Christmas was a little different last year from most, but that doesn’t mean this year that you can’t get inspired with some creative Christmas ideas!

Spending quality time with loved ones is what Christmas is all about, and although we may not be able to celebrate it quite as we would normally, Blackpool Grand Theatre has found a whole host of fun children’s Christmas activities to enjoy together as a family. 

Blackpool Grand Theatre has ways to keep families and children entertained this year. Aside from our At Home with You Youtube channel, we will also be publishing a whole host of blogs and inspiration for the Christmas holidays. You can discover our blog here. 

For now though, let’s dive into some of the best ideas and inspiration for Christmas activities to enjoy with your children this year! In this guide, we’ll take you through some original and creative craft ideas that anybody can enjoy, whatever age!

Paper plate crafts

Paper plates! An old and firm favourite that many of us will remember from our early days at school, where paper plates were a  proven popular craft. With so much versatility and variety, the world is your oyster when it comes to paper plates and what you can do with them. Available in a wide variety of colours and materials, paper plates can form the bases of many creations. From penguins to reindeer, to Christmas mobiles, to Santa’s to display around the house; paper plate craft ideas may come in all shapes and sizes. One of the best things about paper plates is the fact that they’re a great starting point to paint, stick, cut, hang and fold, meaning, whatever idea you may have, a paper plate is a great choice of material! 

We’ve found five of our top paper plate crafts for Christmas below. Happy crafting! 

• Cone Christmas Trees
• Reindeer Paper Plate Craft
• Paper Plate Bear
• Paper Plate Christmas Elf craft 
• Paper Plate Santa Claus    

Reindeer craft

Reindeer arts and crafts are a great idea for Christmas, and they can help your children get enthused about one of the most recognisable animals associated with this time of year. Whether you want to create a reindeer Christmas decoration or get inventive with cardboard toilet roll, we’ve found some reindeer crafts to get your children inspired below: 

Toilet roll reindeer craft

Candy cane reindeer craft

3D Reindeer craft

Pinecone reindeer

Rudolph Yoghurt Pot craft 

DIY Christmas cards

Christmas card craft is a brilliant way to spend time with your children; not only can everyone get creative, but you can also send out all the Christmas cards you make rather than buying them! Handmade Christmas cards give more of a personal touch, and will resonate – especially this year. 

Here are some handy tutorials to follow:

42 Christmas Card Ideas 

33 DIY Christmas Cards 

26 Ideas for DIY Christmas Cards 

Christmas wreath

Christmas wreaths are a great craft as they require a fair amount of skill and imagination, but also can become the focal point as people arrive at your door! Christmas wreaths are traditionally hung on the front door of your house, and nowadays, there are lots of ways you can decorate a wreath to make it completely personal to you. Depending on colour schemes, size, or your favourite flowers, you can plan and design your Christmas wreath down to the last leaf. 

Mince pies 

What’s not to love about getting creative in the kitchen and being able to enjoy a delicious batch of freshly baked mince pies at the end? Mince pies are incredibly popular at Christmastime – in fact, in 2019 we were predicted to get through a whopping 781 million!  Plus, they don’t have to be overly complicated or messy to make. We’ve found five of our favourite mince pie recipes – check them out below. 

Easy Peasy Mince Pies 

Unbelievably Easy Mince Pies

Easy Mince Pies for Children

Brownie Mince Pies

Pear and apple mince pies 

Pom Poms

Check out this delightful christmas pudding pom pom craft! Pom poms are a sure thing to spark joy, and the world is your oyster when it comes to designs, colours and ideas. From snowmen to Christmas puddings, to reindeers or penguins… you can find plenty of inspiration on various craft sites to get your head in the game.

Lantern making

Lanterns are a fun and easy craft that can be enjoyed by all ages, and can be as simple or as intricate as the maker wishes! Paper lanterns have been a popular type of craft for years, and their origins lie in ancient China.

