Blogger / 6 December, 2022 / Nanny Anita
Our resident craft expert Nanny Anita has been busy creating the ultimate Christmas crafts for kids – inspired by our favourite magical storybox and its gang of festive Tonies.
“My youngest charge loves to listen to his Toniebox while we are doing an activity or craft, and Tonies have a fantastic collection of Christmas stories and songs, so I’ve created six fun and festive crafts you can do while listening to their very own story on the Toniebox!” – Nanny Anita.
Frozen fans are going to love this two-part Tonie, home to two popular Disney Frozen features.
Join Olaf and Kristoff for Olaf’s Frozen Adventure as they embark on a merry mission to bring Christmas cheer to sisters Elsa and Anna. And find out what happens when Elsa’s icy powers threaten to ruin Anna’s birthday celebrations in Frozen Fever – will Anna get her perfect day?
1. Use a toothpick to attach the head and the body. I added some hot glue around the toothpick to make sure that they were securely attached.
2. If you don’t have a hot glue gun, PVA glue will work just as well, but you will need to wait longer for it to dry.
3. Then, you can decorate your snowmen however you please! We cut some of the toothpicks up to create noses, arms and legs.
Celebrate a little Christmas every day with this festive, beautifully crafted Tonie. He just waits for you to fill his gift bag with many wonderful listening surprises: singing Christmas carols, sending greetings or playing exciting stories that you can listen to – when wrapped in a warm blanket – over tea and biscuit. He’ll also love to watch you make a Christmas craft or two, so what are you waiting for? get stuck in!
1. Wrapping tubes are perfect for making crackers because you can cut them up and make multiple ones from one tube. We used a mix of toilet rolls and wrapping tubes.
2. Add the hat, toy and joke before you wrap the tubes. You can literally use any type of paper to make these, we opted to use brown paper.
3. Tape the cracker snap to the paper and then wrap it around the tube, making sure that the cracker snap is on the inside.
4. Use tape or glue to secure it shut.
5. Use ribbons to tie off the ends of the tube to make the handles.
6. Finally use paper or washi tape to decorate the outside of the cracker.
When the snow falls, magic fills the air. One snowy day a boy builds a Snowman and in the middle of the night the Snowman comes to life.
The Snowman Flies again… with The Snowman and the Snowdog!
In the middle of winter, a little boy’s Snowman and Snowdog come to life and take him on a breathtaking and magical adventure.
1. Using your modelling plasticine, make a little model to be the feature of your snow globe (ensure it fits inside the jar). When you have finished it, make sure you bake it according to the manufacturer’s guidelines.
2. When your model is baked and cooled, cover it completely with clear nail varnish to make it waterproof. Try to paint every little crack and crevice, so the water doesn’t ruin it.
3. Sand the lid of your jam jar (where you will glue your model) so the glue will properly adhere to it.
4. Using the silicone glue, stick your model to the lid and leave to dry. The one I used was dry to the touch in 30 minutes, but took 24hours to be completely cured. I would recommend waiting the full amount, they will last longer if you do.
5. Fill your jar with distilled water, then add a drop or two of the glycerine. The bigger your jar the more drops you add. The glycerine helps the glitter to fall slowly.
6. Add some glitter to your jar.
7. Put some silicone glue on the rim of the jar and screw the lid on, this prevents small hands from accidentally opening the snow globe.
Masterpieces – stories from the world’s greatest operas and ballets.
Clara receives a nutcracker as a Christmas present from her godfather. That night, when she goes to sleep, Clara dreams that the nutcracker and his toy soldiers have come to life to wage a battle against the army of the evil Mouse King.
1. Start out by painting on the hair, shoes, and leotard of the Sugar Plum Fairy.
2. If you don’t have a pom pom maker, then you can wrap the wool around your fingers and make one that way. It is just easier to do it with a pom pom maker. Once you have wound all your wool and cut it, insert your peg into the middle of the maker. That way when you wrap the last piece of wool around the middle of the pom pom to secure it all in place, it will be tied to the peg doll. Secure it all with a glue gun. Alternatively, and much easier, you could always use cupcake wrappers to make the tutu.
3. Use a fine-tipped pen to draw on the facial features.
4. Finally, glue some string to the back of the head so that you can hang your Sugar Plum Fairy up.
1. Using 2 normal and 1 small (you can always cut one normal-sized stick in half) sized craft stick make an isosceles triangle. Glue all the pieces into place.
