Miss Fiona and her daddy have a tradition this time of year of watching The Nutcracker and reading picture books about nutcrackers. Daryl also has a collection of nutcrackers that the kids love to play with.
Last week, Fiona asked me if she could spend her money on a nutcracker for daddy. The nutcracker in question was overpriced and badly made, so I offered to help her make him a nutcracker instead. She loved the idea and I was on the hunt for some fun and easy nutcracker crafts.
Here are the best that I found, in case your kiddos would like to make some nutcrackers of their own.
Sophie World has this easy printable nutcracker that kids color and then glue to a toilet paper tube. Add embellishments like buttons, feathers, pompoms and even a toothpick sword if you like. It’s a bit tricky to find the PDF — click on “stats” to find it.
Learn Create Love has a printable nutcracker that kids can color and then cut out and assemble.
Playground Park Bench has a rather elaborate Nutcracker and mouse battle tic tac toe game made of clothespins that you can make with the kids. I’m not sure we need to buy all the parts and do it that fancy, but I’m thinking we could use some clothespins and craft supplies around the house to make our own kid versions.
Schooling a Monkey shows how to make cute little craft stick nutcracker characters.
Crafty Morning uses popsicle sticks, paper and clothespins to make some very cute kid-made nutcrackers.
Glued to My Crafts has a sweet paper plate nutcracker for kids to craft.
Fireflies and Mudpies shows how to make a toy soldier ornament with craft sticks and paint.
And I am in love with these darling nutcracker portraits shared on smArt Class.
She also shared this video to show kids how to draw their own nutcrackers.
Deviant Art’s CyberDrone has a printable nutcracker cube kids can have fun assembling, too.
Lastly, Mom Junction has an assortment of Nutcracker themed coloring pages to print out for the kids to color.
And with that, I’m off to do a billion nutcracker crafts with a happy little girl.