Christmas Ornaments Kids Can Make: 5 Easy Ideas

Some time between Thanksgiving and the first school concert, the kitchen table turns into a craft counter. There is ribbon tangled with yarn and at least one child asking whether the glue is dry yet. These five Christmas ornaments kids can make all work at that table, with ordinary supplies and one clearly marked adult step.

Quick Answer

For a five or six year old, start with felt ornaments or painted wood slices: big pieces, no oven, nothing sharp. From about seven, folded paper trees and salt dough shapes add more steps. Melted bead ornaments look the most like glass, but they need an oven, so an adult does the melting. Whatever you make, tie a ribbon loop instead of using metal hooks, and write the name and year on the back.

Table of Contents

• Before you start
• 1. Felt Christmas ornaments
• 2. Painted wood slice ornaments
• 3. Folded paper Christmas trees
• 4. Salt dough ornaments
• 5. Melted bead ornaments
• Which ornament should you start with?
• Frequently asked questions
• Hang them up

Before you start

Cover the table with a washable cloth or paper, give each child their own tray or muffin tin of supplies, and put smocks on before any paint opens. Shared piles cause arguments before the first ornament is finished.

Set up a drying station before you need it: a cooling rack over a folded towel, away from elbows and pets, with a "finished" tray beside it so children can see the work adding up. Afterward, sweep up dry scraps and beads first, then wipe the table. For more ways to keep the mess contained, see these low-mess crafts for kids.

Practical rule: The adult prepares the workspace and handles risky tools. The child makes the visible decisions.

A few safety habits cover all five ornaments:

• Check the label. On paints and glues, look for "Conforms to ASTM D-4236", and follow the label's directions for use and drying.
• Use ribbon or string loops, not metal hooks. Hooks are small and sharp, so keep the box away from toddlers.
• Watch the younger siblings. Beads, buttons and sequins are fine for a careful eight year old, not for a two year old at the same table. Small parts stay away from children under 3.
• Keep glass baubles off the craft table if you are decorating the same day.
• Hot glue, craft knives and the oven are adult jobs.

1. Felt Christmas ornaments

Felt is the most forgiving ornament material there is. It cuts easily, the edges don't fray, and nothing needs to dry for long, which makes it the best choice for the youngest makers.

You need: felt sheets in a few colors, a cardboard template, scissors, tacky glue, ribbon or yarn, and decorations such as smaller felt shapes, buttons or sequins.

1. Make a template. Draw a star, tree, mitten or heart on cardboard and cut it out. Simple outlines are easiest.
2. Trace and cut two matching shapes. For a five year old, an adult can cut the shapes ahead of time and let the child choose colors.
3. Add the loop. Fold a short length of ribbon in half and glue the ends to the inside of one shape, at the top.
4. Press the two layers together. Use tacky glue rather than thin school glue, which soaks into felt and lets go. Press firmly and let it set flat.
5. Decorate the front. Glue on smaller felt pieces: a trunk, a star, a face, a scarf.

A child who is ready to sew can join the layers with a running stitch instead of glue, using a blunt plastic needle and embroidery floss. Buttons and sequins are for older children with an adult watching. For more felt projects and techniques, see our guide to felt crafts for kids.

For a child who wants to keep sewing after the ornaments, the North Pole Workshop Sewing Kit is a Christmas-themed first sewing project for ages 5 and up. Every felt piece comes pre-cut, each of the eight characters, from Santa to a gingerbread man, follows the same simple steps, and an illustrated booklet teaches the running stitch and back stitch. It also includes a no-sew felt Christmas tree that kids decorate with a dozen Velcro ornaments.

2. Painted wood slice ornaments

A wood slice is a flat round of branch, sold in bags at craft stores, often with a hanging hole already drilled. It is the easiest ornament to get right: the shape is already finished and there is no oven.

You need: pre-drilled wood slices, washable acrylic or tempera paint, brushes, paint pens or markers for details, and ribbon.

1. Paint a base coat or leave the natural wood showing. Let it dry.
2. Add the design: a snowman, a tree, a snowflake or an initial. Paint pens make small details easier than a brush.
3. Let it dry completely, then thread ribbon through the hole and knot it.

A sealer is optional; if you use one, an adult applies it and follows its label. Slices without holes can take a ribbon loop glued to the back.

3. Folded paper Christmas trees

Paper ornaments suit the child who likes following steps. There is no drying and no heat, and a mistake costs one sheet.

The quickest version is a pleated paper tree. Fold a rectangle of green paper back and forth into narrow pleats, like a fan. Pinch one end and glue or staple it; that is the treetop. Let the other end spread into a triangle. Punch a small hole near the pinched top, thread a loop of string, and add a paper star.

An origami tree takes more steps and looks crisper. Diagrams are easier than written steps for early readers, because a child can match the picture to the paper in their hands. Use thin, square paper; construction paper fights every fold. If you are not sure what to buy, here is which paper folds best.

