December · Christmas
DIY Christmas Craft Kits
Everything a class needs to paint their own decorations, delivered to school. No facilitator, no date to fix.
- Key stages
- EYFS to KS2
- When you paint
- Whenever suits your timetable
- How many
- One kit per child, any class size
- How it works
- Delivered to school — no visit from us
How the kits work
Ordering
Tell us how many children
One kit per child, so the only number we need is your headcount — a single class or the whole school works the same way. Tell us when you would like them and we will confirm the cost before anything is sent.
Delivery
A box arrives at school
Everything is packed together: the wooden decorations, the paints and brushes, sponges, aprons, stickers and glitter. Nothing to source separately, nothing to cut out the night before, and nothing to give back afterwards.
On the day
Cover the tables and hand them out
No training, no run-through and nothing to set up beyond newspaper and water pots. Aprons on, paints in the middle of the table, one decoration each. It works as a full art lesson, a wet-play activity or one station in a class carousel.
Finishing
Leave them somewhere flat to dry
The stickers and the glitter go on best once the paint is dry, so most classes paint first, leave the decorations out of the way for a while, and come back to decorate them later in the day.
Afterwards
Home, hall or winter fair
Every child finishes with a decoration to take home for the family tree. Classes that paint a full set often string them across the hall first, or bundle them for a winter fair table.
No date to agree and nobody to fit into the hall. The kits sit in the cupboard until the week your timetable has room for them.
What pupils will learn
- Designing before painting: choosing a colour scheme and a pattern that suits a small, curved surface
- Painting on wood rather than paper — how much paint a brush should carry and why thin coats behave better
- Using a sponge for background and texture and a brush for detail, and knowing when each is the right tool
- Working to a finish, since a painted decoration cannot be crumpled up and started again
- Making something small to give to somebody else, which is what most midwinter traditions have in common
Curriculum links
EYFS to KS2
- Design and Technology, KS1
- Design purposeful, appealing products for a chosen user, and select from a range of tools and materials to cut, join and finish.
- Design and Technology, KS2
- Select from and use a wider range of materials and components, including textiles, according to their functional properties and aesthetic qualities.
- Art and Design, KS1 and KS2
- Use a range of materials creatively to design and make products, and work with printing, textiles and collage alongside drawing.
- PSHE and RE
- Taking turns with shared tools, tidying a station for the group behind you, and making something for somebody else. The midwinter framing supports the festivals unit that most locally agreed RE syllabuses set for the autumn term.
What's in every kit
- A wooden bauble decoration for every child, ready to paint — no sanding, cutting or preparation
- Paints and brushes
- Sponges, for backgrounds and texture
- An apron for every child
- Decorative stickers and glitter for finishing
What you'll need in class
- Tables you can cover — newspaper or a wipeable cloth is plenty
- Water pots and a few sheets of kitchen roll
- A flat space out of the way where a class set of decorations can dry
- An adult to hand out and supervise, which for most classes is the class teacher on their own
When to book
December
Christmas falls on 25 December every year. We recommend booking by mid-November, as December fills up quickly.
Reviews for our workshop team
What schools say about our Christmas workshops
“Our infant school aged pupils enjoyed the Maypole experience and were amazed to see the maypole in the middle of their playground. The teacher was fantastic with our young children and we all managed to come away from our sessions feeling we had learnt something rather wonderful!”
St Peter's “Highly recommend the African mask workshop! It's one of the highlights of the Year 5 calendar. Well worth every penny”
Joanne Netto “What a great experience for the children! Ivan was amazing at keeping their interest and making the drumming session as active and exciting as possible.”
Demelza Jones “A great workshop. Fantastic resources and Chris was great with the children. They were engaged throughout and talked about it for ages afterwards. This is the third time we have used them and they never disappoint!”
Julie Gill “Fantastic workshops for primary school children - the facilitators Emma for African drumming and Naomi for dance workshops were friendly, skilled and provided a very enjoyable experience for the children. Thank you!”
Aleksandra Dass “We have had a number of experiences from the Education Group and are always impressed by the quality of the workshops. We return to them time after time because we know that the planning, content and age-appropriateness of their sessions are absolutely right for the children.”
Kate Baguley
Questions schools ask
How is this different from your bauble painting workshop?
The workshop is our team in your hall for the day: ceramic baubles, a facilitator running every group, and everything set up and cleared away for you. The kits are the same idea without the visit — wooden decorations, your own staff, your own timetable, at a much lower cost per child. Schools that want the event book the workshop. Schools that want the making, on a tighter budget, take the kits.
What does a kit cost?
It depends on how many you need, so we quote on your numbers rather than publishing one price. Tell us the headcount and roughly when you want them and we will come back with a figure before anything is sent.
Do we need any art experience to run it?
No. There is nothing to demonstrate and no technique to teach. Hand out a decoration each, put the paints in the middle of the table and let them design. Any adult who has run an ordinary art lesson can run this one.
Can we order for a whole school?
Yes. One kit per child is the only rule, so one class and six hundred children work exactly the same way. Tell us the number and we pack accordingly.
How long does a class need?
About a normal art lesson. The painting itself is quick — it is deciding what to paint that takes the time — and the stickers and glitter go on afterwards, once the paint has dried.
Everything a class needs to paint their own decorations, delivered to school. No facilitator, no date to fix.
Tell us the date you have in mind and we'll come back within one working day with options for your school.