2. Paint your rat; don’t forget to add on the eyes.
3. Glue on a small pom to the tip of the triangle to create its nose.
4. Finish it off by attaching a loop of ribbon to the top for you to hang it up with.
1. Lay 5 normal-sized craft sticks next to each other. Glue another craft stick diagonally across them to keep them all in place.
2. Turn it over and glue a small craft stick horizontally across the 5 to create the brim of his hat. I would glue it slightly under the half way mark.
3. Paint your hat.
4. Draw on your Nutcracker’s facial features and paint them in.
5. To make the nose, cut the end off the rounded end of a craft stick. This may take a few tries, as the sticks are prone to snap. Stick it onto your Nutcrackers face.
6. To add the finishing touches, glue on a feather and gem to his hat, and add a loop of ribbon to hang it up with.
“A mouse took a stroll through the deep dark wood. A fox saw the mouse and the mouse looked good.” Walk further into the deep dark wood, and discover what happens when a quick-witted mouse comes face to face with an owl, a snake… and a hungry Gruffalo!
1. Mix the dry ingredients and leave them to the side.
2. In another bowl cream the sugar and butter together, then add the vanilla, almond, and egg. Mix again.
3. Slowly add the dry ingredients until you get a firm dough.
4. Normally recipes say to put the dough into the fridge as it is, but if you roll out the dough onto parchment paper before putting it into the fridge for at least 30 minutes, it makes it much easier when you take it out.
5. Cut out circles with your cookie cutter. Then put them into the oven on 180c for 8-10 minutes.
6. Once the biscuits have cooled you can start your decorating. I am afraid I didn’t take any pictures from here on out.
7. While they are cooling you can use the marzipan or fondant to make some horns and teeth.
8. Cover your cookies in icing, stick on two horns, two chocolate buttons for the ears, 2 orange M&Ms for the eyes, and one green M&M for the nose. Then cover it with chocolate 100s and 1000s. You do need to move quite quickly with that part, you don’t want the icing to dry before the sprinkles are on.
9. Using the black icing pen, add some pupils to the eyes and draw on a mouth. Finally add the teeth.
10. Now it is time to put the kettle on and enjoy eating your Gruffalo sugar biscuits while you finish listening to the Gruffalo with your little one!
Princess Elsa brings us the story of a kingdom trapped in perpetual winter, a tale of sisterly strife and the epic journey undertaken by a fearless princess to save their kingdom from winter’s cold grip. We’ll meet mystical trolls, a brave iceman and a cheerful snowman along the way and learn that only an act of true love can thaw a frozen heart.
Children can enjoy the captivating story of the devoted sisters, narrated by Nolan North, along with original favourite songs “Let It Go”, “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?”, “For the First Time in Forever” and “Love is an Open Door”.
1. Cut your potatoes in half, then push a cookie cutter into each potato half. Cut away the excess potato so that you are left with a perfect snowflake cut out.
2. Use wooden blocks on the piece of paper to make Elsa’s Ice palace and print your snowflakes. You can also use the cookie cutters to print with.
3. Before the paint dries, sprinkle some glitter over it, and you’re done!
If you enjoyed making this potato snowflake printing craft, be sure to check out my gingerbread loo roll man and 7-point star pinata.
Built to withstand the inevitable bumps and tumbles from kids, the soft-padded Toniebox is an audio player that plays the songs and stories available in Tonies’ ever-expanding library of kids’ classics. The Toniebox comes to life via interchangeable kid-proof figurines called ‘Tonies’. A whole host of Tonies is available for all ages, so your little ones can choose their favourites. From Disney favourites, popular fairytales and modern classics, to educational content surrounding science and dinosaurs and much more. Don’t forget to check out their collection of Christmassy content perfect for stockings, Christmas Eve boxes and more, and watch little eyes light up on Christmas morning!
Tonies make it fun and simple for children to learn new words, fostering speech and language skills through the wonderful world of audio.
5 Awesome Disney Crafts To Do While Listening To Your Toniebox
Introduce a whole new world of fun to their playtime with this incredible personalised wooden doll’s house gift set. Complete with furniture to decorate the living room, kitchen, bedroom, nursery and bathroom, and an adorable wooden family, this set is truly the ultimate doll’s house for little storytellers.
Make this charming doll’s house gift set all theirs by adding a sweet plaque to the front with their name on it.
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