If you would rather open a box than hunt for square paper, the Origami Paper Kit includes a folded evergreen tree among its 50 models, with 450 sheets of paper. It is listed for ages 6 and up.

4. Salt dough ornaments

Salt dough is cheap and lets children cut shapes with ordinary cookie cutters: stars, trees, hearts, bells.

You need: 1 cup of flour, half a cup of salt, half a cup of water, cookie cutters, a straw, a rolling pin, paint and ribbon.

1. Mix the dough. Stir the flour and salt, add the water a little at a time, and knead until smooth.
2. Roll it evenly, about a quarter inch thick. Thick pieces take a long time to dry through and are heavy on a branch.
3. Cut the shapes and lift them onto a baking sheet lined with parchment.
4. Make the hanging hole now with a straw, before the dough dries. Scratch the name and year into the back with a toothpick if you like.
5. Dry them slowly. Bake low and slow until they are hard all the way through, turning them once; thicker pieces take longer. The oven is an adult job. You can also let them air-dry for several days, turning them each day.
6. Paint them once they are completely dry, then thread a ribbon. For a heavier ornament, double the ribbon.

Keep these away from dogs. Salt dough is very salty, and a dog that eats an ornament, raw or baked, can become seriously ill. Hang them high on the tree, out of a dog's reach.

Looking for the handprint version? Our salt dough handprint ornament walks through it step by step.

5. Melted bead ornaments

Plastic beads melted in a metal frame catch the light like colored glass. This is the one ornament where the adult handles the hot step every time; the child's part is arranging the colors.

You need: plastic pony beads, metal cookie cutters, a baking tray kept for crafts, aluminum foil, oven mitts and ribbon.

1. Line the tray with foil and set the metal cookie cutters on it. Smooth foil gives a glassy back; crinkled foil gives texture.
2. Fill each cutter with a single layer of beads, standing on their ends or lying flat. Sorting by color first makes stripes and patterns easier.
3. An adult melts them in the oven, following the directions on the bead package for temperature and time, because bead products differ. Open a window or run the kitchen fan. Never use a microwave.
4. Let them cool completely on the tray. Melted plastic stays hot after the tray comes out. Peel off the foil and tie a ribbon through the cookie cutter, which stays on as the frame.

Loose beads roll everywhere and are a choking hazard, so this is not a craft for a table that includes a toddler.

Prefer frames made for the job? The Stained Glass Deco Kit uses the same method, ready to go. Kids pour colored plastic beads into the sections of two metal frames, a monstera leaf and a sunset over the water, on a foil-covered tray. An adult then bakes them in a household oven at 375°F and takes the tray out with mitts. The designs are year-round suncatchers rather than Christmas shapes, hung from chains. It is listed for ages 8 and up, with an adult handling the oven.

Which ornament should you start with?

Match the ornament to the youngest child at the table. Ages are starting points, not limits.

Ornament	Good starting age	Adult step	Drying or waiting
Felt	5 and up	Pre-cut tricky shapes	Glue sets
Painted wood slice	5 and up	None beyond setup	Paint dries
Folded paper tree	6 to 7 and up	None	None
Salt dough shapes	6 to 7 and up	The oven	A long, low bake or days of air-drying, then paint
Melted beads	7 to 8 and up	The oven, every time	Cooling before handling

For a mixed-age table, felt and wood slices let everyone finish something in one sitting. Save salt dough and melted beads for a day when an adult can stay near the oven.

Frequently asked questions

What Christmas ornaments can a 5-year-old make?

Felt ornaments and painted wood slices. Pre-cut the felt shapes, let them choose colors and placement, and tie the loop for them.

How do you make salt dough ornaments that don't puff or crack?

Roll the dough evenly and not too thick, make the hanging hole before drying, and dry it slowly: a low oven, turned once, or several days of air-drying. Paint only when it is hard all the way through.

Can you air-dry salt dough ornaments instead of baking them?

Yes. It takes several days; turn them over each day so both sides dry. Hang finished ornaments out of a dog's reach.

Are melted bead ornaments safe for kids to make?

The arranging part is. The melting is an adult job: oven only, never a microwave, with the kitchen ventilated, following the bead package's directions. Keep loose beads away from younger siblings.

What can kids use instead of glitter?

Metallic paint pens, sequins glued on firmly for older kids, or felt in metallic colors. All of them stay on the ornament instead of the floor.

How should we store kid-made ornaments?

Write the name and year on the back, wrap each one in tissue, and give it its own space in the box. Store salt dough somewhere dry.

Hang them up

Once the ornaments are dry, let each child choose where their own goes on the tree, and when the season ends, wrap them in tissue so they come out whole next December. If the finished crafts start to pile up, here are ideas for what to do with finished crafts, and if your family likes a craft that lasts all month, try a DIY advent calendar.

Prefer to start with everything in one box? Our craft kits put the materials for a whole project in one place.