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Safety first: Always supervise little ones, and skip small parts for kids who still put things in their mouths. Please read our play safety notes before you start.
Key takeaways
- 18 Grinch activities across art, sensory play, learning, games, kindness and snacks, for ages 1 to 8.
- Each activity lists ages, prep, mess level, supplies and a safety note.
- Skip uncut grapes, marshmallows, popcorn and hard candy for children under 4 (CDC choking list).
- The look is green and red only. There is no character art, and this post is unofficial.
- The heart-grow sponge science and kindness hearts countdown are the ones kids ask to repeat.
In this post26 sections
- Grinch Activities for Kids at a Glance
- Easy Grinch Art and Craft Activities for Kids
- 1. Green handprint heart card
- 2. Torn paper green wreath
- 3. Sponge stamp hearts
- 4. Coffee filter heart bloom
- Green and Red Sensory and Playdough Activities
- 5. Green playdough heart tray
- 6. Felt heart sorting tray
- 7. Green water pouring station
- 8. Ice heart rescue
- Grinch Learning and Science Activities (Heart-Growing Ideas)
- 9. Heart-grow sponge science
- 10. Fizzy green science tray
- 11. Heart counting mat
- 12. Letter G green sorting
- 13. Heart size-order line
- Grinch Games and Movement Activities
- 14. Red light, green light with paper plates
- 15. Tiptoe cushion path
- Kindness Activities: Growing a Heart
- 16. Kindness hearts countdown
- Grinch Snacks Without Choking Risks
- 17. Green fruit and veg plate
- 18. Heart-cut sandwiches
- FAQ
Grinch Activities for Kids at a Glance
All 18 activities use a green and red look, not any character art, so there is nothing to buy or print. Pick by age first, then by how much mess you can handle today. This post is unofficial and has no link to the book, the films or their owners.
| Age | Good picks | Hold off on |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 2 years | Green playdough tray, green water pouring, felt hearts sorting, handprint card | Anything with small hearts, pom poms, whole grapes or popcorn |
| 3 to 4 years | Sponge stamp hearts, torn paper wreath, ice heart rescue, heart counting mat, red light green light | Fizzy science without a grown-up, round grapes or marshmallows |
| 5 to 8 years | Heart-grow science, fizzy tray, letter G sort, size-order hearts, kindness countdown | Hot glue and sharp scissors without an adult |
Easy Grinch Art and Craft Activities for Kids
Green and red are all you need for these. Use washable paint labeled non-toxic, tape the paper down, and expect green hands.
1Green handprint heart card
Brush washable green paint on your child's palm and fingers and press it on folded cardstock. When it is dry, glue a small red paper heart in the middle of the palm. Write 'a heart that grew' inside and send it to a grandparent. This is the same idea as the classic story, told with a hand instead of a drawing.
Ages: 1 and up with a grown-up painting the hand
Prep: 10 minutes
Mess: high
Supplies: cardstock, washable green paint, red paper, tacky glue, wet wipes
Safety: use non-toxic washable paint and keep paint away from the mouth. Glue the red heart on with tacky glue, not hot glue.
- Press the hand on a plate first so the paint is thin and dries faster.
2Torn paper green wreath
Cut the centre out of a paper plate to make a ring. Your child tears green paper into small pieces and glues them on with a glue stick, overlapping like leaves. Add red paper circles for berries. Tearing paper is good practice for little fingers, and the wreath looks full even when the tearing is uneven.
Ages: 3 to 6
Prep: 10 minutes
Mess: low
Supplies: paper plates, green paper, red paper, glue stick
Safety: an adult cuts the plate. Use circles bigger than a toilet paper tube is wide, so nothing small ends up in a mouth.
- Tear a few strips yourself to show how, then let your child take over.
3Sponge stamp hearts
Cut a kitchen sponge into a heart. Dip it in a plate of red or green washable paint and press it on paper in a pattern. A second colour makes it look like gift wrap. When it is dry, trim the page into a card or use it to wrap a small present.
Ages: 2 to 6
Prep: 5 minutes
Mess: medium
Supplies: kitchen sponge, washable red and green paint, paper, paper plate
Safety: use washable paint and keep the plate low so it does not tip.
