Easy Gifts Kids Can Make: I Spy Ornament

We love making homemade ornaments for the Christmas tree, and this one is especially fun because not only is it a decoration that your child will be proud to have made, it's a fun activity as well!

An I Spy ornament combines two things that kids love: a Christmas craft and a classic childhood game. Your child can make one of these to hang on your own Christmas tree, and it also makes a great gift to give to a young friend.

Let me show you how we made ours.

We started with an inexpensive, clear, plastic Christmas ball with a removable top. Then we went on a little scavenger hunt. We dug through our toy bins, craft cupboards and kitchen drawers in search of pretty, colourful treasures that would easily fit through the opening in the top of the ornament.

You can use whatever suits your fancy, but a few suggestions are:

• paperclip
• beads and buttons
• craft gems and jewels
• rubber band
• small sea shell
• craft foam shapes
• small doll shoe
• Lego piece
• artificial flower
• pom-pom
• googly eye
• ribbon

You'll also need a filler.  Your filler will serve as a place for the items to "hide" in your I Spy ornament.

You can use artificial snow which can be found at most craft and dollar stores during the Christmas season, or you can do like we did, and simply use some white rice from the kitchen cupboard.
Before you fill your ornament, jot down all of the treasures you'll be hiding in your ornament. This will be a check list that your child can refer to when they’re playing I Spy.

For our list, I wrote out the items on lined paper, and then I glued that to a piece of coloured card stock.  I gave our list a decorative touch with a my scrapbook scissors.

Now to fill your ornament:

Have your child drop all of the small items into the ornament, and using a funnel, fill it about three-quarters full with the rice or artificial snow.

Pop the top back on the ornament, and give it a shake to distribute the items through the rice or snow.

As an extra measure, you might want to secure the top with a bit of glue. This will prevent young children from removing the lid, and spilling the contents of the ornament.

To finish, punch a hole in the top of your list, and tie it to the top of the ornament with a piece of festive ribbon. The ribbon will double as a loop to hang the ornament from your Christmas tree.

Now your kids can admire their homemade ornament hanging on the tree, and when they want a bit of fun, they can take it down and play a game of I Spy.