Cute Christmas Nativity Craft for Young Kids
Celebrate the birth of Jesus with this cute Christmas Nativity painting project for kids! My three your old was able to do it with me, but it’s fun way for kids of all ages to celebrate baby Jesus this holiday season!
Easy Nativity Scene Craft
My younger children love doing any kind of Christmas craft, so we usually do a few every year. The nativity is the main part of the Christmas story for us, so we always try to include a craft about baby Jesus during the Christmas season. This nativity craft is a great hands-on way for children to celebrate!
Find a Fun Story for Children
To go along with this craft, we like to read a book about the story of Christmas. Seeing the pictures is a great way for kids to picture the nativity scene, especially young children. The particular book you choose doesn’t matter and will depend on the age of your children.
Homemade Christmas Decor
Spending time with you and making Christmas decor is so much fun for little kids. They love seeing their work around the house! And celebrating the real reason for the Christmas season is even better!
There’s lots of great ways to make your own beautiful nativity crafts to decorate your house! Homemade crafts by your kids and you add a nice personal touch to the house during the holiday season. Try them with some of these other crafts and activities we love to do at Christmas time.
As a mom, I know this time of year can feel overwhelming. Don’t feel the need to make all the cute Christmas crafts you see out there! Just do what you can, and your kids will really appreciate it.
Step-By-Step Nativity Craft
What You’ll Need
Everything we use for crafts can be found at the dollar store or local craft store (we go to Hobby Lobby). Here’s all the supplies we used for out craft:
- 8 x 10 Canvas
- Blue and white washable paint
- Paintbrush
- Small paper cup
- Masking tape
- This printable nativity set
- Black construction paper
- Glue stick
1. Prepping Your Crafts
Before your child actually starts on the painting part of the craft, there’s a few things to do first. If you’re doing this with older children, they can definitely help with these, too. I ended up doing them for my three year old.
First, print out the nativity set and cut out the pieces you need. We just used baby Jesus to keep it simple for my son, but Mary and Joseph are a wonderful addition to your beautiful nativity scene. Trace the shapes onto the black construction paper and cut them out.
Next, use the masking tape to tape the paper cup to the canvas. We put the cup in the middle about two thirds down the canvas. The tape doesn’t have to be perfect because you’ll remove it later and touch up the paint.
2. Paint the Canvas
Now, it’s time for the best part! Pour some blue paint right onto the canvas in a circle around the cup. Painting can seem stressful with kids, but its an awesome way for little hands to practice their fine motor skills! That’s why we always use washable paint, too.
The key to this easy craft is to tell your child to paint in circles around the cup. I showed my son a few circles as an example, and then he was able to pick it up, too.
Once the canvas is covered in blue paint (while the blue paint is still wet), pour a few drops of white in a circle close to the cup. With the same paintbrush, have your child paint more small circles around the cup. This will mix the blue and white paints.
3. Remove the Cup
Once your child is done painting the white, carefully remove the tape and the cup. With their paint brush, create a nice circle where the tape was. Older kids can probably do this step themselves, but I did it for my son.
4. Glue on Your Nativity Pieces
After the paint is completely dry, your child can glue on their nativity pieces with their glue stick. We started with baby Jesus right in the center, and then added the five long rectangle to make the stable. That’s it for our simple nativity scene, but feel free to add different people to yours!
Optional Step: We happened to have a star sticker that we added to the top of the stable. If you have one or can find one, it’s a cute addition. But totally optional!
Enjoy This Easy Nativity Craft
We want this to be a fun craft for you to do with your kids, so don’t worry about the final product looks like. It’s still a fun way to celebrate Jesus’s birthday- the true reason for the season! And the main focus of all our crafts for kids is to have fun and help development at your own level.
Expectations vs. Reality
I also know that crafting with little kids doesn’t always turn out the way it’s supposed to. Here’s one of these crafts made by an adult and one made by a preschooler. It’s more about the fun activity than what it looks like, the little things and details don’t matter as much.
More Christmas Crafts & Fun
If you’re looking for even more fun activities to do with kids this Christmas time, try making your own homemade ornament! These are a big hit with little kids who love the sensory play. We also love to break out this easy Christmas sensory bin.
If you’re looking for some more cute crafts to do with kids during the holiday season, we have a few simple ones. One of our favorites is this easy Christmas collage that’s great for fine motor skills! Or try our pom pom Christmas trees that are customizable to any age child.
We hope you have a fun, festive Christmas with your family and get in a few activities that you all enjoy!
