The holidays are a great time for families to bond, relax, and have fun together. As parents, we can use this time of year as an opportunity to promote skill development in our children. Crafting is one way to do that! Here are some fun holiday crafts that can help promote speech and language development, perspective taking, turn taking, problem solving, and flexible thinking in children.
Speech & Language Development:
Making your own holiday pictures or decorating a snowman is a great way to engage in activities that promote speech and language development. This activity encourages vocabulary building as you discuss the colors and shapes of the materials you will be using for your craft. It also promotes grammar skills as you talk about the parts of the picture or snowman.
Perspective Taking:
After wrapping all holiday gifts, have your children create personalized gift tags. While decorating the tags, have them consider the interest and preferences of the receiver and decorate them accordingly. In doing so, they’re constantly thinking about others while creating something meaningful!
Turn Taking:
Creating homemade ornaments is an engaging way for kids to practice turn taking while crafting during the holidays. You can make it into a game by having each family member take turns selecting materials or placing pieces onto the ornament until it’s complete! This also helps promote problem-solving skills as each person has to figure out how best to contribute in order for everyone’s ideas to be represented in the final product.
Flexible Thinking:
Making gift wrap decorations with various materials such as paper plates and felt pieces encourages flexible thinking during craft time! You can ask your child questions like “What else can we use instead of glue?” or “How else could we link these two pieces together?” This helps foster creative thinking as well as problem-solving skills as they explore different ways of connecting objects together or finding alternative materials when needed.
Crafting is an excellent way for parents to engage with their children during the holidays while promoting important skills such as language development, perspective taking, turn taking, problem solving, and flexible thinking. Whether it’s making holiday drawings or creating gift wrap decorations with paper plates – there are lots of fun activities you can do with your family this season! With just a few supplies from around the house and some creativity – you’ll be sure to find something special that brings joy not only during this holiday season but all year long!
Happy Holidays!
