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✂️ Paper plate wreath craft (easy Christmas craft for kids)
Age: 3+ · Time: 40 min
Paper plate wreaths are a holiday classic for a reason. You probably already have everything you need, kids can do almost all of it themselves, and the finished wreath looks so cheerful hanging on a bedroom door.
All that scrunching and sticking is great for little fingers, too, which is why this craft shows up in so many preschool and kindergarten classrooms in December.
Tips
- Squeeze glue into a small dish or bottle cap so it's easy to dab with a cotton swab.
- Little ones can use a glue stick and press the tissue paper on flat.
- Older kids can cut out holly leaves from construction paper to tuck between the tissue balls.
Variations
- Handprint wreath: trace and cut out green paper handprints and glue them around the ring, fingers pointing out.
- Snowy wreath: use cotton balls and silver star stickers.
- Family photo wreath: tape a family photo behind the center opening so it peeks through.
For little helpers
Set out bowls of different colors and let each child design their own. A rainbow wreath is just as festive as a green one.
You need
- 1 paper plate (uncoated, about 9 inches)
- green tissue paper or green construction paper
- red pom-poms or red tissue paper for berries
- white school glue and a cotton swab or small brush
- kid-safe scissors
- ribbon or yarn for hanging
- a hole punch
- optional extras like buttons, jingle bells, star stickers or a bow
Steps
- A grown-up cuts the center out of the paper plate, leaving a ring about 2 inches wide. Folding the plate in half helps you start the cut.
- Cut or tear the green tissue paper into squares about 2 inches across.
- Spread glue on one section of the ring.
- Scrunch each tissue square into a loose ball and press it onto the glue. Keep going around the ring until it looks full and fluffy.
- Add red pom-poms or little red tissue balls as berries.
- Finish with a bow, buttons or a jingle bell at the bottom.
- Let the wreath dry flat for at least an hour.
- Punch a hole at the top, thread the ribbon through, and tie a loop for hanging.
Questions
Is this a good classroom craft?
Yes. Pre-cut the plate rings and tissue squares ahead of time, and it works well for a whole class in about 30 minutes.
What can we use instead of tissue paper?
Cut-out green paper handprints, cotton balls for a snowy wreath, buttons, or pieces of yarn wrapped around the ring.