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The Toddler Hacks Mega Christmas List!
Welcome!
Welcome to our Toddler Hacks list of Christmas themed play! With ideas for advent calendars, sensory play, arts and crafts and other activities this list is bound to help you keep your toddler entertained in the lead up to Christmas.
Just here for the printables? They're at the bottom of the page here.
Advent Calendar
Download our free Toddler Hacks Advent Calendar below! With a different activity each day ranging from cutting, to tracing, playdough and sticking, it's bound to help build the excitement as Christmas approaches. Plus with free extra pages to use until the 31st December, you'll have extra things at your disposal if you end up with an overstimulated and overtired toddler!
Christmas Activity Book
It would be wrong not to mention here that we've published a Christmas Activity Book! With pages of fun for all the family, there really is something in it that everyone will enjoy. Pick up your copy here.
A Book A Day
We created a new version of a gift advent calendar this year and created a Christmas book box. The idea of this is to gift your child with a new Christmas themed book each day! Stores like The Works (if you're UK based) are fantastic for this, as they do 10 for £10 deals on books. Or see what you can find second hand on Amazon or in charity shops. The brilliance of this idea is that you can reuse the books every year.
Hits so far have been:
The Nutcracker (more for me than my toddler!)
Sensory Play Ideas
Sensory Play 1: Make Snow
Sensory Play 3: Light Box Sensory Play
Sensory Play 2: Make Snow (easy)
Make snow for your toddler (assuming there is none outside) by mixing baking powder and conditioner.
You'll need a bit over double the amount of baking powder to conditioner. I didn't have much baking powder so I started off with that (had 1.5 cups of it) and then put half a cup of conditioner in to start then slowly added more. It went through a very sticky dough-like phase but what you're looking for is it to be crumbly in consistency and mouldable into snowballs. It will feel cold and leave a bit of residue on your hands.
Leave in a tub with plenty of scoops and containers.
Not taste safe so probably one to avoid if your toddler isn't past the mouthing stage!
Sensory Play 2: Make Snow (easy)
Sensory Play 3: Light Box Sensory Play
Sensory Play 2: Make Snow (easy)
An easier way to make snow is by cutting up white paper and leaving it out with scoops and containers. This has a high scatter rate so will probably end up more messy than the other way but your toddler may enjoy scooping it up.
Sensory Play 3: Light Box Sensory Play
Sensory Play 3: Light Box Sensory Play
Sensory Play 3: Light Box Sensory Play
Download our printables below, stick them to cardboard and punch out the holes to make 2 sensory boxes. The designs will fit perfectly on a large trofast tub in the flisat table (2 pages slightly overlapping) and the small trofast tub (1 page).
Then your option is to either get special light pegs or to diy something you can post!
If you want to make a light box, you'll first need to buy pegs like these. There are so many ways you can hack the flisat table to be a light table but they all take a bit of admin / buying the right products! So instead I used the torch on a phone. My 3.5 year loved it. My 18 month old tried to take the phone.
The other simpler option is to just set it up as a posting activity. You can get some q-tips and cut them in half. Then colour the cotton part using felt tip pen to make lights.
Arts and Crafts Ideas
Arts and Crafts 1: Paper Chains
Arts and Crafts 2: Make Ornaments
Why don't you make your own paper chains this week? Cut up any card or paper you have - used wrapping paper would work well - and get your toddler to help glue it into rings. They can always decorate them if they are enjoying it.
Arts and Crafts 2: Make Ornaments
Arts and Crafts 2: Make Ornaments
Make ornaments that you'll treasure for years to come with your own salt dough.
This recipe uses a not so secret ingredient to make them white instead of the usual grainy texture salt dough has.
Combine 1 cup baking soda, 1/2 cup cornstarch and 1/2 + 1/8 cup water (or 5/8 cup water).
Stir on a saucepan over a LOW heat. You're looking for the mixture to become dough like and smooth which will take 7-10 minutes.
There's a risk of sticking! Make sure you use a decent non stick pan. If you're worried about washing it up, then put the mixture in a glass bowl and heat it up over a saucepan of water.
When done, put the mixture on something to cool down.
Then roll it out and use a cookie cutter to make shapes. Stamp it - fingerprints work well as these look like baubles.
Leave it out to DRY! This is the bit not to be impatient over, if you try handling them before they are fully dry they will break. Leave for a minimum of 24 hours, if not 48 hours.
Lastly paint them!
Arts and Crafts 3: Make Gingerbread
Cut out simple gingerbread from card and then leave out with things for your toddler to decorate! Buttons, tissue paper and paint - anything would work!
Arts and Crafts 4: Fork Painting
Arts and Crafts 5: Christmas Lacing
Try out some festive fork painting.
For the tree, get a fork, put it in green paint and help your toddler apply it in the shape of a tree. Use a brush or fingerprint to apply baubles to the tree and add a star to the top.
For the reindeer, use a fork dipped in brown paint to make a circle on card. When it's dry, draw on antlers, eyes and a nose to make a reindeer.
I've linked the colourful card and washable paint I used but any will do!
Arts and Crafts 5: Christmas Lacing
Arts and Crafts 5: Christmas Lacing
Arts and Crafts 5: Christmas Lacing
Do some themed threading!
Sounds a bit strange but it's a great way to build dexterity.
Grab a paper plate and draw a tree onto it.
Then cut out dots around the tree. Once you've done that cut out the tree.
Then find some sort of thread - whether yarn, a shoelace or thread you already have from a threading game. We used this one we have in the toddler hacks household.
Arts and Crafts 6: Christmas Puzzle
Arts and Crafts 5: Christmas Lacing
Arts and Crafts 5: Christmas Lacing
Build a Christmas puzzle!
You'll find the images on our Toddler Hacks Advent Calendar.
Cut them out and stick them to lolly sticks. It's a bit of a strange item but I've found I've used them a lot over the past couple of months! They are great in some sensory set ups - like this one for H Week - so buy a batch lot like these ones, and get ready!
When the glue is dry, carefully cut along the joins using a knife on a chopping board.
You can add numbers to help with number recognition, plus add sellotape if you need to if the paper is flaking off the lolly sticks.
Active Play Ideas
Active Play 1: Make Gingerbread
Why don't you look up a gingerbread recipe and give baking with your toddler a go. They may enjoy decorating the gingerbread more though!
Active Play 2: Scavenger Hunt
Go on a scavenger hunt with your toddler and see what Christmas themed items you can find!
We've assumed you're living in a cold climate so not all of these will be relevant to you if you're in the southern hemisphere.
The scavenger hunt is included as part of our free advent calendar, or just take the image above.
And Your Printables
Printable 1: Cut Out Santa's Beard
Printable 2: Cut Out Christmas Themed Items
Printable 2: Cut Out Christmas Themed Items
If your (older) toddler is like mine and enjoys cutting things out then why not download our free printable and get them to cut out Santa's beard! We use these toddler scissors which work well but any will do!
Not fussed about cutting? Get them to trace over the dotted lines in
Printable 2: Cut Out Christmas Themed Items
Printable 2: Cut Out Christmas Themed Items
Printable 2: Cut Out Christmas Themed Items
Cut out the 4 festive themed items with our downloadable printable!
Printable 3: Colouring In
Printable 2: Cut Out Christmas Themed Items
Printable 3: Colouring In
Download our mega pack of Christmas colouring in below!