This feature was written by elementary school creativity center specialist Iskra Petrovska.

With winter break upon us and the holiday season just around the corner, it is time to release your creativity, spend quality time with your kids, and embrace the festive spirit of the season. I am sharing with you five easy winter craft ideas that you can do with your kids to decorate your home or prepare gifts and surprises for loved ones. For most of these crafts you will need only few materials which you may already have at home. They are suitable for kids of all ages, and you can make a few adaptations to simplify or make it more complex. Once you decide on the craft to make, play some holiday music, and start enjoying the fun and creativity together. Click on the titles to access the tutorial videos. 

1. DIY Christmas Decorations from Nescafe Capsules
Do you have used Nescafe capsules at home? You can reuse them by creating this lovely ornament which you can hang on your Christmas tree or add it as a decoration on gift wrappings.
  
 

2. Cardboard Christmas Ornaments
All you need to make this craft is a piece of reusable cardboard, glue, and any kind of paper or serviettes. This video tutorial demonstrates the decoupage technique which is suitable for kids with more advanced skills, but you can also easily adapt it to a lower skill level using simple glue stick and regular colored paper. Enjoy and be creative!

3. DIY Christmas Angel Ornaments
This easy craft is fun to make with only yarn, beads, and recycled cardboard. If you have younger children you may need to assist them with cutting out the cardboard and tying a knot to secure the yarn. It is a perfect way to stimulate kids’ creativity and develop fine motor skills. Feel free to decorate your angels too!

4. DIY Salt Dough Ornaments
For this craft you will need only two ingredients which you may already have in your kitchen—salt and flour. Similar to clay and play dough this craft is suitable for kids of all ages. Cut out, bake, decorate your ornaments, and if you preserve them properly, they can last for years. The salt is a natural preservative, but you can also seal them with a mod podge or a clear glaze spray once they are done. However, please keep in mind that the salt dough crafts are not suitable for humid climate as they become soggy over time, so instead you can use air dry clay.

5. DIY Salt Dough Snowman
If you want to bring the salt dough play to another level, you can make this snowman ornament. The video tutorial is suitable for kids with more advanced skills, but you can also easily simplify it for younger children. To avoid puffing, the best is to leave the salt dough ornament to air dry for one day before baking it in oven. You may also want to use a chopstick in the middle to support the structure of the balls one on top of another. As mentioned above, if you live in a humid climate, it is better to use air dry clay instead of salt dough. Have fun!