Santa craft with a cotton ball beard

Age: 2+ · Time: 25 min · For: Ages 3–5

Every child knows that Santa has the biggest, whitest beard in the world. In this craft, your toddler gets to make it, tuft by fluffy tuft. Pulling cotton balls apart and pressing it on is calming and wonderful for small fingers.

What your child does, where you help

Your child: pulls the cotton balls apart, presses it on, and draws the face.
You: cut the shapes and spread the glue for the youngest children.

Variations

A card: make it on folded cardstock for a Christmas card.
Big and small: make a big Santa for the door and little ones as gift tags.
Glitter hat: brush a little glue on the red hat and sprinkle with glitter.

Safety

Keep cotton balls and glue out of reach when you are not crafting, and wash hands afterwards.

You need

a sheet of thick white paper or cardstock
a piece of red paper for the hat (or red paint)
a piece of paper for the face, in the color your child chooses
cotton balls or cotton balls
white school glue or a glue stick
scissors, for the grown-up
markers

Steps

A grown-up cuts a circle for the face (about the size of a saucer) and a triangle for the hat.
Glue the face on the white cardstock, with the hat on top of it.
Spread glue in a big U-shape around the bottom of the face. This is where the beard goes.
Let your child pull the cotton balls into fluffy tufts and press them onto the glue until the beard is thick and white.
Add a strip of cotton balls along the bottom of the hat and a fluffy ball on the tip.
Your child draws the eyes, the rosy cheeks and a smile. Add a little cotton balls moustache under the nose.