Sensory Ornaments

By Clean Plate

Although I use the word "crafts" lightly, this is an excellent open ended Christmas craft activity for children of all ages.  Simply cut shapes (we used stars, Christmas trees and gingerbread men) out of sand paper.  Christmas shapes like these make cute ornaments, but you can cut simpler shapes as well if you have a lot of children, or are short on time!
Give the children a range of whole spices (we used cinnamon sticks and whole cloves) to rub onto the sand paper shapes.  This will create a lovely scent on your ornaments.  Other great spices include star anise, whole nutmeg and dried ginger.  This activity not only allows the children to experience what these spices look  and feel like in their natural state, but gives them some familiarity with the smell and texture as well.  It also allows them to practice their fine motor skills by handling a range of differently shaped and sized spices.

After the children have 'spiced' their ornaments they can decorate them in a variety of ways.  We used crayons because they are really easy to use on the sand paper and can be used by any age child to create cute designs.  They also don't impede the scent coming through!