- Use one sponge per colour to keep the paint from turning brown.
4Coffee filter heart bloom
Let your child scribble on a flat coffee filter with red and green washable markers. Mist it lightly with a spray bottle of water and watch the colours bleed. When it is dry, scrunch the middle and tie it with string for a flower, or leave it flat and hang it in a window.
Ages: 3 to 7
Prep: 5 minutes
Mess: medium
Supplies: coffee filters, washable markers, a spray bottle, a tray, paper towels
Safety: use washable markers with the caps on when not in use. Keep the spray bottle aimed at the paper, not at faces.
- Spray a little at a time: a soaked filter tears.
Green and Red Sensory and Playdough Activities
Sensory play is the easiest way to keep a toddler busy with a Christmas theme. Skip small beads, whole rice, dried pasta and water beads for children who still mouth things, and stay within arm's reach. Our Christmas sensory bin ideas post has more fillers, and our play safety page lists choking hazards by age.
5Green playdough heart tray
Put a rimmed tray on the table and set out a fist-sized ball of green playdough and a ball of red. Add a big heart cutter and a small rolling pin. Your child squishes, rolls and cuts. Use store-bought dough: we do not give a recipe here, and the labelled dough is easy to check for allergens.
Ages: 2 and up
Prep: 2 minutes
Mess: medium
Supplies: store-bought playdough in green and red, a large heart cutter, a rolling pin, a tray
Safety: playdough contains wheat, so check for allergens. Keep cutters bigger than a toilet paper tube is wide.
- Two or three prompt words are enough: squish, roll, cut. More ideas in our Christmas playdough post.
6Felt heart sorting tray
Cut large hearts and circles from green and red felt, each at least 3 inches wide, and put them in a pile. Set out a green bowl and a red bowl. Your child sorts by colour. For older kids, sort by shape too. It is a quiet, no-mess game that practices colour names.
Ages: 18 months to 5
Prep: 5 minutes
Mess: none
Supplies: green and red felt, two bowls, kid-safe scissors for the grown-up
Safety: keep pieces at least 3 inches wide so they cannot fit in a mouth. An adult cuts the felt.
- Name each colour as it goes in the bowl.
7Green water pouring station
Tint a tub of water with a few drops of green food colouring and set it on a towel with plastic cups, a small jug and a funnel. Float a few large red plastic hearts on top. Your child pours, scoops and fishes out the hearts. It feels magical to them, and it is a good outdoor-or-bathtub activity too.
Ages: 2 to 5
Prep: 5 minutes
Mess: high
Supplies: a tub, food colouring, plastic cups, a jug, large plastic hearts, a towel
Safety: stay within arm's reach of any water play, even a shallow tub. Never leave a child alone with water.
- Food colouring can stain hands and clothes: use a washing-up bowl and an old shirt.
8Ice heart rescue
Freeze large red plastic hearts, each at least 3 inches wide, inside a block of ice in a bowl. Put the block on a tray and give your child a jug of warm (not hot) water and a spoon to free the hearts. It takes about 10 to 20 minutes, which is a long time at this age.
Ages: 3 to 6
Prep: 1 hour freezing, 2 minutes to set up
Mess: high
Supplies: a bowl, large plastic hearts, warm water, a spoon, a towel
Safety: use warm water only, never hot. Keep hearts big enough that they cannot be swallowed. Cold ice can numb fingers, so take breaks.
- Add a drop of green food colouring to the water for a Grinch-green melt.
Grinch Learning and Science Activities (Heart-Growing Ideas)
The best-known scene in the story is a heart that grows. These activities turn that into real science and early maths, with ordinary supplies.
9Heart-grow sponge science
Buy or cut small flat compressed sponge hearts. Drop one in a bowl of water and watch it swell as it soaks. Ask your child to guess how big it will get, then trace the dry heart and the wet one on paper to compare sizes. The 'growing heart' is a safe, low-tech way to show a science idea.
