December origami! Simple ideas for Santas and wreaths that kids can enjoy in childcare
Perfect for Christmas and the holiday season in December! Here, we introduce cute decoration ideas you can make with origami, such as Santa Claus, trees, and snowmen.
There are plenty of simple projects with steps that you can enjoy together with children in preschool.
With every fold—wreaths, bells, reindeer—your room will become more festive and filled with the spirit of Christmas.
Through each piece, imagination grows, making for a wonderful time full of children’s smiles.
Be sure to include origami play in your Christmas memories!
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December Origami! Easy Santa and Wreath Ideas for Fun in Childcare (1–10)
Christmas tree with origami!
We’ll make a Christmas tree by sticking strip-shaped origami onto a backing sheet.
First, prepare the origami and cut it into strips.
Overlap the two ends of each strip to form a loop, then start gluing the loops onto the backing sheet.
Arrange them in the shape of a tree: five loops in the bottom row, four in the row above, and so on.
Use red origami for the top row, and add a star at the top.
Decorate the tree with round stickers, and it’s done! You can also use wide paper tape instead of origami paper.
Let’s make a snowman with a single sheet of origami!
Many kids want to make snowmen in winter, don’t they? Here’s an idea for an origami snowman.
First, fold the top corner of the origami paper into a small triangle and fold it down about 1 cm.
This will be the pom-pom on top of the hat.
Next, tightly roll-fold the right corner twice to create the hat’s white brim.
Fold the paper in half by matching the left and right edges, then fold the brim section back outward to match the width of the rolled folds.
Align the top and bottom to make the paper a square, then lift the top-left corner (two layers) and fold it to the opposite corner.
With the pom-pom at the top, turn the paper over, and fold the lower left and right edges toward the center line.
Open the pocket on the right side and squash-fold it, shaping it into a snowman.
How to fold a cute Tomte
Also popular as Christmas decorations! The Nordic gnome “Tomte.” Let’s make the hat with 15 cm origami paper, and the face and body with 7.5 cm origami paper.
First, fold the hat paper into a triangle to make a crease.
Next, fold the bottom corner up so it aligns slightly below the crease.
Fold it up again along the center crease to form a triangle, then turn it over and fold the left and right corners up to meet the top corner.
Fold the lower left and right edges inward so they meet at the center, and the hat is done.
Next, fold the face paper into a triangle to make a crease, then fold the two top edges down to meet the crease.
Open up the overlapped center and squash it to form the nose.
Fold the tip of the nose slightly to round it, then turn the paper over and fold the corner above the nose slightly inward to make a crease.
Insert the part under the hat, aligning the crease with the bottom edge of the hat, and fold both sides of the face to match the sides of the hat.
The white part left showing is the beard.
Fold the left, right, and bottom corners of the body paper inward, then attach it to the face to finish.
Cute for Christmas! Santa Claus
Combine three parts—face, body, and hat—to make Santa Claus.
Align one corner to the center and crease, then align the corner to that crease and crease again.
Fold the corner along the second crease, turn the paper over, and fold the remaining three corners to the center.
Fold both corners of the one triangle that’s a different color toward the center, then fold the opposite edge to the center of the diamond.
Fold both ends of the rectangular section inward, then fold all four corners into triangles to complete the face.
For the body, fold the left and right edges to meet in the middle, then fold the two top corners that meet in the center back outward about 1 cm—these will be Santa’s hands.
Fold the top and bottom edges to meet in the middle to make a square, then squash the top pocket to form a boat shape.
Use mountain-and-valley folds on both the boat section and the remaining lower section to create the arms and legs.
Make the hat by folding a small piece of origami paper about 10 times.
Glue the three parts together and you’re done!
Colon and a cute reindeer
Turn the origami paper to the back and crease it in half.
Fold the bottom edge up to meet the crease.
Shift the crease by folding the edge to align with the fold line.
Fold the left and right sides to meet the center line.
Fold the white section down to the edge.
After folding up both bottom corners of the white section, pull them upward.
Next, squash-fold so that the creases land on the corners.
Fold the edges with the image of reindeer antlers in mind.
Finally, fold the left and right sides diagonally so they cross slightly at the center, letting the “horns” peek out a bit, to form the body—and you’re done! Use round stickers or a pen to draw a cute face.
