The holiday season is magical, but let’s be honest: crafting with toddlers can quickly turn into a stressful, glitter-covered disaster. You want to make beautiful memories and cute keepsakes, but young children don't have the patience for complicated, multi-step art projects.
The secret to successful toddler crafting is keeping things simple, fast, and silly!
We have taken 25 classic Christmas crafts and updated them to be extra cute, playful, and perfectly toddler-friendly. By adding big googly eyes, happy drawn smiles, and fluffy pom-poms to everyday items like paper plates and popsicle sticks, you guarantee a fun crafting session with zero frustration.
Here are 25 adorable, low-prep ideas to keep little hands busy this December!
1. Cute Paper Plate Santa
Turn a simple paper plate and some cotton balls into the cutest Santa face ever. It is a fantastic sensory activity that results in a highly recognizable holiday character.
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Instructions: Glue fluffy cotton balls around the bottom half of a paper plate for a beard, add a red paper triangle hat at the top, and glue on two big googly eyes and a red pom-pom nose.
2. Silly Googly-Eyed Paper Plate Tree
Even the Christmas tree gets a face! Sneak in some fine motor lacing practice with this adorable and interactive toddler craft.
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Instructions: Cut a triangle out of a green paper plate, punch holes to lace colorful yarn across it, and glue two big googly eyes in the middle to give the tree a silly face.
3. Happy Paper Plate Snowman
Do you want to build the happiest snowman? All you need is a paper plate, some basic paper scraps, and a cheerful pom-pom smile.
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Instructions: Glue a black paper top hat, an orange paper carrot nose, big googly eyes, and black pom-pom smile dots onto a white paper plate.
4. Paper Plate Rudolph
Those little handprint antlers and giant googly eyes are the sweetest combination. This craft doubles as a precious keepsake of how small their hands used to be.
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Instructions: Paint a paper plate brown, attach a giant red pom-pom nose and oversized googly eyes, and glue brown paper handprints at the top as antlers.
5. Cute Peek-a-Boo Wreath
Easy, festive, and so silly! This peek-a-boo wreath looks great hanging on a bedroom door and is perfect for practicing fine motor skills with crumpled tissue paper.
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Instructions: Cut the center out of a paper plate, cover the ring in crumpled green tissue paper, add a red paper bow, and glue two big googly eyes peeking out from the top of the greenery.
6. Cute Popsicle Stick Christmas Tree
Three popsicle sticks, pom-poms, and googly eyes equal the cutest DIY Christmas ornament ever. They look fantastic hanging on the family tree!
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Instructions: Glue three green popsicle sticks into a triangle, add a yellow star on top, decorate with mini pom-poms, and glue two googly eyes right in the center.
7. Smiling Popsicle Stick Snowflake
The happiest little snowflake you ever did see. Craft sticks and googly eyes make winter crafting incredibly easy and completely mess-free.
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Instructions: Glue four light blue craft sticks overlapping at the center like a star, glue a white paper circle in the middle with googly eyes and a marker smile, and add sticker gems.
8. Googly-Eyed Popsicle Stick Santa
Simple, festive, and ready in 5 minutes! Kids will love making these silly popsicle stick Santas to hand out as homemade gifts to family members.
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Instructions: Glue three red popsicle sticks into a triangle, line the bottom with mini cotton balls for a beard, add a cotton ball at the top tip, and glue two googly eyes and a red pom-pom nose in the center.
9. Clothespin Reindeer
Clip these cute little guys right onto the Christmas tree branches or use them to seal holiday treat bags. Such an easy craft for little hands.
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Instructions: Glue two brown pipe cleaners to the top of a wooden clothespin for antlers, and add two big googly eyes and a bright red mini pom-pom nose.
10. Cute Popsicle Stick Gingerbread Man
Too cute to eat! Turn plain craft sticks into an adorable googly-eyed gingerbread friend without the mess of baking in the kitchen.
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Instructions: Glue three brown popsicle sticks side-by-side, add two big googly eyes, a drawn white marker smile, and three colorful pom-pom "buttons" down the tummy.
11. Handprint Reindeer
Keep those tiny handprints forever with this sweet and silly craft. The oversized red nose brings the classic holiday character right to life.
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Instructions: Trace and cut out a child's hand on brown cardstock, then glue on two oversized googly eyes and a fluffy red pom-pom nose.
12. Fingerprint Reindeer Herd
Turn tiny thumbprints into the cutest little reindeer faces! This is a great activity for creating customized DIY Christmas cards for grandparents.
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Instructions: Have kids press brown paint thumbprints onto white cardstock, then glue tiny googly eyes, mini red dots, and drawn antlers onto each fingerprint.
13. Salt Dough Santa Handprint
Our absolute favorite holiday keepsake, made extra cute with a happy face! Just flour, salt, and water make this precious Santa ornament.
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Instructions: Press a child's hand into basic salt dough, bake until hard, paint the palm red and fingers white, and glue on two googly eyes and a pink pom-pom nose.
