18 Christmas Tree Crafts for Kids, With Ages, Prep and Drying Times

Cut a tree shape from clear contact paper, peel the backing and tape it sticky side out on a low window or the table. Hand over big squares of green tissue paper and a few red paper circles, and your child presses them on. There is no glue, no drying and no brush to wash, and the finished tree glows when daylight comes through. It also stays put, so a toddler can add pieces for a few minutes, walk away and come back to the same tree later in the day.

Ages: 1 and up.

Prep: 5 minutes.

Mess: none.

Drying: none.

Supplies: clear contact paper, green and red tissue paper, painter's tape.

Safety: adult cuts the tree. Keep the sticky side low and away from hair, and drop any tissue that gets wet.

Draw a big tree outline on white paper and hand over two dot markers, one green and one red. Your child stamps dots anywhere on or near the tree, and the dots dry into bright lights and needles in minutes. It works well for a child who does not like wet paint on their hands. Because the markers are dabbed rather than brushed, there is no waiting for paint to run and no brush to wash, which makes this a good one for a busy afternoon.

Ages: 2 and up.

Prep: 2 minutes.

Mess: low.

Drying: none.

Supplies: white paper, washable dot markers, a marker for the outline.

Safety: washable markers only, and keep caps out of reach. Caps are a choking hazard under 3.

Cut a kitchen sponge into a triangle. Dip it in a shallow plate of green washable paint and press it on a page, once for the top and again lower for each layer. A second stamp in a darker green makes the branches. A yellow handprint star or a yellow dot finishes the top. The stamping rhythm of press, lift and move down is easy to repeat, so the tree builds itself in a few quick steps without drawing anything first.

Ages: 2 and up.

Prep: 5 minutes.

Mess: medium.

Drying: 1 hour.

Supplies: a kitchen sponge, washable green paint, a paper plate for the paint, white paper.

Safety: keep the sponge away from the mouth. Wash hands before snack time.

Press a tree shape of painter's tape onto white cardstock, smoothing the edges. Your child paints over the whole page with a chunky brush or a sponge in blue, green or purple. After it dries, you peel the tape and a crisp white tree is left behind, like a small bit of magic. The result looks neat even when the painting was messy, so it makes a good first craft for children who worry about getting the shape right.

Ages: 2 and up.

Prep: 5 minutes.

Mess: medium.

Drying: 1 hour, then peel.

Supplies: cardstock, painter's tape, washable paint, a chunky brush.

Safety: an adult peels the tape and keeps the paper corners tidy. Use washable paint only.

Brush washable green paint on your child's palm and fingers, then press the hand on cardstock with the fingers pointing down. The spread fingers make the branches. Paint a brown trunk, then add fingertip dots in red and yellow for ornaments once the green is dry. The tree is a keepsake as much as a craft, so write the date and your child's age in the corner.

Ages: 1 and up with a grown-up doing the painting.

Prep: 10 minutes.

Mess: high.

Drying: 1 hour, overnight if thick.

Supplies: cardstock, washable green, brown, red and yellow paint, wet wipes.

Safety: use paint labeled non-toxic and washable, and wipe hands before they reach the mouth.

Trace your child's hand about 10 times on green paper and cut each one out, a method used on the All Kids Network handprint tree page (source). Glue the hands in rows with the biggest row at the bottom and the fingers pointing out. Finish with a paper star and a brown strip for the trunk. This one takes longer than most, but each cutout is an easy job, and the finished tree has a texture that paint alone cannot copy.

Ages: 3 and up to help with cutting; an adult cuts for ages 1 and 2.

Prep: 15 minutes.

Mess: low.

Drying: none.

Supplies: green paper, a pencil, child-safety scissors, glue stick, yellow paper.

Safety: adult cuts for kids under 4, or uses rounded-tip safety scissors with kids close by.

Draw a large tree on white paper. Your child dips a finger in a shallow plate of red, yellow and blue washable paint and presses dots for ornaments on the tree, or ink pads work for a neater mess. A grown-up can write the child's name and the year under the tree. The dots do not need to match anything, so there is no wrong way to do it, and a page of dots looks festive from across the room.

Ages: 1 and up.

Prep: 5 minutes.

Mess: medium.

Drying: 15 minutes.

Supplies: white paper, a tree outline in marker, washable paint or washable ink pads.

Safety: stay within arm's reach and wipe fingers between colors, since little fingers go to mouths.

Fold a sheet of cardstock in half to make a card. Press a green handprint on the front with the fingers pointing down, add a brown trunk and fingertip ornaments, and write a message inside. Grandparents tend to keep these, and the date on the back is a nice detail to add. Folded cards are also easy to post, which suits families who send them to relatives who live far away. For more gift ideas, see Christmas gifts toddlers can make for grandparents.

Ages: 2 and up with a grown-up doing the printing.

Prep: 10 minutes.

Mess: high.

Drying: 1 hour.

Supplies: folded cardstock, washable paint, a pen for the message, an envelope.

Safety: wash hands right after, and keep the pen out of reach until the paint is done.

Draw a tree outline on a white paper plate with a marker. Your child tears green and red paper scraps and glues them inside the outline with a glue stick. Tearing is slower than cutting but needs no scissors, and the ragged edges give the tree a furry look. It is also a quiet craft, which helps on days when you need ten calm minutes before a meal.

Ages: 2 and up.

Prep: 5 minutes.

Mess: low.

Drying: none.

Supplies: a paper plate, green and red construction paper, a glue stick, a marker.

Safety: keep scraps in a bowl so none go in a mouth.

