Ask Ollie
Pop-Up Christmas Greeting Cards
Here's one to try together!
Fold, draw and snip a secret pop-up gift that jumps out when someone opens your card!
Reviewed by our team.
Safety first
- scissors are sharp; adult help or supervision for cutting slits
- cotton balls and small torn paper pieces could be a choking risk for very young children
- glue stick should not be eaten
What you need
- Paper, 2 to 4 sheets per kid
- Crayons or markers, 1 set
- Kid scissors, 1 pair
- Glue stick, 1 per kid
- Cotton balls, 3 to 5 (optional)
- Paper, a few sheets (optional)
- Phone, 1 playlist (optional)
How to do it
Grown-up prep: Set out paper, crayons, scissors and glue on a clear table, and queue up some quiet Christmas music if you like.
- Turn on some quiet Christmas music and pick your favorite paper.
- Fold your paper in half like a book.
- Draw a Christmas picture on the front of your card. Ask: Who will you give this card to, and what picture would they love most?
- Tear little paper bits and glue them on like a collage.
- Stretch a cotton ball and glue it on for fluffy snow.
- Snip two short cuts across the fold inside your card. Ask for help if you need it
- Push the strip inside and glue a tiny drawn gift on it. Ask: What do you think will happen to the gift when you open the card?
- Write a Christmas hello and one kind message inside.
- Give your card away, then make more! Who else would love a surprise card? Ask: How do you think they'll feel when the gift pops up?
Play it again
- Card factory: make a stack of cards and plan who gets each one.
- Mystery pop-up: hide a different surprise on the tab, like a snowman or a star, and let the reader guess.
- Texture challenge: use only torn paper and cotton for the front picture, no drawing allowed.
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