Ages: 4 to 8
Prep: 5 minutes
Mess: low
Supplies: compressed sponges or sponges cut into hearts, a bowl of water, paper, a pencil
Safety: do not leave sponges where a child can chew them. Small dry pieces are a choking risk for children under 3.
- Try three sponges in three bowls with different water temperatures. A warm bowl is faster.
10Fizzy green science tray
Tint a small tub of water with green food colouring. Put baking soda in a muffin tin or a few clear cups and let your child squirt in small amounts of vinegar with a dropper or spoon. The fizz is the 'potion' part. This is science play, not food: nobody should taste it.
Ages: 4 to 8
Prep: 5 minutes
Mess: high
Supplies: baking soda, white vinegar, green food colouring, clear cups or a muffin tin, a tray, a towel
Safety: an adult is needed the whole time. Keep vinegar away from eyes and mouths. Wash hands afterwards. Not for tasting.
- Do it outside or on a large tray: the fizz overflows.
11Heart counting mat
Draw five green circles on a sheet of paper (or ten for older kids) and cut a stack of red paper hearts. Your child places one heart on each circle and counts out loud. Ask 'how many more to fill the mat?' for a first addition idea. Laminate it with clear tape and reuse it.
Ages: 3 to 6
Prep: 5 minutes
Mess: none
Supplies: paper, a green marker, red paper, scissors
Safety: an adult cuts the hearts. Keep the paper hearts out of reach of children under 3.
- Write the number on each circle for early number recognition.
12Letter G green sorting
Write a big letter G on a sheet of paper. Send your child around the house to collect green things (a block, a crayon, a leaf, a toy car) and sort them on the page. Name each one: 'green, G'. It turns a letter into a game with movement.
Ages: 3 to 6
Prep: 2 minutes
Mess: none
Supplies: paper, a marker, green items from around the house
Safety: pick objects bigger than a toilet paper tube is wide, and skip buttons and coins for children under 3.
- Add a timer for a race if your child likes that.
13Heart size-order line
Cut five red hearts in different sizes, from small to big. Mix them up and let your child line them up from smallest to biggest. Then ask them to find the one that is 'just right' for a small box. It practises size comparison and the words small, medium and large.
Ages: 3 to 6
Prep: 10 minutes
Mess: low
Supplies: red paper, scissors, a pencil
Safety: an adult cuts the hearts. Use blunt kid-safe scissors with older kids.
- Stick the hearts onto a long strip of paper to make a growing chart.
For a ready-made set of counting pages, colouring sheets and a kindness wreath, the Christmas Activity Pack has printable ones that you can use again each December.
Grinch Games and Movement Activities
14Red light, green light with paper plates
Stand at one end of the room holding a green plate and a red plate. When you hold up green, your child tiptoes forward. When you hold up red, they freeze. Swap roles after a few rounds. It uses the story's colours and burns energy on a cold day.
Ages: 2 to 6
Prep: 1 minute
Mess: none
Supplies: a green and a red paper plate
Safety: clear the floor of toys and sharp corners first.
- Add an 'in between' yellow plate for a slow-motion round.
15Tiptoe cushion path
Lay couch cushions and pillows across the floor in a winding path. Your child tiptoes along it without touching the floor, like sneaking past a sleepy village, and picks up a soft toy at the end. Reverse it for a second round.
Ages: 2 to 6
Prep: 5 minutes
Mess: low
Supplies: couch cushions and pillows, a soft toy
Safety: use cushions on a non-slip rug, away from stairs and sharp furniture corners.
- Add a bell on the soft toy: the sneaker must not make it ring.
Kindness Activities: Growing a Heart
16Kindness hearts countdown
Cut 24 small paper hearts and hang them on twine with clothes pegs. Behind each, write a small kind thing, like 'help set the table' or 'draw a picture for a neighbour'. Your child opens one a day and colours the heart green when done. It is the story's idea, turned into a habit that fits a countdown.
Ages: 3 to 8
Prep: 20 minutes
Mess: none
Supplies: paper, twine, pegs, a marker
Safety: hang the string out of reach of toddlers: cords are a strangulation risk.
- Our advent calendar fillers post has more small-gift and activity-slip ideas to mix in.
