Let the little ones in on the Christmas crafting with this easy festive card idea from Deborah Alter-Rasche. The seasonal greetings double up as a fantastic sensory play idea with colours and textures to explore.

When my daughter was a toddler, we made these simple homemade Christmas cards for her to give to family members. Now that my son is at the toddler age, I wanted something equally as simple for him to have a go at. He is really into sensory play at the moment so I knew that stamping with his finger was likely to catch his attention.

Materials

• Blank cards (or thick paper you can fold/cut into cards)
• Coloured triangles (any colour. Older kids can cut the triangles themselves)
• Paint or ink for stamping. (I made my own little stamp-pad of paint with a damp sponge on a plastic lid)
• Paper glue
• HINT: I always have a damp cloth on hand so I can wipe hands/tables, etc quickly without leaving him alone

Directions

• Glue the triangles of paper onto the cards
• Use your finger to stamp little Christmas baubles onto your Christmas tree
• Allow to dry

As suspected, he was delighted to print and make marks with his finger. We used the time to talk about the colours he was choosing and about stamping ON the green triangle/tree.

Alternative: For a “neater” finish, your child could stamp their finger all over the coloured paper BEFORE cutting out the triangles. When the coloured paper is dry, cut out the already decorated triangles and then stick onto blank cards.

Finish your cards with a personalised message and they are ready to send.