Keeping toddlers entertained during the holiday season can be fun, festive, and wonderfully messy—in the best way.
Painting activities are perfect because they build creativity, support sensory development, and produce adorable keepsakes parents will love forever.
Below are 14 Christmas-themed painting activities for toddlers, each explained in a detailed paragraph so you can easily recreate them at home or in the classroom.
1. Fingerprint Christmas Lights
This activity lets little ones create colorful “light bulbs” using nothing but their fingertips.
Start with a sheet of white cardstock and draw a wavy line across it to represent the string.
Then set out bowls of washable paint in red, yellow, blue, and green.
Toddlers dip their fingers into the paint and press them along the drawn line to form the bulbs.
It’s simple, sensory-rich, and creates a bright, festive piece of art you’ll want to hang immediately.
2. Painted Santa Handprints
Turn your toddler’s tiny hand into Santa himself.
Coat the palm with skin-tone or pink paint, the fingers with white paint for the beard, and add a red triangle above for the hat.
Once stamped on paper, toddlers can help add googly eyes, a pom-pom, or more paint details.
This adorable craft doubles as a keepsake you’ll treasure for years, capturing the memory of how small their hands once were.
3. Christmas Tree Sponge Painting
Cut kitchen sponges into simple triangle shapes, dip them in green paint, and let toddlers stamp out Christmas trees on paper.
Once the trees dry a little, provide cotton swabs dipped in red, yellow, and gold paint so children can dot ornaments across the branches.
This activity strengthens fine motor skills while introducing the concept of patterns and decorations in a fun, sensory way.
Also check: 15 Christmas Activities for Toddlers Food
4. Candy Cane Painted Stripes
For this classic craft, place strips of tape diagonally across a candy-cane-shaped paper cutout.
Toddlers paint over the entire shape using red paint.
When the paint dries, peel away the tape to reveal perfect white stripes.
It’s a visually satisfying activity that teaches toddlers about contrast and results in a beautiful candy cane they’ll proudly display.
5. Snowy Christmas Scene With White Paint
Give toddlers dark blue or black construction paper and a bowl of thick white paint.
With a brush, fingers, or a sponge, they can create snowflakes, snowy hills, snowmen, and stars in the sky.
The contrast makes the artwork look magical, and toddlers love the freedom to splash white paint across a dark background to create a winter wonderland.
6. Painted Ornament Baubles
Trace circle shapes on thick cardstock or use pre-cut ornament templates.
Provide glitter paint, metallic paint, and bright Christmas colors, and let toddlers swirl and mix the paint using brushes or their fingers.
Once dry, cut out the ornaments and attach string to hang them on the tree, creating custom toddler-made decorations full of charm and sparkle.
7. Reindeer Footprint Painting
Paint the bottom of your toddler’s foot with brown washable paint and stamp it onto paper.
Once dry, help them add eyes, antlers, and a red Rudolph nose using more paint or craft materials.
The footprint shape naturally forms the reindeer’s head, making this craft both cute and meaningful—especially for parents who love keepsakes.
8. Christmas Wrapping Paper Painting
Roll out a large sheet of kraft paper or plain wrapping paper on the floor or table.
Give toddlers Christmas-themed stamps—like trees, stars, bells, and snowflakes—or simple shapes made from sponges.
Let them dip and stamp freely.
When dry, use the homemade wrapping paper for gifts. This teaches toddlers about creating patterns and makes gift-giving extra special.
9. Painted Gingerbread Men
Cut gingerbread man shapes from brown cardstock.
Toddlers can decorate them with paint—white for the icing, red for buttons, green for scarves, and whatever details they imagine.
This simple creative activity lets children explore facial expressions, clothing design, and color choices, making each gingerbread character completely unique.
Read more: 15 Christmas Activities for Toddlers Math
10. Pom-Pom Painting Christmas Trees
Give toddlers a large triangle cutout representing a Christmas tree.
Instead of brushes, provide small pom-poms clipped to clothespins.
Toddlers dip the fluffy pom-poms into paint and dab “ornaments” all over the tree.
The dotted texture looks festive and colorful, and using clothespins helps toddlers practice hand strength.
11. Painted Nativity Stars
Cut star shapes from yellow or white cardstock.
Give toddlers gold, silver, glitter, or glow-in-the-dark paint to decorate.
These painted stars can be used as tree toppers, hung as garlands, or added to a toddler-friendly nativity wall display.
This introduces children to the Christmas story while keeping the activity simple and creative.
12. Christmas Color Mixing Activity
Provide red, white, and green paint on a palette and let toddlers experiment with mixing colors on paper.
They’ll discover pinks, lighter greens, and new festive shades.
You can frame the activity with a Christmas outline—like a wreath or stocking—so the final artwork becomes holiday-themed.
This is a playful way to introduce color science to toddlers.
13. Painted Christmas Rocks
Collect smooth rocks and wash them before painting.
Toddlers can paint them green like mini Christmas trees, red like Santa hats, or white like snowmen.
After they dry, add simple details using markers or extra paint.
Painted rocks make fun decorations for shelves, centerpieces, or outdoor Christmas pathways.
14. Tape-Resist Christmas Shapes
Using painter’s tape, create shapes like stars, trees, presents, or crosses on a blank sheet.
Toddlers paint over everything using holiday colors.
Once dry, peel away the tape to reveal clean, crisp shapes underneath.
This process always surprises toddlers, making it one of the most magical painting activities of the season.
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