full reign to choose how she decorated hers made her feel very grown up and she was so chuffed with the outcome!   

Christmas Tree Abacus  

Porter, who is aged 4, can count quite well now and is now working on small sums and subtractions. This DIY-themed abacus is great for this and for children learning to count.  

It was fun to make together, which encouraged the use of her fine motor skills, pattern awareness and creativity. This craft was inspired by @earth_and_sky_play on Instagram; make sure to check their profile out!

Step 1: First, I prepared all the cardboard whilst Porter chose what she needed to colour in the tree and the colours for the beads and the pipe cleaners. She chose the ‘sparkly’ pipe cleaners because they felt and looked like tinsel.  

Step 2: We counted and separated the beads together.  

Step 3: Porter enjoyed colouring in the tree, choosing green like the one we have! Mummy forgot a star, so we had to make one of those!  

Step 4: Porter loved using the pointy bit of the pipe cleaners to poke through the cardboard. ‘Pop’!  

Step 5: It was very fiddly threading the beads onto them, but with each one added, Porter felt a sense of pride.

Have you been getting crafty for Christmas yet?