Christmas crackers

Christmas crackers are a fun and easy craft that you can do at home. What’s more, these can then be used at the dinner table on Christmas Day, and made completely personal. They can be filled with gifts and treats or hand written jokes, and being homemade, as environmentally-friendly as they can be re-used year after year, and will help cut back on the waste all the shop-bought cracker wrappers usually make.

You can find some helpful guides below for homemade Christmas crackers:

Handmade Christmas Crackers – House Beautiful 

Homemade Christmas Crackers – Jamie Oliver

Homemade Christmas Crackers – Mum in the Madhouse

Snowman bingo

There are plenty of fun, downloadable and printable bingo games for you and your children to enjoy. You could make a night of it and offer Christmas treats and prizes for the winner. Even better, you can get inspired to make your own bingo boards! You could paint or draw your own designs before enjoying a game. You can find plenty of easy tutorials for snowman bingo online. 

Christmas snap

Who doesn’t love snap? Snap is a fun and easy card game that can be as individual and personal as you make it. You could create your own Christmas scenes or discuss everyone’s favourite part of Christmas and include them in the game. Maybe it’s stockings? Maybe it’s an icicle? Or perhaps it’s a candy cane! Get creative and colourful, and enjoy your very own game at the end; what’s not to love?

Snowman building pins

Create a Christmassy bowling alley at home! Bowling pins look a lot like snowmen, so why not get creative? Each pin or snowman can have its own unique look, and why not fashion a Christmas pudding bowling ball while you’re at it? The world is truly your oyster! 

Snowmen Tin Can Bowling Pins 

Pinterest Ideas for Snowman Bowling Pins

Penguin crafts

Penguins are a lovely winter animal and a great choice for simple designs, or, depending on your creative prowess, can also be more complicated! 

We’ve found a selection of some of our favourite penguin crafts below: 

Penguin craft ideas 

Penguin craft inspiration

Photo memory globes

Photo memory globes can make a fantastic Christmas gift, with a truly personal touch which is sure to raise a smile on anybody’s face. They aren’t too tricky to make, and we’ve found a couple of tutorials here for you to follow. 

Top Tip: Why not make it extra special and find a snowy photo to put in the globe as well? Go through any winter holiday snaps to find the perfect one! 

Homemade snow globe tutorial

DIY Snow globes from Spruce crafts

Snowflake decoration

The easiest way to decorate a window, or your whole house, should you feel up to it! Simple, effective, and although it’ll likely make a mess, snowflakes are a sure-fire way to make your home Christmassy quickly! All you need is paper and scissors, and a little bit of imagination!

You can get creative yourself and get cutting to see how you go, otherwise, we’ve found some tutorials below to follow: 

How to Make 6 Pointed Paper Snowflakes 

Decorating with Paper Snowflakes

Write a Christmas story 

If your children are budding writers, why not set up a Christmas story workshop and get their creative juices flowing? You could even turn the stories into actual books and gift them as presents. This can become a perfect gift, family tradition, or sentimental keepsake in years to come. We’ve found some links to help get you started: 

Things to Consider for a Christmas story

Christmas story starters

DIY Christmas wrapping paper

DIY wrapping paper can while away the hours, with everyone getting as creative as they like. Not to mention it’s also better for the environment with less paper wastage and most shop-bought varieties not being recyclable. From stamps on brown paper to repurposed tissue paper, we’ve found some fantastic inspiration below:

21 DIY Gift Wrap Ideas

How to Make Your Own Unique Wrapping Paper

DIY Wrapping Paper Design Inspiration

Christmas pinecone crafts

How do you decorate pine cones for Christmas?

Well, there are several ways you can. From glitter to ribbon, to adding them to a wreath, pinecones are a lovely natural gift and are eponymous with the festive season. The great thing about working with pinecones is that you can embark on a winter walk to find everything you need first! Check out these inspiration articles below, full of Christmas pine cone craft ideas! 

Christmas Pine cone inspiration

Best DIY pine cone craft ideas

Christmas Pine cone decoration  

And there you have it! Plenty of ideas and inspiration to keep the family busy this Christmas!