What comes after Remembrance Day, and before New Years celebrations? Tis the season to make Christmas decorations of course! In this list you’ll find a range of winter craft activities for seniors and those with Dementia in your care home. Read on and enjoy!
Christmas Cards
What you’ll need:
- card stock or stiffer paper for cards
- pens, markers
- anything to decorate cards with – buttons, stickers, tissue paper, glitter
- glue
Perhaps one of the easiest and seasonally appropriate crafts to make at the beginning of winter is Christmas cards. They’re useful, cute, and leave a lot of room for creativity on part of the participants. The above card is a simple tree design drawn in black marker on a folded piece of card stock adorned with various coloured buttons and faux craft pearls. You can find so many ideas for different easy DIY Christmas cards on pinterest!
Scrap Ribbon Tree Ornaments
What you’ll need:
- Different lengths of ribbon scraps – can be green to look like a tree, or any colour if you want to make some modern colourful trees
- Sticks from trees or cinnamon sticks work well too (plus they add a nice aroma to the ornament)
- twine, or any yarn/string
Make adorable tree ornaments by tying different lengths of scrap ribbon along the stick. Start with short ones at the top, and move your way down with longer ribbon pieces as you go. Finish it up by wrapping twine around the top of you tree and voila! Tip* Before you start the activity, tell your participants to line their ribbon scraps from shortest to longest.
Sock Snowmen
What you’ll need:
- Pair of calf-length white socks
- Pair of socks with design
- Rice (or beans. Or lentils)
- Rubber bands
- Twine
- Buttons and/or felt for shirt/eyes/nose
These cute snowmen are a great little craft to make some adorable Christmas decorations. The full instructions can be found here on ciao mama.
Winter Birch Tree Painting
What you’ll need:
- Water colour paper
- Painter’s tape
- Scissors
- Liquid water colour paint
- Salt
- Acrylic paint, white
These paintings always turn out amazing! They make a great decoration for a care home resident’s room, or a great wall mural for a common living space in your care home if you get a lot of people participating in the activity. This activity might be a bit messy or difficult, so it’s a perfect activity for seniors looking for more of a challenge. For the full instructions take a look at the visual step by step guide provided by Kathy Barbro
Jingle Bell Ornaments
What you’ll need:
- cardboard egg carton
- red, green, lime green, and brown acrylic paint
- one jingle bell for each flower
- ~10″ piece of green yarn
- scissors
- paint brush
- dish of water
- needle with large eye
These little red jingle bell flowers are so versatile. They’ll make great Christmas tree ornaments, or you can string them up in bunches to decorate rooms, or hallways. For the full instructions take a look at The Crafty Crow.
Layered Felt Trees
What you’ll need:
- Grey and white felt squares (make sure you get enough for all residents participating!)
- hot glue gun
- wooden balls (2 sizes – one smaller and one bigger.
- a plate
- a cup, glass, or mug (you’ll be tracing these to make the felt circles)
What’s great about these dainty layered felt trees is that they look so lovely and might seem difficult to make, but in fact they are actually so easy! So many options too! Change up the colours of the trees & deck the halls of your care home with these, or these can be great craft sale items as well. For the full instructions take a look a the instructions on the Thistlewood Farms Website. **Always take care when using a hot glue gun!
Glass Gem Sun-catchers
What you’ll need:
- Glass Gems: various sizes and colours
- Clear Glue
- Plastic Lids
- Fishing Wire
- Scissors
These are another great ornament item for a craft sale. They’re so easy to make, and look lovely hanging on windows, creating a DIY stain glass appeal. For the full instructions check out the USAcrafts wesbite here.
Toilet Tissue Angels
What you’ll need:
- 1 roll toilet paper
- 2 ½ inch Styrofoam ball
- 1 pair ½ inch wiggly eyes
- red permanent fine tip marker
- silver pipe cleaner
- glue or hot glue gun with glue sticks
- Spanish moss
- 4 inch piece of iridescent ¼ inch ribbon
Residents of your care home will love making these soft little angels! They’re a great little decoration, or present for family and friends as well. For the full instructions check out the step by step picture guide on Momtastic.
Painted Wooden Bead Necklace
What you’ll need:
- Wooden Beads
- Paint brush
- Painters tape
- Old neckace chains – thrift stores etc
- or if you don’t have chains you can substitute leather or synthetic necklace twine/cord which can be bought at any local arts/crafts store.
Creating these chunky necklaces can be a fun craft, but also a practice in dexterity and focus for the elderly or those with Dementia. Plus, these necklaces are actually super trendy right now. For the full step by step visual guide take a look at the instructions on Swallows Heart.
We hope these crafts make it to your care homes this season (and the next of course). Do let us know how your craft experience went if you decide to try out one from the list. We’d be excited to share your creations on our social media pages, or check them out on yours! Happy crafting everyone!
The MyWorkMode Blog 