We’re back at it with some more great gift ideas for our 12 Days of Handmade Christmas!

Today’s features were made by the kids for their little cousins – as were the stenciled shirts from a previous post. Hopefully they will enjoy them as much as we enjoyed making them!

Homemade Memory Game

Age Range: 5 and up

Time Required: 15 minutes

Skills: Able to cut a straight line, use a hole punch

Supplies:

2 sets of flash cards
laminator (or a place that will laminate for you)
hole puncher
scissors or paper cutter
hinged ring or box

Step 1

The first thing you want to do is pick what kind of memory game you want to go with. The possibilities are endless! We used this website to print off ABC cards – it is a bit of a large memory game, but we figured they could use just some of the letters at a time, or also use them for alphabet review. Mr. Printables is also another FANTASTIC resource that you may find useful!

You can find plenty of images of dinosaurs, dolls, birds, animals, vehicles, etc. plastered all over the internet. Just copy and paste into a document (make sure they’re all at least close in size!) and away you go! Or, you can also search for “fill in the blank memory game” and see what images come up. Colours, shapes, you name it! Have fun!

Step 2

Once you have your pages printed, laminate them and cut them out. Unless you used cardstock, you will need to double up the paper on the blank side, otherwise the image will show through. This is ok for younger kids, but the older ones will finish a game in no time :D

Step 3

Assemble, either in a box, or punch holes in each card to keep on a hinged ring for easy storage.

Homemade Pickup Sticks

Age Range: 4 and up

Time Required: 15 minutes

Skills: Painting

Supplies:

30 long skewers
paint brushes
paint

Step 1

Purchase long skewers (more than 12 inches in length) – your dollar store should have these. Select 30 of them and cut off the pointy tip just enough so there is still a tip, but not super sharp.

Step 2

Paint the skewers based on the points for the pickup sticks game.

1 – black (25 points)
7 – red (10 points)
7 – blue (5 points)
8 – green (2 points)
7 – yellow (1 point)

Step 3

Write out the instructions and points on a card, attach to ribbon and tie around sticks. Done!

Recycled Crayons

Age Range: 2 and up

Time Required: As much time as it takes to peel crayons (this part is TIME CONSUMING!)

Skills: Peeling crayons (who can’t peel crayons?!?! :D)

Supplies:

old broken crayons in many colours
silicone shape pans or muffin pan with liners
oven

Step 1

Peel crayons. The kids had fun with this! For about 20 minutes. Then they got tired. The toddler was confused for a bit (“What?! I’m allowed to peel the crayons?!”), but then got the hang of it. We peeled enough crayons to make 6 new ones in 30 minutes over 2 days.

Step 2

Separate the crayons into similar colours into the silicone or lined muffin pans. Or, mix different colours together for a rainbow crayon.

We used a regular round silicone muffin pan. Dollar stores and Ikea also have different shapes. I actually have one somewhere in the house that is long sticks, but couldn’t find it anywhere!

Step 3

Place in a 200-300 degree (F) oven until the crayons have melted (you should smell a faint hint of wax). Remove and allow to cool completely without disturbing.