Christmas tree in strips

Made by a student of 11 years old

You need:

1. white drawing sheet A4 size
2. black construction paper A4 size
3. tempera paint
4. brush
5. advertising leaflet with Christmas decorations or aluminum foil or scrapbooking paper
6. glue
7. glitter stars
8. small piece of brown paper

Paint a white sheet with a broad brush and undiluted green tempera paint. Apply patches or streaks of different colours, to make the green sheet more vivid. Let the sheet dry.

Tear a trunk out of brown paper. Tear strips of the painted sheet that are about the same width. Place the paper strips on a black sheet in the form of a Christmas tree; the strips have to become slightly shorter. Put the trunk below the bottom strip and paste it. Paste the green strips, so that the trunk disappears partly under the lower strip.

Cut balls and a peak out of aluminium foil or advertising leaflets. You can also use scrapbooking paper. Paste balls and peak on the tree. Cut squares and rectangles (presents!) of coloured paper and paste them under the tree. Paste glitter stars around the tree.

Christmas angel

You need:

1. pattern angel (download picture)
2. cardboard in pink, white and another colour
3. carbon paper
4. two wobbly eyes
5. four split pins
6. wool
7. red marker
8. glitter
9. glue
10. scissors

Pattern angel: click, enlarge and print

Use carbon paper to draw head, hands and feet on pink cardboard; draw the wings on white cardboard and the dress and sleeves on another colour. Arms should be drawn twice, the second one in mirror image. Cut all these parts. Copy the pattern of the bag of the dress on coloured paper and cut it. Paste this bag on the dress.

Paste the arms under the sleeves, about a half cm. Prick holes in the dress and the sleeves and fix the sleeves with split pens on the dress. Paste the wings on the back of the dress; be sure you don't paste the sleeves. Paste the head on the dress. Paste the eyes and draw a nose and a mouth on the head.

Cut two pieces of wire of about 7 cm. Prick two holes in the bottom of the dress and add split pens. Fix the wire legs on the split pens. Paste the feet on these legs.

Cut some short wire for the hair and paste them. Take a longer wire for that can serve as a hook. Decorate dress and wings with glitter and stars.

Christmas gift paper bag

You need:

1. brown paper bag
2. markers
3. scissors
4. ruler
5. glue
6. pattern gift bag
7. piece of rope of 25 cm
8. punch

Pattern: click and print.

Print the pattern. Let students copy the pattern on a paper bag. Cut it. Make a Christmas drawing on one or both sides of the bag and colour it with markers. The snow in the example is made with correction fluid. Or make a drawing on a white sheet and paste this one on the bag. Fold the lines. Paste the bag, starting with the side and finishing with the bottom. Use a punch to make holes in the bag. Pull a rope through the holes to get two rods and tie it.

Dutch December skyline

You need:

1. black construction paper 20 by 20 cm
2. chalk pastel
3. coloured pencils
4. white sheet A4 size for stencil

Draw a skyline with roofs of Dutch canal houses on the white sheet. Cut it. Choose a colour to stencil with. Rub chalk on the stencil. Use a tissue or your finger to rub the chalk off the stencil on the black sheet, to create the soft looking skyline. Turn the stencil and take another colour to repeat this process. Students may also exchange the roof with your neighbour, to get different skylines. Draw a moon with chalk pastel. Draw windows in the houses and colour them with a yellow and/or white pencil.

Snowglobes

You need:

1. tempera paint
2. light blue and white drawing paper
3. ribbed cardboard
4. black fine marker
5. brushes
6. glitter
7. glue

A snow globe is a glass sphere containing a small scene. If you shake the globe, it will snow in it. In this lesson the snow globe will be drawn. Give the children a sheet of light blue drawing paper. Let them draw a circle by outlining a saucer. In this circle they have to draw a winter (or Christmas) scene. After this it has to be coloured with undiluted tempera paint. When the paint is dry, outline the drawing with a fine black marker.

Cut the circle out and lay it on a white sheet of paper. Outline the circle then cut the white circle with one centimeter extra all around from the paper. Paste the drawing on the white circle. Cut a standard out of ribbed cardboard and paste both parts on another sheet of coloured paper of your choice. Sprinkle a little glitter in small dots of glue in and around the drawing.

Made by students of 10-11 years old

Winter scene

Made by Veerle, 10 years old

You need:

1. black paper A4 size
2. chalk pastels
3. hairspray
4. scissors
5. glitter
6. glue

Students draw a winter forest with snowy pine trees on a black background. The trees on the foreground must be lighter than those on the background.