Grinch Snacks Without Choking Risks
Green snacks are fun, but check them for choking. The CDC lists uncut grapes, marshmallows, popcorn and round or hard candy as potential choking hazards for young children. Some popular Grinch roundups suggest grape-and-marshmallow kabobs, a popcorn mix and candy-based science with no choking note. Both sides of this are worth saying: the snacks are fun, and some are risky for children under 4. Here are safer swaps.
| Common idea | Risk for under 4s | Safer swap |
|---|---|---|
| Green grapes on a skewer | Uncut grapes are a choking hazard | Grapes cut lengthwise into quarters, on a plate with no skewer |
| Marshmallow 'hearts' | Marshmallows are on the CDC list | Heart-cut soft cheese or strawberry quarters |
| Popcorn mix with candy | Popcorn and hard candy are hazards | Soft green fruit, cucumber sticks, yoghurt dip |
17Green fruit and veg plate
Cut kiwi into slices, cucumber into sticks and green grapes lengthwise into quarters. Add thin cheese squares and a small bowl of yoghurt for dipping. Let your child build a plate with a red strawberry heart in the middle. This is a meal idea, not a recipe, and takes no cooking.
Ages: 1 and up, cut to size
Prep: 10 minutes
Mess: low
Supplies: kiwi, cucumber, green grapes, cheese squares, yoghurt
Safety: cut grapes lengthwise into quarters for children under 4, and skip skewers and toothpicks. Check for dairy and other allergies. Stay at the table while your child eats.
- Cut food into pieces no bigger than your child's fingertip for toddlers.
18Heart-cut sandwiches
Use a cookie cutter to cut a heart from a slice of soft bread with a spread your child already eats. Add cucumber slices and strawberry quarters on the side. Cut food into small pieces for children under 4. It is a sandwich with a theme, not a recipe.
Ages: 2 and up
Prep: 5 minutes
Mess: low
Supplies: soft bread, a heart cookie cutter, a spread of your choice, cucumber, strawberries
Safety: check for allergens in the bread and spread. Cut round foods like strawberries into pieces and stay at the table while your child eats.
- Use the leftover bread edges for a bird feeder or snack.
Before any Grinch activity
Supplies for Grinch activities
-
Washable paint set
Typically $8 to $15
For handprint cards and sponge stamps.
Check price on Amazon for Washable paint set -
Playdough set
Typically $8 to $15
For the playdough tray.
Check price on Amazon for Playdough set -
Large plastic hearts
Typically $6 to $12
For the ice rescue and water tray. Choose big ones.
Check price on Amazon for Large plastic hearts -
Compressed sponge hearts
Typically $6 to $12
For the heart-grow science.
Check price on Amazon for Compressed sponge hearts -
Felt sheets
Typically $6 to $12
For the sorting tray.
Check price on Amazon for Felt sheets -
Washable markers
Typically $6 to $12
For coffee filter blooms.
Check price on Amazon for Washable markers
Frequently asked questions
What are easy Grinch activities for toddlers?
Try a green playdough tray, a felt heart sorting game, a green water pouring tub and a handprint card. All four use pieces bigger than a toilet paper tube is wide and none need scissors for the child. Stay within arm's reach and skip small beads and whole grapes.
What are Grinch activities for preschoolers?
Preschoolers like sponge stamp hearts, an ice heart rescue, a heart counting mat, red light green light and a letter G sort. Each takes about 5 to 10 minutes to set up and uses things you already have.
Are Grinch snacks safe for toddlers?
Some are not. The CDC lists uncut grapes, popcorn, marshmallows and round or hard candy as potential choking hazards for young children. Cut grapes lengthwise into quarters, skip popcorn and marshmallows for under 4s and pick soft fruit and veg instead.
Can I print Grinch coloring pages?
We do not offer Grinch art because the character is owned by others. Our Christmas Activity Pack has original printable Christmas colouring pages, a countdown and kindness cards instead.
What is a good Grinch kindness activity?
Hang 24 small paper hearts on twine and write one kind act behind each. Your child opens one a day and colours it green when done. It takes about 20 minutes to set up and fits any Christmas countdown.
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