20 Easy Homemade Christmas Ornaments to Make with Kids

Creating crafts with your kids is a great family time activity. The best part about homemade Christmas ornaments is you basically can use any materials you have around the house from popsicle sticks to beads and everything in between. Although sometimes it can be fun to go out and buy some special seasonal craft materials to use as you prepare for the holiday season.

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The holiday season is magical and fun for young kids. The holidays are my favorite time of year and from the moment I became a mom, I started planning matching stockings, Christmas crafts, Christmas morning family pajamas and all those fun Christmas memory ideas.

Enjoy our list of the Best Homemade Christmas Ornament Ideas for Toddlers!

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EASY HOMEMADE ORNAMENTS FOR KIDS

I love that my kids are finally old enough and interested in crafts so I have created the ultimate list of fun Easy Homemade Christmas Ornaments to Make with Kids.

Starting Christmas Family Traditions such as crafting is so exciting when you have a young family! Adding a new homemade Christmas ornament to our tree has become a tradition in our household. I love putting up our tree every year and looking at all the crafts and memories from previous years.

INEXPENSIVE CRAFT IDEAS FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Our list is perfect for daycare teachers or elementary teachers as all of the ideas are inexpensive and keep the costs down when making multiple crafts. Staff love to create easy kids Christmas ornaments and send them home with children as a gift to their families, but are often limited on craft supplies and budget. These DIY Christmas Ornaments are affordable, quick, simple and fun with kids of all ages.

Recycle Old Toys into Ornaments

A great idea to reuse those fast food meal toys that the kids are finished playing with, instead of having them pile up. Declutter and make some fun ornaments at the same time by simply adding a fun ribbon to the toy and adding it to the tree.

You can use either an eye screw or hot glue gun to attach the ribbon if they don’t have any sort of built in hook. As a bonus, the kids can use markers and materials to decorate and add to the toy.

Clothespin Reindeer

This craft is simple, easy and a staple in daycares and schools as it uses accessible materials such as paint, googly eyes, and a clothespin.

Kids will love creating these cute reindeer ornaments that are perfect for decorating the tree or giving to family members as a gift.

Popsicle Stick Reindeer

Get ready for Santa to arrive with this crafty reindeer ornament that is perfect for toddlers and preschoolers. This craft is very affordable as all the materials you need: popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, glue, and googly eyes can be bought at the dollar store.

Using the easy to follow steps kids can make this reindeer ornaments craft in just a few minutes – perfect for those with a short attention span.

Paintbrush Santa

Made with a simple paintbrush and household craft supplies, this cute Santa ornament is affordable and fun to make!

This DIY ornament would be perfect for teachers as you can often find paint brushes in bulk at the dollar store for a few dollars. This craft does need a glue gun so it will require some adult supervision.

Melted Crayons Ornament

Galaxy melted crayon ornaments are simple and can be made in minutes with just a few supplies including those broken crayons that have been hanging around. Teach your kids about complimentary colors as they select their broken crayons and place them into a glass bulb to be melted.

Using a hairdryer, the bulb is heated and the crayons melt creating a cool effect. Be sure to protect your hands though as the bulb gets very hot to touch.

Cinnamon Salt Dough

The smell of cinnamon is the perfect scent to get ready for the holiday season. Salt dough ornaments are simple to make but are time consuming as they require a long time to cook in the oven so I always create the ornaments and paint on two separate days.

Customize the ornaments by selecting different cookie cutters to use.

Christmas Angel Ornament

Create these beautiful angels using pasta, paint and twine. This adorable Angel Ornament is inexpensive and a great craft to get the kids involved in making.

They can choose to create a gold or silver ornament.

Melted Snowman Ornament

Maybe you’re looking for an ornament that isn’t your traditional reindeer or Santa, then check out this super cute melted snowman.

This melted snowman is kid friendly as they can make it on their own from start to finish, and older kids can add more creativity to the project. The most difficult part of the craft is being patient while it dries.

Christmas Tree Ornaments

Create your own adorable mini Christmas tree ornament.

Use small pieces of garland for the tree, cinnamon for the trunk and then add small loose parts as decorations to create a beautiful tree ornament that can be hung anywhere in your home by simply adding ribbon.

Crystal Candy Cane Ornaments

During the holiday season, candy canes are everywhere so why not grow your own with this cool science art activity. Using a pipe cleaner you can grow crystals to create a candy cane.

Using a glass jar is advised for best results.

Straw Christmas Ornaments

This DIY tree ornament craft is simple, great for all ages and nearly mess free!

Use the free printable and grab some straws and follow the template to create a tree pattern using straws of different sizes.

Mondrian Christmas Tree Ornaments

These abstract trees are easy to create at home or in the classroom and create a beautiful ornament for your tree.

This craft allows individuality as every tree will look different depending on how kids divide up the tree into sections. Mondrian art usually focuses on using the primary colors of yellow, blue and red to design.

Scrabble Tile Christmas Ornament

Personalize your tree with these custom DIY tree ornaments that are perfect as gifts.

Grab some string, beads, and bells and get to work on creating a beautiful handmade personalized ornament.

Twisted Paper Ornament

This unique twisted paper ornament is super simple and versatile as you can choose the cardstock colors and patterns to make your ornament unique.

The whole family will enjoy making these ornaments together as all you need to do is dampen the cardstock and twist the paper to wrap around the ornament.

Gingerbread Salt Dough Ornament

Salt dough is a common recipe for baked Christmas ornaments, but add a twist and use gingerbread to create a delicious smell.

Using gingerbread with the salt dough creates a flourly look to the cookie cutter created ornaments.

Simple Clay Ornaments

Baking clay ornaments are perfect to cherish memories of when your kids are small by creating hand and footprint ornaments.

Using baking clay requires way less baking time than salt dough ornaments.

DIY Mitten Ornaments

Use felt to create these super cute mittens. This easy sewing project comes with a printable mitten design to help you get started.

You don’t need to know how to sew to complete these fun mitten DIY ornaments.

Pom Pom Ornaments

This is a budget DIY ornament for kids of all ages as all you need is a plastic ornament and some fun pom pom fillers.

Kids can create the pom pom project on their own as all you need to do is add some pom poms into the ornament ball. You can customize with sparkly, bright or plain pom poms.

Evergreen Christmas Ornaments

These easy to make ornaments can help you treasure your evergreen christmas tree.

Either cut a part of your Christmas tree or go outdoors and collect some evergreen branches and pinecones to create this DIY craft ornament.

Pine Cone Ornaments

This child friendly pine cone ornament will allow kids to turn pine cones into a mini Christmas tree.

The choice is up to you to leave it natural and just add some pom pom ornaments and sparkle, or you can paint the pine cone to really dazzle up the ornament.

Gingerbread Man Craft

While gingerbread cookies are a staple of the holiday season, why not add a gingerbread ornament to your tree.

Stop by your local paint store and grab some brown paint samples to create gingerbread ornaments. Add details like goggly eyes and buttons to add some fun.

Retro Gumball Ornament

Homemade ornaments are super fun to make with the kids, and the retro gumball is no exception. Candy lovers will love this ornament made out of a plastic ornament, little cup, and gumball filler (pom poms or other small objects).

This craft requires some parent supervision as it uses a hot glue gun.

These kid-friendly Christmas tree ornaments are perfect to get kids excited for the upcoming holiday season! From Santa, to reindeers, gingerbread men, candy canes… we have covered all the major symbols of Christmas in our selection of homemade craft ornaments for kids.

The best part is all of these crafts require very little financial investment as you either have the materials at home or then can be found at the dollar store.