I was looking around for a Christmas wreath craft for preschoolers that would be quick, mess-free, easy enough for 3 year olds and would preferably involve some recycling. I couldn’t find anything that really caught my eye, so I came up with this scrap paper wreath that I think checks all those boxes and looks really cute to boot!
This craft is a great way to recycle old cereal boxes and those scraps of coloured paper, cardstock, wrapping paper, tissue paper and crepe paper that many of us teachers have accumulated! I stuck to a traditional green and red colour scheme, but your kids could of course mix up colours and patterns and the great thing is that they’ll all end up being completely unique!
To decorate the wreath we used an assortment of items I had lying around or had removed from old crafts. We also added some stickers and a bow, but the beauty of this craft is that you can decorate it with anything you like or have to hand!
We have other fun Christmas crafts and resources that you might also like to try. See the end of the post for more!
Supplies
- Old cereal box (or paper plate)
- Scraps of green paper, cardstock, wrapping paper, tissue paper, crepe paper etc.
- Assorted red items to decorate, eg. pompoms, stickers, buttons, sticky gems, tissue paper balls etc.
- Ribbon for the bow
- Yarn, ribbon or a pipe cleaner (to hang the wreath)
- Glue
- Scissors
- Sticky tape
- Stapler
How to make the Christmas Wreath Craft:
1. Use a plate or a compass to trace a large circle onto one side of a cereal box. Draw a smaller circle inside the larger one so that the width of the ring after cutting is about 4cm. For mine, the larger circle measured approximately 19cm diameter and the inside circle measured about 11cm diameter. If you prefer to use a paper plate just cut out a circle from the middle.
2. Cut out the larger circle and then cut out the smaller one to make a ring.
3. Cut or tear strips of green paper, card stock, wrapping paper, tissue paper, crepe paper etc., so they are about 5 -6 cm long and 1- 2 cm wide. You don’t have to be very accurate about this – having variation in widths and lengths will add visual interest!
4. Put some glue on the cardboard ring and stick on paper strips, continuing around until all the cardboard is covered.
5. Take a length of ribbon about 40cm long. Fold each end towards the centre, as shown in the photo to make an open bow. Make sure you keep holding the middle, then staple it to the bottom of the wreath.
6. Cut a shorter length of yarn, ribbon or a pipe cleaner, make it into a loop and fix it to the back of the wreath with sticky tape. This will be to hang it up.
7. Now it’s time to decorate the wreath with pompoms, stickers, buttons, sticky gems or anything else you like!
8. The Christmas wreath is finished! Easy, right?! Now to find a nice place to hang it!
Advice for small group classes:
This is a very simple craft but you will need to cut out the cardboard rings for young children.
Some tips:
- Pre-cut the cardboard rings, lengths of ribbon and paper strips beforehand.
More CHRISTMAS & WINTER related resources:
From our store:
Please read our FAQ for full info about how you can use our materials.
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