Easy Christmas Centerpieces for Children to Make

Let the children help with the Christmas decorating by creating a centerpiece for the kids' table at your annual holiday feast. Before you choose a design, decide how sturdy, tall and interactive you want the centerpiece to be. The factors will determine the craft techniques and materials your kids use to complete the project. Does this Spark an idea?

Toy Collection

Kids can create an interactive Christmas centerpiece that young guests can play with while waiting for dinner. Decorate red and green plastic beach pails with festive swirls and designs drawn with white or silver paint pens. Use wide ribbon or raffia to tie a bow on the handle or around the top of the container. Fill the buckets with small toys such as action figures, wood blocks, toy cars or small stuffed animals.

Construction Paper Tree

Toddlers to teens can design easy Christmas centerpieces using green construction paper and craft supplies such as glue, scissors and embellishments. To create the tree shape, cut a piece of green construction paper into a 12-inch circle. Fold the circle in half. Fold the semicircle in half so the paper now resembles one-fourth of a circle. Hold the paper by the pointed tip, and insert your fingers beneath one of the layers to "fluff" the paper into a cone shape. Apply glue or tape along the edge to secure the shape. Decorate the tree with glitter glue, self-adhesive gems, Christmas-themed stickers, buttons and ribbon to serve as garland.

Holly Trees

Allow older children to create festive holly centerpieces using Styrofoam cones, straight pins and artificial leaves and berries. Give each child a 7-inch-tall Styrofoam cone and silk leaves trimmed from a 6-foot length of holly leaf garland sold at craft stores during the holiday season. Use straight pins to affix the holly leaves to cover the entire cone, overlapping the leaves so the pins won't show. Add color to the simple holiday centerpiece by pushing four to five sprigs of red berries into the Styrofoam between the leaves. Avoid accidents by ensuring the kids don't try to dismantle the centerpiece during Christmas dinner.

Sparkling Centerpiece

Add glitz to the holiday table with a centerpiece filled with glittering objects. Choose a set of items to decorate, such as unshelled walnuts or pine cones. Let the kids coat the items with silver or gold acrylic paint, and sprinkle them with glitter before the paint dries. Save time by spray-painting the items yourself and letting the children use a paintbrush to paint a swirl of glue on each item before sprinkling it with silver glitter. Gather the decorative items in a plain glass or metal bowl.