Create-a-Card

by Margy Davidson

Making the Cards
Age: All ages
Time: An hour or more
Type of Activity: Arts and crafts

The holidays are a great time to encourage your child's creativity. Follow these easy instructions for making a holiday greeting card, and make a present that you can treasure for years.

What's needed? Lots of arts and crafts supplies. This means all different kinds of paper (in all colors), beads, stickers, stamps and different colored ink pads, fabric scraps, markers, crayons, colored pencils, scissors, glue, paint (watercolor or tempura), sponges, and found objects from indoors and out. You can really use anything.

What to do? Take a look at our create-a-card suggestions, sit your kids down, and let their imaginations run wild!

Cut-Out Cards

Materials needed:

• Paper
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Coloring supplies (crayons, markers, colored pencils)
• Optional: Glue, glitter, and other decorative supplies as needed

What to do:
This is very similar to making paper dolls. First you'll need to pick out a design for your card (driedel, star, tree...). Fold a piece of paper in half, long ways. Then fold it accordion style. Draw an outline of a your design on the top fold so that the top of your design touches the fold on top and the tips of it touch the sides. Cut it out, making sure that you do not cut the ends or top of your design. After your cut your design out, carefully unfold it. You should have several pieces that are connected at the top so that they can stand up. They should also be connected at the sides. Color and decorate each tree. For a multi-cultural theme, try cutting out paper dolls as described above. Decorate each doll in traditional costumes from different countries. On the inside, write your holiday greeting in different languages or holiday traditions (Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Feliz Navidad...)

Giant Reindeer Card

Materials needed:

• White paper (10 x 12 or larger)
• Tempura paint (brown for the body and other colors for the antlers)
• A tray for each color
• Sponge
• Ready made eyes (small)
• Pom-poms

What to do:
Fill a tray with brown paint. Have your child either put the bottom of one foot in the paint or sponge the paint onto the bottom of the foot. Place the painted foot on the white paper so that the heel is centered near the bottom of the page. This forms the head of the reindeer.

Paint the bottom of your child's left hand with a different color. Place the painted hand at an angle and touching the toe on the left side of the footprint. This forms one antler. Repeat with the right hand to make the other antler.

When the paint is dry, have your child glue on two eyes and a pom-pom for the nose.

For more fun: Make other animals or holiday motifs using other painted body parts, like fingertips, the side of the thumb, just the heel, and so on.

Solar Print Cards

Materials needed:

• A sunny day
• Construction paper
• One or more objects to put on the paper with a design in mind

What to do:
Place the construction paper outside in a place that gets sun all day. Arrange your object(s) on the paper so that it forms a pattern or picture. Leave this outside for the day. At the end of the day, remove the objects from the paper to see your design. Write a greeting on the inside and mail it to your favorite person!

Stained Glass Cards

Materials needed:

• Construction or other paper
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Hole puncher
• Tissue paper (different colors)
• Glue or scotch tape
• Ribbon or yarn

What to do:
Snowflake: Draw a circle and cut it out. Fold it in half three times. Snip little pieces from the sides. Open it up and you have a snowflake.

Tree: Cut a piece of paper in half. Draw an outline of a pine tree and cut it out. Punch a hole at the top of the tree. Punch other holes all over the tree.

For both the snowflake and the tree, cut up small pieces of different colored tissue paper and place them over everything but the top hole. Glue or tape in place. Put a piece of ribbon or yarn through the top hole and tie so that it forms a loop. Write your greeting and send it off to a friend or relative to hang in a sunny window.

Variation: See what other shapes (star, drum, dreidel) your child can turn into stained glass!

Pop-Up Cards

Materials needed:

• Paper
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Coloring supplies (crayons, markers, colored pencils)
• Optional: Glue, glitter, and other decorative supplies as needed

What to do:
Fold a piece of paper in half or quarters to make a card. Decorate and/or write a greeting on the cover. Take another piece of paper and fold it in half. This needs to be smaller than the card that it is going inside of. Cut out a shape, like a person, star, menorah, tree, dreidel, and so on. Glue it by its edges across the center of your card. Decorate it.

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