What does the holiday season mean for your family?
For mine, it is celebrating the birth of Jesus. It's so easy to focus on the Santa gifts and parties... believe me, I am definitely speaking from personal experience!
One simple way to teach this message is through a personalized nativity scene. I wanted it to be something nostalgic and sweet, made by my boys, which is easier said than done. In the nine years I've been a mom, we are just now getting around to it.
I found a fun little DIY nativity kit at Hobby Lobby last month, and it felt like the perfect solution!
I am forever grateful that we have a craft room. It's where I go to hide... kidding. Maybe.
I like to start messy crafts with a clean slate, so I tidied up while the boys were at school. And then I took a picture, because some day I might want to remember how nice it looked clean.
Before we start projects that involve painting or have a high potential for messes, I cover the table in kraft paper. I also have a drop cloth that I spread on the carpet sometimes, but today I'm being a rebel and hoping for the best.
Each boy will have his own painter's tray, aka paper plate, large and small paint brushes and mason jars of water for rinsing. I also have paper towels and baby wipes handy for the unavoidable messes we are going to make.
Since I plan to display this nativity set in our living room, I went ahead and chose colors that compliment my Christmas decor for this project. They will be painting with pale blues, greens, golds and whites.
Yeah... I'm that mom! If I didn't choose the colors, I suspect it would look more Joseph's technicolor dreamcoat than a manger scene. As you can see from the pictures, we ended up a little more bold than I had planned. One thing led to another and they painted me a picture, too!
Before we jump in, here are a few tips for crafting with kids:
- Set everything up before hand
- Give them clear instructions before turning them loose
- Embrace the imperfections!
- Be flexible as plans evolve and change.
- Let them help clean it all up.
Sam decided we had to have a star in the sky for the three wisemen to follow, so he made his own. This kid melts my heart. I love it when they add their own creative ideas to a project!
We plan to do some other simple Christmas crafts (probably some paper chains and snowflakes) this month. We will see. I also love to make the stained glass windows out of contact paper, have you ever tried those? So much fun!
Have a happy day!
Meg
PS: this is what our kit looked like in its packaging, just in case you are wanting one!
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