Easy Preschool Crafts With Festive Cheer
Fun preschool crafts for little hands to try this Christmas
The best preschool crafts are fun, simple, use everyday materials, and won't frustrate child crafters -- or their adult assistants. Fortunately, these popsicle stick reindeer fit the bill. They're simple enough for little people to make, and they look cute hanging on any Christmas tree. As always, you should have adult helpers on hand -- or better still, helpful older children.
What You Need
-- Three craft (popsicle) sticks per child
-- White glue
-- Googly eyes
-- Small red pompoms
-- Ribbon or string for hanging
-- Other decorating material such as glitter, markers, paint, and pipe cleaners (optional)
What To Do
As with all preschool crafts, preparation is key. Make sure you have everything laid out before those little hands get anywhere near it or you'll find yourself unsticking glue bottles and trying to separate glued-together balls of pompoms instead of having crafting fun.
1. Glue the three popsicle sticks together in a triangle. Encourage kids to only place glue on the corners and joints, not on the entire stick!
2. Sing a song while you give the glue a few minutes to dry. Maybe Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer would be appropriate?
3. Position the V shape down with a stick crossing horizontally on top.
4. Glue the googly eyes on either side of the V near the top.
5. Glue the red pompom to bottom of the V to make a nose.
6. Tie a ribbon or string around the horizontal stick so that you can hang it from the tree. Let the glue dry completely before you try to do that, though.
![popsicle-stick-reindeer[1].jpg](http://www.aboutchristmascrafts.com/popsicle-stick-reindeer%5B1%5D.jpg)
Other Ideas
No one expects preschool crafts to look too perfect, so don't be afraid to let the kids get a little wild with the creative side of things. You can paint the popsicle sticks or, if you're not quite that brave (depending on the size of your group), you can color them with markers. Pipe cleaners make great antlers, and it's always fun to spread glitter on anything. As much as they enjoy the basic craft, preschoolers enjoy messing it up even more.
This is a very simple project. It's an equally fun task for kids to do at school, at a neighborhood Christmas party, or just on a snowy winter afternoon. After all, there's nothing like an afternoon of hot chocolate and preschool crafts to warm you up all over.