I’ve always felt that the best way to celebrate any holiday or season is with crafts!
Easter and spring have egg and flower crafts, autumn has natural crafts with colorful leaves and pokey pine cones, but winter and Christmas is the best time for crafts that engage all the senses.
During the holidays we are baking, decorating and spending time with family and friends.
Get your kids involved by having them help in the kitchen, create Christmas decorations or make their own gifts to give to their friends. There are so many ways to engage all kids, including those with visual impairments or other disabilities.
Here are some of our favorite Sensory Christmas Crafts & Activities:
Braille Apple Cinnamon Ornaments
We all know that mixing applesauce and cinnamon creates a dough that can be turned into delightfully aromatic ornaments. But did you know that you can add cloves to create personalized braille ornaments?
Felt and velcro make this tactile Christmas craft easy to put together and talke apart. Add a pipe cleaner loop and you’ve got a pretty tactile ornament to hang on your tree!
Yep, it’s just Apple Jacks cereal strung onto a pipe cleaner. It’s easy (and tasty) and also a great fine motor activity!
Make brownies from a mix then cut into triangles. Decorate like Christmas trees and you’ve got a sweet Christmas treat with lots of opportunity for hands-on learning.
Chex Mixes are relatively easy to make, but still encourage a lot of fine motor and social play. This recipe is for a fun holiday version of the mix.
With just some construction paper, translucent contact paper and tissue paper you can create “stained glass” wonders. These would be fun to do on a light box, too!
Did you know that mixing equal parts white glue and shaving cream creates snow paint? Brush it on to card stock and see what it feels like when it’s dry!
Finally, a fun Christmas craft that also recycles your shredded papers! Just add some googly eyes and pom poms and you’re good to go.
Ice Cream Cone Christmas Trees
Turn an ice cream cone upside down and cover in frosting. All your child has to do is apply the candies (and their imagination) to create candy Christmas trees!
Fill balloons with water and food coloring then leave outside to freeze. Cut off the balloons and you’ve got these striking frozen balls which would show up so nicely against the white snow.
Crafts really can be accessible to all kids, no matter their abilities or disabilities. Have a happy holiday season and have fun with your Christmas activities!