14. Googly-Eyed Handprint Tree
Watch your Christmas tree grow right along with their little hands. The happy, googly-eyed star on top makes it extra sweet and playful.
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Instructions: Glue 6 green construction paper handprint cutouts in a triangle tree shape, add colorful dot stickers, and put a big yellow star with googly eyes on top.
15. Handprint Santa Beard
No paint, no mess—just cute paper handprints and googly eyes. Save this super simple Santa craft for when you need a fast, low-cleanup activity.
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Instructions: Cut out a white construction paper handprint, glue a red paper triangle hat to the palm edge, and add two big googly eyes and a red pom-pom nose.
16. Toilet Paper Roll Santa
Don't toss those empty cardboard tubes! Upcycle them into the cutest googly-eyed Santa Claus figures that can stand up on their own for holiday decor.
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Instructions: Wrap a cardboard tube in red paper, glue a fluffy cotton ball beard around the middle, and add two big googly eyes and a red pom-pom nose.
17. Toilet Paper Roll Reindeer
Zero paint needed for this super cute cardboard tube reindeer. The natural brown color of the cardboard makes this a super fast, low-prep activity.
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Instructions: Leave the cardboard roll natural brown, glue on two oversized googly eyes and a big red pom-pom nose, and attach two brown paper antlers inside the top.
18. Cute Paper Roll Elf
Santa's cutest little helper! Let your toddlers create an entire team of these adorable googly-eyed Christmas elves to sit on the mantle.
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Instructions: Wrap a cardboard roll in green paper, add a green paper cone hat with a white pom-pom tip, and glue on pointy paper ears and two big googly eyes.
19. Cardboard Tube Gingerbread Man
Run, run, as fast as you can! This cardboard tube Gingerbread Man is fun to decorate and makes a great addition to a winter playdough center.
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Instructions: Draw white squiggly icing lines on a brown cardboard tube, then glue on colorful pom-pom buttons, a happy smile, and two big googly eyes.
20. Paper Cup Snowman
How cozy is this Paper Cup Snowman with his fuzzy earmuffs and googly eyes? A quick, no-melt snow day craft perfect for indoor recess.
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Instructions: Use a white paper cup, glue on two big googly eyes and an orange paper carrot nose, draw a happy smile, and add a red felt scarf and fuzzy pom-pom earmuffs.
21. Silly Beaded Candy Cane
Even our candy canes have cute little eyes! Beading pipe cleaners is one of the absolute best fine motor activities for busy toddlers and preschoolers.
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Instructions: Thread alternating red and white pony beads onto a pipe cleaner, bend the top into a hook, and glue two tiny googly eyes onto the top bead.
22. Torn Paper Monster Tree
No scissors required! Let the kids practice their grip strength by ripping and gluing green paper to build their own cute, googly-eyed Christmas tree.
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Instructions: Draw a triangle outline on white cardstock, let kids tear and glue green construction paper pieces inside, and glue two big googly eyes in the middle of the tree.
23. Happy Paper Strip Christmas Tree
Practice scissor skills and size sorting with the happiest little Christmas tree. It is incredibly simple to prep using just basic green paper scraps.
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Instructions: Glue green construction paper strips from longest (bottom) to shortest (top) on white paper, add a brown trunk, and glue two googly eyes onto the yellow star on top.
24. Cute Pinecone Reindeer
Turn backyard pinecones into the silliest little reindeer friends. This is a wonderful nature craft to do after a brisk winter walk!
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Instructions: Glue two big googly eyes, a bright red pom-pom nose, and two small brown felt or paper antlers onto the side of a pinecone.
25. Pom-Pom & Googly Eye Paper Bauble
Zero mess and 100% adorable. Cut out a paper ornament and let your little ones go wild covering it with soft pom-poms and silly eyes.
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Instructions: Cut a big round ornament shape out of bright red cardstock, let kids glue colorful pom-poms all over it, and add two big googly eyes and a smile in the center.
If you love these easy holiday crafts but don't want to spend hours gathering supplies and ideas every single day, we have put everything you need into one massive holiday collection!
Our December Preschool Super Bundle is packed with ready-to-print Christmas and winter activities. From engaging kindergarten worksheets to low-prep daycare crafts and homeschool activities, this bundle takes all the stress out of your December lesson planning so you can actually enjoy the magic of the season with your kids.
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Want to keep the easy, zero-prep learning going long after the Christmas tree is taken down? Let us do all the heavy lifting for you all year round!
Our Monthly Crafted Membership (Preschool & Kindergarten Collection) gives you instant access to an entire library of high-quality crafts, interactive learning binders, and educational worksheets. You get fresh, exciting seasonal activities every single month for one low price, saving you endless hours of prep work.
👉 Click here to learn more and join the Monthly Crafted Membership!
Crafting during the holidays is all about making memories, having a few laughs, and letting your toddler explore their creativity. Grab your glue sticks, open up that bag of googly eyes, and get ready for a fun, stress-free afternoon!