Here’s a roundup of some great handmade Christmas card ideas for kids to make. There are ideas for preschoolers and school age children to have fun making and creating.
Handmade Christmas card ideas for kids to make
Making Christmas cards is a bit of a rite of passage for kids.
Of course a lot of schools now do the thing where the kids design a card and it gets printed.
But there’s something super special about a handmade Christmas card crafted by a child.
Keep it simple
You don’t have to go into production line mode.
These can be the cards for the nearest and dearest in your child’s life.
It’s also a lovely activity to do in the run-up to Christmas that kills two birds with one stone.
I love activities that cover off more than one thing at a time.
Read more: Easy Christmas Crafts for Kids
Want some tips on making Christmas cards with kids?
Well here you go…
Tips for making Christmas cards with kids
Before you dive into our Christmas card ideas for kids list take a look at these tips for a successful Christmas card making session:
- Start early if you want to avoid late night panic finishing.
- Aim for between 5 – 10 cards at a time.
- Don’t be surprised if your child says “I’ve finished” after one card.
- Aim for two or three cards for every one card your child does.
- Make a range of different cards else kids will get bored.
- Avoid designs that need kids to be precise.
- Invest in good scissors for your kids who can cut – kids scissors can be frustrating.
- Prepare! Fold cards, pre-cut shapes, pre-print basic elements.
- Glitter is your best friend!
- Stickers and buttons make good eyes, so do ready made googly eyes – my first year as a mum I tried making little eyes for all the snowmen and Rudolfs we had painted, never again! A packet of googly eyes is the way forward 🙂
- Create simple paint stamps from potatoes, bottle tops, even hands and feet
- Use house hold items as materials to avoid spending a fortune on craft materials.
- Build fun learning and exploration into card making to keep kids engaged.
- Don’t just stick to Christmas colours – re-excite kids’ interest with eye popping brights.
- Think about what is going to survive the post! Save fragile cards for hand delivery.
Got that all down?
Fancy some inspiration to get you and your kids started with making cards?
Well check out the list below.
And if you fancy doing something a little sweeter with your kids, do take a look at our Easy Christmas Marshmallow Craft Recipes post.
To say I loved putting the marshmallow post together is an understatement!!
12 Handmade Christmas card ideas for kids
1. Washi tape baubles card
I LOVE Washi Tape – check out my Washi Tape Christmas Craft Ideas post for more Washi Tape crafting joy.
Such a simple but clever idea from Crafty Kids At Home, click to follow the step-by-step tutorial
2. Reindeer pipe cleaner appliqué card
Sometimes simplicity is just the best! Check out how to make them over on Not Toy Gifts.
Read more: Christmas Peppermint Candy – YUM!!!!
3. Santa hat Christmas card
Quick and easy Santa hat cards from Mum in the Madhouse
4. Finger print red robins Christmas card
Doncha just LOVE these? Find out more over at Rylands Peters and Small
5. Cotton wool snowman Christmas card
I still remember fondly the cotton wool snowmen I made as a kid that were very similar to these fun but super simple cotton wool pad snowmen from Hands On As We Grow
6. Christmas trees card
Last year simple Christmas trees with glitter … like these ones from Rainy Day Mum …
were our biggest … and prettiest … hit.
7. Print outline Christmas tree card
These cards from Rosalind Grace Designs are a nice example of how you could pre-print certain elements on the cards that your kids then decorate.
8. Super simple mono print Christmas tree card
This mono print Christmas tree card from Blue Bear Wood is super duper easy to make and looks really striking when it’s finished. It’s up to your kiddos how much or little embellishment they add.
9. Glitter and drawing snowman card
Let kids who can, drawer and cut shapes for themselves as they will get more fun out it that way – Sun Hats and Wellie Boots
Read more: DIY Homemade Mason Jar Christmas Decorations
10. Leaf sketch Christmas tree card
We took our crayons to the park at the weekend and did leaf prints – I love this idea from
True Aim Education of using them to make very simple trees that can then be decorated totally free style.
11. Button art Christmas card
You really can make lovely things with buttons!
These from Dee Dee Campbell weren’t made by kids but you could make a button snowman or santa as an example for the children or just give them a whole load of buttons and see what they come up with 🙂
12. Button art Christmas card
There are all sorts of ways you can build some eye-popping brights into your Christmas cards – like these lovely button baubles from M&J.
Just remember you need strong glue for some things to survive the post.
And don’t forget to stock up on supplies…
I hope this list has given you some inspiration for Christmas card ideas for kids.
If you want to do something personal but are just struggling to find time to produce enough – this was us last year!! – you can always resort to photo cards which can be based on your children’s artwork.
We’ve done a roundup of Photo Gift Ideas.
Preparing for Christmas with Mums Make Lists
Want more life hacks and great Christmas ideas?
Scroll through our Christmas posts below, click on an image or link to be taken to a post.
The Homemade Christmas Decorations post, which features 35 ideas for gorgeous Christmas decorations you can make at home is one of the most popular posts ever on Mums Make Lists.
Pin to save:
Christmas Posts on Mums Make Lists
All Christmas Posts on Mums Make Lists
Homemade and Craft
Christmas Candy and Choocolates Recipes
Homemade Christmas Decoration Inspiration
Easy Christmas Marshmallow Craft Recipes for Kids
Christmas Crafts to Keep Kids Occupied
Christmas Washi Tape Craft Ideas
Brilliantly Simple Christmas Wreath Video Tutorials
Christmas Food and Drink
Crock-Pot Christmas Slow Cooker Drinks
Christmas Candy and Chocolates Recipes
Gift Ideas
Thrifty but Fabulous Stocking Stuffers
13 thoughts on “Handmade Christmas card ideas for kids to make”
Some really clever ideas there – I like the pretty beads and the button snowman. This is the first year Little Z will probably like crafty things!
What great tips and fantastic ideas. Have pinned from the Parenting-pin-it-party
great ideas! thanks for sharing hon. #pinitparty
Wonderful ideas, thanks for sharing 🙂
These are some really great ideas and tips. I especially love the button snowman card idea. (Of course, all of them are pretty darn cute.)
Some really good tips. My daughter loves to help but you are absolutely right my expectations have to be realistic (start early, simple design, and only a couple at a time) thanks!
Love all these ideas (especially the leaf print Christmas tree)! I’m adding them to our Christmas Countdown list.
Thank you for the inspiration!
Loving all the fabulous ideas for the Christmas cards – sadly my two are all grown up. Enjoy it while it lasts x #PoCoLo
So thrilled you are encouraging card sending at Christmas! I love to do this too and at any time of year really. Not just the same when you receive a christmas greeting over the email. Found you via “TheBlogStrut” link up. You may enjoy my blog where I gush about all things stationery and the lost art of letter writing – I’m # 124 in the linkup
Another fantastic list. Thanks for linking to PoCoLo x
Wow lots of great ideas, popping over from #PoLoCo xx
Alice…thanks for stopping by and linking up at Share It Sunday. I don’t have any christmas posts to link yet as this will be my first christmas blogging. but I will check back. Thanks again. Fabulous ideas for me to use with my daughter!
Gidday Alice. These are fantastic and your timing couldn’t be more perfect. I’ve got to start getting the kids organised to make these for their teachers and you’ve saved me the hassle of looking for ideas. Thanks for linking up to Thriving on Thursdays. I’m featuring this one tomorrow.
Anne xx