Summer Boost
Activity:
Christmas Stencils
Christmas stencils let your preschooler make his mark on the holiday. Recycle old Christmas cards by using a craft knife to cut out basic Christmas shapes—candy canes, holly, and trees—to make festive Christmas stencils. Let your preschooler use the card as a Christmas stencil to create her own festive thank you notes made just for the holiday season! Crafting these Christmas stencils is a fun way to reuse old materials, work on important fine motor skills, and teach your child to say “thank you!"
Click to find similar content by grade or subject.
What You Need:
- Christmas cards
- Craft knife
- Blank greeting cards or card stock
- Crayons
What You Do:
- Have your child choose one or more Christmas cards with simple designs that will be recognizable in the silhouette.
- Ask her to help you draw some recognizable holiday shapes on each card.
- Place a cutting board or thick section of newspaper on your table to use as a cutting surface. Make cuts around the outline of each shape by drawing the knife toward you—this will make for a steadier, straighter, cut. Stop and turn the work surface and card as needed to cut out the appropriate shape.
- Give the stencil(s) to your child. If your child has never used a stencil before, show her how to hold the stencil steady with her non-dominant hand while tracing the shape with a crayon held in her dominant hand. If necessary, practice on scrap paper first!
- Encourage your child to decorate the cards in a variety of ways, tracing just the outline or coloring the shape in entirely.
- Help your child write her “thank you,” and the card is ready to send to a lucky friend or relative!