When ready, put a flower pot on the drawing and draw a circle. Cut this circle. Fix your artwork with hairspray and let it dry for a few seconds. Then lay the circle face down on the table. Colour along the outer edge of the back of the circle a circle of about one centimeter. Put the circle in the middle of a new sheet of black paper. Smudge the chalk with your fingers on the new sheet, taking care the work won't move. Finally turn the circle and paste it in the black circle of your latest sheet. Sprinkle a little glitter in small dots of glue.

Merry Christmas window

You need:

1. pattern (click on the picture of it)
2. carbon paper
3. cutter and cutting mat
4. green cardboard
5. tissue paper

Pattern (click and enlarge)

Print the pattern and enlarge if you wish till A4 size. Copy the pattern with carbon paper on the cardboard and cut out the grey parts carefully. Be sure the letters will be stuck to the window. Paste tissue paper on the back. You might prefer to let children draw their own letters. If you let them, give them the exact sizes of the window and tell them to be sure the letters have to be stuck to the window on at least every edge. This can be done with pencil and paper, but also on computer (Wordart).

Santa with Christmas wish

You need:

1. pattern
2. cardboard in dark red, red, pink, black and white
3. carbon paper
4. wobbly eyes
5. cottonpads
6. 2 split pins
7. piece of raffia
8. black marker

Pattern: click to download

Print the pattern. Draw the body and arms using carbon paper de on the red cardboard. Cut these bodyparts. Copy the hat on dark red cardboard and cut it out. Do the same with hands and face on pink cardboard. Cut the boots out of black cardboard. Cut the white parts. Paste the hands under the sleeves. Paste the sleeve edges on top. Paste the face and the hat on the body and paste the edge of the hat. Outline the edge of the hat with black marker. Paste the boots on the body, and the white belt too. Prick holes in the triangles and fix the arms with split pins on the body. Paste wobbly eyes on the face. Cut a beard and moustache from a cottonpad and paste these in the face. Cut a rectangle from black construction paper and write a Christmas wish on it. Paste two pieces of raffia on this board and paste the raffia on the hands.

Tealight holder with glass paint

Made by students from 11 years old

You need:

1. used jar or small drinking glass
2. glass paint
3. outline paste in gold
4. brushes
5. turpentine

Wash your jar in hot, soapy water and remove any labels. Dry the jar completely. Cover your work surface with newspapers and have whatever cleaning solution you'll need for your brushes already set up. If you're going to do an outline, test the outline paste before you start, to learn how much pressure you need to apply to get it to come out evenly from the tube. If you make a mistake with either the outline paste or the paints, it's easy to correct by wiping it off with a paper towel before it dries. Paint your outline first. If you're working from an existing pattern, you can tape the paper pattern on the inside of the jar and follow it from the outside. Or, you can work freehand. Let the outline dry according to directions, then paint with transparent glass paints. Hold the jar up to the light periodically to see how it looks. It'll look different with the light coming through it. Allow your design to dry thoroughly (this usually takes about two days). To turn your glass jar into a lantern, put a layer of sand on the bottom and add a tea light.

Polish folkart Christmas tree

You need:

1. white, red and green sheet A4 size
2. scissors
3. glue

Put the red and white sheet together and fold them. Draw half a Christmas tree against the fold and cut it out. Take the white tree and fold it again. Cut some of the edges and cut patterns from the fold towards the edges (just like snowflakes). Glue the white tree on the red one and glue the complete tree on a green sheet.

Christmas trees collage

By Silke, 10 years old

I found this idea on Artsonia a collage of Christmas trees coloured with different materials on music paper. You need:

1. white drawing paper A4 size
2. different colouring materials, like crayons, oilpastel, watercolour paint, tempera, colour pencils, markers, aquarelle pencils etc.
3. music paper
4. chalk pastel
5. green paper for background
6. scissors
7. glue
8. black marker

Divide different colour materials in your classroom. One place with paint (water paint and tempera paint), one place with crayons and oil pastel, one place with pencils and markers. Children draw three overlapping triangles on a white sheet, the Christmas trees. These trees have to be coloured with different materials and patterns. The only colour they may use is green, in all its nuances. To colour, children have to take place at the table where the material of their choice is. When finished, the trees and patterns have to be outlined with a black marker. The trees (with the black outline) must be cut out. Then kids have to tear pieces of music paper and paste them on a new white sheet. Colour the background with light blue chalk pastel. Do not colour the music paper, just rub the edges with the chalk pastel. Paste the trees on the blue sheet and paste this work on a green background.

This work can also be done as a group work. All trees (or groups of trees) have to be glued then on a large background of music paper.