A grown-up cuts a paper plate from the edge to the center, overlaps the cut edges into a cone and staples or tapes it shut. Your child paints the cone green and sticks on dot stickers for ornaments. Add a star sticker to the point, then stand the cone on the table. Because the cone stands up, the tree can sit on a shelf or a mantel instead of being taped to a fridge.

Ages: 4 and up; 3 with a grown-up cutting and stapling.

Prep: 10 minutes.

Mess: medium.

Drying: 1 hour.

Supplies: a paper plate, washable green paint, dot stickers, a stapler or tape.

Safety: an adult handles the stapler and cutting, and the stickers are for kids past the mouthing stage.

Cut green strips in six lengths, from short to long. Your child glues the shortest at the top and the longest at the bottom on a sheet of paper, with a brown strip for the trunk. The pattern of short to long makes the tree shape without a drawn outline. It also gives a child a gentle way to practice ordering things from small to large, and you can mix red and green strips for a brighter tree.

Ages: 3 to 5.

Prep: 10 minutes.

Mess: low.

Drying: none.

Supplies: green and brown paper, a glue stick, child-safety scissors.

Safety: adult cuts the strips, or lets older kids use rounded-tip safety scissors with supervision.

Press cupcake liners flat, then glue them in overlapping rows to build a tree from the bottom up. The ridged edges look like branches, and the colors can be green, red or striped. A strip of brown paper makes the trunk and a gold star finishes it. Liners come in many colors, so you can mix greens or add a patterned row, and a set of them makes a whole forest for a classroom wall.

Ages: 3 and up.

Prep: 5 minutes.

Mess: low.

Drying: 30 minutes with tacky glue.

Supplies: cupcake liners, white glue or a glue stick, a sheet of paper, a star.

Safety: cupcake liners are paper, but small scraps can end up in mouths. Clean up as you go.

Color white coffee filters with washable markers, then mist them with water from a spray bottle so the colors bleed into one another. Let them dry, flatten them and cut a tree shape. The filters turn out soft and tie-dyed, and look lovely taped to a window. Once dry they are paper thin, so light shows through the colors, and a row of different trees makes a stained glass effect on a window.

Ages: 3 and up.

Prep: 10 minutes.

Mess: medium.

Drying: 2 hours.

Supplies: coffee filters, washable markers, a spray bottle, scissors.

Safety: an adult sprays and cuts, and keeps the spray bottle away from faces.

Collect pinecones on a walk and shake them out. Let them dry indoors for a day. Your child paints the tips of the scales green with a stubby brush, then dabs on dot stickers or tiny dabs of white paint for snow. Stand each pinecone in a lump of playdough or on a small wood base. Painting only the tips keeps the natural brown underneath, so the tree looks like a real evergreen with very little paint.

Ages: 3 and up.

Prep: 10 minutes plus drying the cones.

Mess: medium.

Drying: 1 hour.

Supplies: pinecones, washable paint, a stubby brush, playdough for a stand.

Safety: pinecones are scratchy and not food. Wash hands after handling them, and skip glitter and sequins for kids who mouth things.

Glue craft sticks in the shape of a tree: a stack of sticks laid across in decreasing lengths, with one painted brown for the trunk. Taming Little Monsters tags this craft 3 to 5 and 5+, says young children need help cutting and uses hot glue (source). We swap hot glue for tacky glue and plan on a long set time. Painted trunks and bright stars make the sticks look like a tree rather than a pile of sticks, and the finished piece is light enough to hang.

Ages: 4 and up; 3 with a grown-up gluing.

Prep: 10 minutes.

Mess: medium.

Drying: 1 hour to hold, overnight to fully set.

Supplies: craft sticks, tacky glue, green and brown paint, a star sticker.

Safety: skip hot glue. An adult uses it only if needed, away from kids.

Buy small unfinished wooden tree shapes and let your child paint them green with a thick brush. Add a dot of white or red paint for ornaments. Thread a ribbon through the hole, and you have an ornament that can go on the tree every year. Wooden shapes are sturdy, so they survive being packed away and unpacked, and a child can add the year on the back with a marker.

Ages: 3 and up.

Prep: 5 minutes.

Mess: medium.

Drying: 1 hour.

Supplies: unfinished wooden tree shapes, washable paint, ribbon.

Safety: wooden pieces are smooth but not for chewing. Check for splinters before painting.

Take a short walk and gather straight twigs. Back inside, tape or glue them in a tree shape on a piece of cardboard: a long trunk and shorter branches angled up. It looks like a real winter tree, and the walk is part of the fun. Let your child pick the twigs, since choosing the best ones is half the activity, and a few green pine needles glued on turn it into a winter forest.

Ages: 2 and up with a grown-up gluing.

Prep: 10 minutes plus the walk.

Mess: low.

Drying: 30 minutes with tacky glue.

Supplies: twigs, cardboard, strong tape or tacky glue.

Safety: twigs have sharp ends, so an adult snaps them to length and checks for splinters.

Cut a small evergreen sprig from a real tree and brush paint on the needles. Press it on paper, then lift. The needles make a feathery print, and a few prints side by side fill a pretty forest scene. Real needles make a print that no stamp can match, and the smell of fresh evergreen adds to the Christmas feeling in the room. Pat the branch on a towel to keep it from soaking.

Ages: 3 and up.

Prep: 5 minutes.

Mess: medium.

Drying: 1 hour.

Supplies: an evergreen sprig, washable paint, white paper.

Safety: wash hands after handling evergreens, and never let kids chew the needles.