Santa crafts are always a hit during the holidays, and this Santa threading craft takes festive fun to a whole new level! My kids loved threading beads and straws onto the pipe cleaners, and they were so proud of their finished Santas. It’s a great mix of creativity, fine motor skill practice, and Christmas cheer, and the setup is simple enough to make it stress-free for you.
This threading activity is festive, hands-on, and perfect for kids of all ages. It encourages creativity and problem-solving as kids work to design their Santa’s. It’s also great for improving fine motor skills in a fun, holiday-themed way.
Why You’ll Love This Christmas Craft
You’ll love this activity because it’s engaging, affordable, and keeps kids focused while they practice essential skills like threading and hand-eye coordination. Plus, the festive red, green, and white colors make it feel extra special, and the final result is an adorable Santa craft that doubles as a decoration or gift.
Materials You’ll Need:
- Cardboard
- Markers or paint sticks
- Glue gun
- White Pipe cleaners
- Red or green plastic straws (cut into small pieces)
- Red, green, and white beads
How to Set Up the Santa Threading Craft
1. Create the Santa Shape
Cut a simple Santa head of cardboard. You can draw a triangle for his face, beard and hat. I used a sharpie to outline everything and then paint sticks to color every thing in.
2. Prepare the Threading Materials
Adult supervision required: Use a hot glue gun to attach white pipe cleaners securely to the cardboard. These will serve as the threading base.
3. Cut Straws and Gather Beads
Cut red or green plastic straws into small pieces, about 1 inch long. Combine these with the beads to create a variety of threading materials. Place them in small bowls for easy access.
4. Invite Kids to Thread
Encourage kids to thread the beads and straw pieces onto the pipe cleaners. They can follow a color pattern, mix and match, or create their own designs. This step is great for developing hand-eye coordination and creativity.
5. Finish and Display
Once the pipe cleaners are filled, your child’s Santa will have a colorful, textured beard. Let them display their creation on a shelf, hang it as a decoration, or gift it to someone special.
This Santa Threading Activity is a fun, festive way to keep kids busy while sneaking in some skill-building. It’s easy to set up, encourages creativity, and leaves you with a cheerful Santa craft to treasure throughout the season!
Play2Learn Toddler & Preschool Programs for Curious Toddlers
There is no limit to your toddler’s energy and curiosity. That energy and curiosity although a joy can be challenging at times. Their interest in just about everything around them is what makes them great learners. One and two year olds can soak up so much just from their senses!
But as a teacher or parent that thirst for learning can be exhausting. That is why I created this toddler and preschooler program. To help you get the most out of this time with your curious toddler without having to come up with creative ways to play and interact with them.
Play2Learn for Toddlers includes 20 Units for toddlers. Each 2-week toddler unit has 20 super easy to set up and engaging activities for toddlers 18 months to 3 years.
Play2Learn Preschool which includes 20 Units for preschoolers. Each 2-week preschoolers unit has 20 unique and easy to set up and engaging activities for preschoolers 3 years to 5 years. That’s over 800 learning activities for your toddler and preschooler at your fingertips! So many ideas you and your child will never be bored again!
These toddler and preschool lesson plans and activities will definitely keep you and your toddler and preschooler busy playing and learning!
Click here for more information: Play2Learn
Book: Exciting Sensory Bins for Curious Kids
Did you know I wrote a book of sensory bins? Click here for more information Exciting Sensory Bin for Curious Kids. Or grab your copy at Amazon.
Boring afternoons are made exciting with awesome animal-based bins, like Salty Shark Bay or Yarn Farm. Pretend play bins like Birthday Cake Sensory Play or Bubble Tea Party encourage creativity and imagination. And your kids will have so much fun they won’t even know they’re getting smarter with STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) activities like Sink or Float Soup, Magnetic Letter Hunt or Ice Cream Scoop and Count.
Designed for toddlers 18 months and up.
Book: Super STEAM Activity Book for Kids
Learning all about science, technology, engineering, art, and math sets kids up for scholastic success―and it can be so much fun! Watch kids enjoy building STEAM skills as they color friendly fish, help water find its way to tree roots, solve math problems with mazes, and more.
Find out more and grab your copy here.
Designed for preschoolers 3 years old and up.
Book: Big Book of Riddles for Kids
Riddle me this: What’s an exciting way to practice critical thinking while having a blast? The Big Riddle Book for Kids, of course! From hilarious puns to tough brain teasers, kids can build problem-solving skills with hundreds of riddles tha. t show them how to think outside the box.
- 350 riddles for kids—Have hours of fun with riddles, puns and jokes, and math and logic puzzles that’ll get their wheels turning!
- Level up their skills—Riddles get trickier as kids progress through the book, challenging them as they get better at solving puzzles!
- Double-check their work—Kids can check their answers in the back of the book with a handy answer key.
Help children expand their minds while having fun with this puzzle book for kids!
Designed for kids ages 6 years old and up.
TV Show: Curious Crafting
I’m so excited to share my crafting TV show Curious Crafting which launched in July 2022 on TVOkids and TVOkids YouTube! Season 2 aired in August 2023! My show was also nominated in 2023 for Best Live Action Preschool Series by the Youth Media Alliance Awards of Excellence.
Curious Crafting Season 1 is also now airing in Australia on ABC! Watch it here!
Set in the ultimate crafting space, Curious Crafting is a short form pre-school age series about the joy of making crafts. I lead a rotating cast of adorable little preschoolers (including my own) making magic out of common household objects.
In each episode we transform recycled items into magical crafts like a milk carton school bus, paper bag puppet or cotton pad turtle. The crafters learn and laugh their way through each activity while demonstrating what their young imaginations can create.
Curious Crafting shares the adventure and joy of making art with takeaway lessons for creating crafts at home.
This show designed for toddlers and preschoolers 2.5 years old and up.
