• Travel
  • Reading
  • Math
  • Science
  • Writing
  • Recipes

The Educators' Spin On It

Learning Games and Activities

  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • BOOK CLUB
  • Shop
  • Contact

By Kim Vij

Personalized Name Ornament for Kids to Make

Personalized Ornament Craft by Kids for Christmas

There is something so precious about handmade ornaments that kids create hanging on your Christmas during the holiday season. They take such pride in them as they gift them to a loved one. Then year after year they truly are a treasure you uncover from the kid made ornaments from your ornament box and watch your child proudly hang on the tree. I must confess my heart melts just a bit looking at them.  Capturing how a child writes at each age is so adorable as well.  

I’m going to share with you a handmade ornament idea using your child’s name. It’s perfect for if your child is a beginning reader or elementary school for fun!

Do you have your handmade ornaments on the tree from when you were a child?

Personalized Ornament Craft by Kids for Christmas


This post contains affiliate links to Amazon. 

One of my favorite Holiday Stories is a book about a young boy learning to read and Santa takes him on a reading adventure in his sleigh on Christmas Eve as his helper with his book.  The story is called Santa’s Book of Names by David McPhail. It’s available on Amazon or find it at your local library to read with your child.

Santa’s Book of Names by David McPhail

Personalized Name Ornament

Materials Needed

  • Santa’s Book of Names 
  • Recycled Cardboard Box
  • Scissors
  • 15 Pipe Cleaners 
  • Marker or Pencil
  • Snowflake Shaped Confetti 
  • Jingle Bells 
Supplies for Personalized Ornament Craft by Kids for Christmas

Here’s how to make it: 

1. Have your child write their name with a pencil on the recycled cardboard that you’ve cut to lay flat. 2. Now take that style of their writing duplicate it into large block letters that are connected.  (You can also just make block letters in standard format too) Be sure to make the letter wide enough for the pipe cleaner to wrap around, approx 1/4 to 1/2 inch.

3. Cut around the block letters to create a cut out of your child’s name or a family member’s name.  My daughters made one for everyone in the family to hang on the tree.  Use a hole puncher to make it easier to get inside of the letters {Great for fine motor practice for kids}

4. Use the pipe cleaner wrap to around the recycled cardboard to form each letter in the name.  Encourage them to push the pipe cleaner down tight to lay closely to the cardboard. This will take several pipe cleaners to do 6-10 depending on the length of your child’s name.

5. Next at a few snowflakes to decorate the name and a bell.  Simple attach with a few more shortened pipe cleaners.  This is a great way to cover up any areas you were having trouble getting the pipe cleaner to cover the cardboard nicely.

6. Attach a few more snowflakes to one last pipe cleaner and attach to the name from behind to use as a ornament hanger for your tree or even attach to gifts this year for under the tree personalized gift tags.

Personalized Ornament Craft by Kids for Christmas

Don’t have the supplies on hand? Click to buy on Amazon.

Snowflake Shaped Confetti

Jingle Bells 1-Inch, 18-Pack, Silver

Keep creating family names for more ornaments that your child can read on the tree too!

Personalized Ornament Craft by Kids for Christmas
Personalized Ornament Craft by Kids for Christmas

This post is part of the 10 Days of Kid Made Christmas hosted by Mama Miss 
#KidMadeChristmas

Go check out the other kid made ornament ideas featured today at

  • Castle View Academy
  • Left Brain Craft Brain
  • House of Burke
  • Emma Owl
  • Freshly Planted
  • Great Googa Moogas
  •  Adventures in Wunderland
  • The Natural Homeschool
  • Non Toy Gifts
  • The Educators’ Spin On It

Here’s the schedule for the 10 Days of Kid Made Christmas.

Come join the fun and share your own on this link. Use #KidMadeChristmas to follow!

** LIKE IT? PIN IT! **

Kids can create a personalized name ornament with just recycled cardboard and pipecleaners for their Christmas Tree or Gift Tags.  Inspired by the book Santa's Book of Names by David McPhail.

Looking for more ideas with kids for the holidays?

Explore these 50+ Christmas Activities for Kids or 100 Christmas Books Every Child Should Read Before They Turn 10!

Fingerprint ornament ideas for kids for keepsake holiday ornaments
school children in santa hats working on christmas activities and crafts
Children reading christmas books in santa hats with Dad.

Like this idea? Pin for later or share now with a friend!

  • Twitter1
  • Facebook39

Filed Under: Reading Tagged With: Christmas, grade school, Kim, Ornaments, Personalized, Personalized Name Ornament for Kids to Make, Preschool

About Kim Vij

Early childhood teacher, author, speaker and mom of 3. Kim shares ways to make learning fun and parenting an adventure by sharing developmentally appropriate activities.

« Alphabet Activities for Christmas
Stocking Themed Sight Word Activity »

Comments

  1. Peta Groth says

    December 14, 2015 at 10:18 am

    These are such a cute decoration and you can create new ones as the family grows 🙂

  2. Lauren Gaines says

    December 13, 2015 at 9:20 pm

    What a great idea! How creative!

  3. Melissa says

    December 7, 2015 at 9:33 pm

    What a great idea – love it Kim!

  4. Carolyn Wilhelm says

    December 7, 2015 at 11:05 am

    Thank you so much for this idea and explanation. This is useful other times but is a nice idea to help kids stay busy at Christmas.

  5. shelah moss says

    December 6, 2015 at 10:11 am

    I like this idea so much. I can see doing this project year round. It's a great way to explore names.

  6. Non Toy Gifts says

    December 4, 2015 at 10:43 pm

    What a great idea! This can be such a sweet gift for grandparents.

  7. Cassidy Sevier says

    December 4, 2015 at 11:56 am

    What a sweet way to add names to a Christmas tree! This will be great letter practice for my preschooler too 🙂

  8. Sara says

    December 4, 2015 at 11:55 am

    I love that book, too! Very clever ornament.

For ages…

Grade School
Preschool
Toddler
Baby

Search for an Activity

POPULAR POSTS

Virtual Field Trips for Kids
Summer Activity Bundle 2025
Classroom placement request
Ice+Cream+End+of+Year+Craft.png
Caterpillar to Butterfly Balloon Science Experiment
virtual book club summer camp
May Activity Calendar 2025

GRAB OUR BOOK!

100 fun and Easy Learning Games for Kids Book Cover Standing

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

You Might Also Like

Summer Activity Bundle 2025

Summer Activity Calendar Bundle

Ice+Cream+Themed+End+of+Year+Keepsake.png

Class Project for End of School Year

How to Write a Classroom Placement Letter for your Grade Schooler

How to write a letter for classroom placement or teacher request with a sample letter

Unicorn pinata sharing 10 fun things to put in a children's pinata that are not candy

10 Things To Put In A Children’s PiĂąata – That Are NOT Candy!

what a year of kindergarten writing looks like

What kindergarten writing looks like – a year of student samples

Let’s Connect!

Kim Vij

Early childhood teacher, author, speaker and mom of 3. Kim Vij shares ways to make learning fun and parenting an adventure by sharing all kinds of easy kid crafts, activities, recipes and even travel ideas for families!
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Shop
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025