By children of 10-11 years old

Christmas Angels

By Felix, grade 5

You need:

1. black construction paper A4 size
2. pencils in yellow, gold, silver and white

On black paper children draw one or more Christmas angels, flying in a starry sky. By limiting the number of colours, children are forced to think about the use of patterns in the dresses of the angels. Finish the work with a frame; a simple straight line, a dot pattern or a golden frame!

Christmas angels, by children of grade 5

Christmas quilt

By Charmaine, 11 years old

You need:

1. white drawing sheet from 20 by 20 cm
2. ruler
3. pencil
4. finepointed black marker
5. red or green marker
6. black construction paper
7. white marker
8. glue

Children divide their sheet with ruler and pencil in 16 squares from 5 by 5 cm. In each square they draw a Christmas figure: tree, candy, snowman, skates, mitten, sock, candle etc. These figures have to be coloured , just like a checkerboard: alternately the background is red or the figure is red (or green). When ready, outline all figures, details and squares with a black finepointed marker. Paste the drawing on a black sheet and outline it with a white marker.

Cubist Christmas tree

You need:

1. white drawing sheet A4 size
2. ruler
3. tempera paint
4. brushes
5. gold and silver marker

Children draw a simplified Christmas tree: a big triangle. Measure it from the middle line. After this, draw lines across the drawing sheet: from top to bottom, from left to right, from top or bottom to the sides etc.

The tree has to be painted with different green colours (mix them!). The background has to be painted with warm mixed colours. If dry, the lines in the tree have to be drawn with a silver marker, the lines from the background with a gold marker.

Christmas carolers

You need:

1. green construction paper A2 size
2. scissors and glue
3. leftovers paper or Christmas scrapbook paper
4. fine marker in black and silver

A Christmas Carol is a book from the English writer Charles Dickens, which tells about an old and bitter mister Scrooge. Scrooge is a banker and money changer whose only goal is to get more and more money. He hates friendship, love and the meaning of Christmas. Just before Christmas he has a number of dreams in which spirits make him change his mind.

Made by kids of 11-12 years old

This art project is about the Christmas carolers; the singers who sing their typical English Christmas songs under the streetlights in cold and snowy villages. Children cut the parts of the singers: head (mouth open, nose up!), legs and arms (thin!), dress or suit, shoes (old fashioned, like lace-up boots) and of course the music book with the title Christmas Carols and some staves. Glue the different parts on a large piece of paper. Paste threedimensional if possible: paste the dress with folds, the arms have to come out of the sleeves and are pasted on the 3D pasted music book. Use a fine marker for the nostrils and a silver one for the shoe laces.

Make a large group work of these Christmas carolers!

Stained glass in Mondriaan style

You need:

1. black construction paper 20 by 20 cm
2. tissue paper in green, red and white
3. white pencil
4. ruler
5. cutting blade
6. cutting mat
7. glue

Discuss stained glass. How did the craftspeople of yesterday make stained glass? How do they make it today? Show some paintings of Mondriaan. What colours did he use? What forms do you see? Children are going to make a little square or round stained glas window out of paper. The style must be like Mondriaan, colours must be like Christmas. Give each student one sheet of black construction paper. First children must choose their form. When they choose a round form, they have to draw a circle with compasses. Cut this out. Draw another circle about 1,5 cm out of the edges; this is the frame. Children who chose the square, draw also a line about 1,5 out of the edges. This is the frame. Draw squares and/or rectangles in your window using ruler and a white pencil. The lines must be 1 cm wide. When ready, draw crosses in the rectangles that have to be cut out.

Cut away the forms with the crosses. Cut carefully and use an iron ruler. Use your black window as a template to draw the forms of squares and rectangles on the three different colours of tissuepaper. Cut the forms out of the tissue paper with 0,5 cm extra for the adhesive border. Paste the colours alternately on the backside of your window.

Tea light holder of paper, ink and oil!

This beautiful coloured light holders are made of just paper, ink and salad oil! You need:

1. sketch paper
2. pattern (click on the word to download)
3. liquid watercolour
4. great brush
5. scissors
6. strong glue
7. salad oil
8. paper towels
9. little glass jar
10. tea light

Download the pattern of this light holder and copy it on scetch paper. Make the paper wet and leave with a big brush liquid water colour on the sheet. Those drops will flow in the water. Fill the whole sheet with colour. Leave work to dry. Do some salad oil on a plate and take a big brush. Paint the whole sheet with salad oil. Let it dry for one day. The oily sheet can best put between paper towels. Cut out the pattern. Fold the seams and adhesive borders and glue the light holder with strong glue.