Treasuring Memories With a Kid-Made Treasure Box Ornament
I love making holiday decorations with the kids but I was looking for a way to put more meaning into the ornament. So when I was invited to take part in The Kid Made Christmas Ornaments Blog Hop hosted by Crafty Mama in ME I wanted to come up with an activity that would be meaningful both for the child and the family.
First, we made some light-up Christmas ornaments. Then, we made some salt dough transportation ornaments with a four-year-old. It was his first time making gifts for his family and the activity is chockful of fine motor and sensory fun. They were both great craft projects but then another child wanted to make ornaments. I had run out of tea lights for the light up holiday decorations and salt for the salt dough ornaments so I came up with this idea to make a treasure box with the kids and I must say I am very pleased with the results. 
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Kid-Made Ornaments Represent a Moment in Time
For me, the beauty of homemade decorations is the memory they hold. Every year, as we pull decorations out of storage our heart melts as we are reminded of a time, a person, a feeling. I wanted this ornament to hold one of those moments for years to come. This activity is not just a craft, it’s a time to think about others and to reflect on ourselves.
Materials Needed For a Kid-Made Treasure Box Ornament:
- Cardstock
- Treasure Box Template.
- Treasure Note Template
- Glue
- Paper Clips
- Hand Hole Punch
- Ruler or Straight Edge
- Scissors
- Stickers
and Decorations
- Markers
How We Added Social Skills & Exploring Feelings to This Holiday Activity for Kids:
- I gave the scrolls to the children. First, we did the “You are” scroll. I had the kids write down or draw something for the person on their left. Some of the things they chose to write were “You are friendly”, “You are funny”, “You are tall”. The child who wrote “You are tall” needs to work on giving compliments.
They put the “You are” scroll in their friend’s treasure box. - Then I gave them the “I am” scrolls and had them write or draw something about themselves.
- After that, the kids had fun with the blank scrolls making whatever they wanted.
- Once the treasure box ornaments were filled with their scrolls we looked at the scrolls and talked about the feelings and thoughts that they represented.
Wouldn’t it be fun to bring these out next year and enjoy a snapshot view of who they were this holiday?
[…] Treasure Chest Ornaments – We created this craft for a social skills playgroup. After making the treasure chests we had the children write personal messages to put in the ornament. Every year the children can read the uplifting notes and add more. […]