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This week, most people in education- whether staff or student – will have at least one eye on the looming festive break, if you celebrate it wherever you are. And this means that we might have a little more free time than usual, to settle down with a cosy drink and something incredibly sugary. But sometimes, especially for young people, the school holidays can get a little boring when you’re waiting for Santa to come. There are only so many times you can sit there, counting the days on your advent calendar, and wondering what’s going to be under the tree (for reference, we’re hoping for greater neurodiversity support all over the world… and a new bike).
When children have dyslexia, they might find it difficult to engage in some of the festive media that surrounds them at this time of year – festive books and reading-heavy activities like baking instructions, or complex crafts might seem just a little out of their reach. And whilst it’s fun to work as a team or involve a little outside help, sometimes learning and creating mostly independently can foster positive feelings and a sense of achievement too – it also allows time for them to problem-solve, and really get creative.
So that’s why we’ve put together a little list of the Christmas crafts and activities that somebody young who has dyslexia might enjoy tacking on their own with little to no external support, and that don’t rely too heavily on extended reading or instructions. Where there are instructions, we’ve taken care to choose tasks that are described using simple language that most will find it easy enough to follow, and appear on sites that are compatible with screen reader extensions and apps. We’ve also created a handy key for checking just what help somebody might need when it comes to staying safe and asking for help during the finishing touches.
Happy crafting!
✂️ - requires scissors or a sharp object
🔥 – requires time in an oven or a heated object
🎨 – requires decoration that could get messy
Christmas Candy Pots 🎨
For most of us, Christmas is about three things: family, goodwill, and a truckload of sugar. Kids will love decorating these super-fun character candy pots in which to keep their favourite munchies, and they make wonderful gifts too! Simple use well-washed mini terracotta plant pots as a base and perk them up with paint and glitter, before adding googly eyes, pipe cleaners, sparkly pom poms and papercraft features to bring them to life! Just make sure you’re using non-toxic glue and paints, as they’ll be in contact with food.
Salt Dough Festive Tree Ornaments🔥🎨
Salt dough is a very forgiving medium that’s as easy to work with as clay, but much easier to make in your own home and much easier to clean down from surfaces and clothing. It’s fun and squishy, very malleable and simple to work with, and it’s easily shaped into all kinds of festive designs such as robins, snowmen and puddings to hang on the tree. You can also get technical, and use festive cookie-cutters to create some more intricate designs, such as Christmas trees, bells and snowflakes! We love this recipe from The Best Ideas for Kids because it keeps it simple. The salt dough creations will need a short amount of time in an oven, so adult help is required during the end stages. You can leave them as they are, varnish them for extra hard-wearing, or even finish them with paints and glitter. You can also colour batches of the salt dough with water-based inks or food colouring, so that you don’t have to decorate it at all afterwards!
Popsicle Stick Snowflakes
Perfect for adding a personal touch to your Christmas tree, these popsicle stick snowflakes are as cute as they come. They’re based on traditional Scandinavian straw Christmas ornaments and they’re incredibly easy to make – all you need is a little glue, and some colourful or glittery thread to decorate them with! The best part is, you don’t even have to faff around with ribbon or string to hang them in the tree – because of the shape, they’ll sit quite happily in the branches just as they are.
Christmas Gingerbread Cookies🔥🎨
It just isn’t Christmas without gingerbread, and from jolly gingerbread men and women to the traditional gingerbread house, it’s warming smell is the perfect way to add a little festive cheer to anywhere you might find a Scrooge sheltering this December. And whether they help out with the mixing or not, kids everywhere will enjoy cookie-cutter-ing and decorating these tasty gingerbread fellows with icing and candy. Cooking With My Kids has a great step-by-step run down of a kid-friendly recipe and process that’s written in simple, easy-to-follow English. And don’t forget – if anybody has special dietary requirements, there are tons of allergy-specific and vegan recipes for gingerbread online too.
Santa Slime✂️🔥
Who doesn’t love slime? …Actually, quite a few of us, but it’s one of those things that children and younger people really seem to vibe with. And what’s better than some super-fluffy festive slime to play with, complete with a Santa-themed storage jar to keep it in? Kids will love creating the oozy concoction, mixing it and kneading it until it comes out just right, and even decorating a mason jar that can keep it fresh all winter long. Scissors will be required for cutting ribbon and decorations, and the article recommends using a hot glue gun to affix the decorations to the mason jar, but Mod Podge or classic PVA glue seems to work pretty well too – not that we spent last weekend making a slime jar. Not at all. Nope.
Pine Cone Christmas Trees🎨
This one’s as simple as they come – and it’s pretty green too! Simply collect pine cones from around your local woods and parks (this one can be a fun festive activity in of itself!), and then give them a lick of paint and some glitter to transform them into shimmering mini Christmas trees that are perfect for nestling amongst the branches of the much bigger version that you’ve decorated your home with. They also make a cute table centrepiece, and adorable festive favours for Christmas guests too. Finish them with a star and you’ve got a mini tree all of your very own – again, the article suggests using a hot glue gun, but Mod Podge or classic PVA glue will work just fine too, it’ll just take a little longer to set firmly.
Marshmallow Snowmen
✂️
What’s better than a sweet, frothy hot chocolate when it’s getting chilly outside? One absolutely full of marshmallows, that’s what. These sweet little marshmallow snowmen are an edible festive treat that kids will love making, and all you need is candy corn, marshmallows, pretzel sticks and mini chocolate chips! Younger children might need help with the microwaving and also the toothpick stage – although good confectionery toothpicks are blunted, most versions that you can easily pick up at a grocery store have sharp and pointy ends, so they’re something to be aware of.