cherylynne

How about ornaments made from cinnamon, applesauce and Elmer's glue. Just put a container of dollar store cinnamon in a bowl. Add applesauce and Elmers glue to make a dough. Pat to flatten and cut with cookie cutters. I usually used little gingerbread man cutters. Put a little hole in for a hanger and let them air dry. They smell good and last for years. Might require some experimentation to get it right, though.

Pickles

Here is the recipe for the ornaments you gave , I had it and they make such cool things for the children to do, hope this helps..
APPLESAUCE - CINNAMON ORNAMENTS

2 lbs. cinnamon
70 oz. jar applesauce
4 oz. Elmer's glue

Place cinnamon in large bowl. Add glue and gradually add enough applesauce to get a slightly firm dough. Roll out to 3/8" to 1/2". Cut out with cookie cutters. Use a straw to make a hole in top of ornament for ribbon. Let dry at room temperature or bake at 200 degrees for 1 hour and then let dry completely.
:D

mmonohon

Did a similar project years ago with my boys, but it was a heart shape.

MinnieKat

Have them each do a silhouette of themselves. They will need to sit sideways in a chair with a light shining on them. You will can trace their silhouette onto a black piece of paper then cut it out and glue onto a white piece. We did this in 1st grade and I thought it was just great!

dotcomdtcm

Make ornaments for the birds & they can decorate a tree in the yard.Many ideas online.

noveltyjunkie

Firstly, bless you for thinking of this. My mother in law would never in ten million fits think of working with my children to make something for me!

My kids are about that age and will make ornaments for each tree in our extended family this year, as their gift to all the adults. (I beleive in unconditional love for children, but I also believe they should learn early to think that the person who loves them would also love to receive something!!!)

They are very keen to work with styrofoam shapes. I have bought a few cones to experiment with. I am thinking to just glue on layers of different greens, starting with darks at the bottom and working towards the topand then letting them go wild sticking (or maybe pinning) on sequins, little strongs of seed beads, etc, Hopefully this will end up looking something like a Christmas tree!!

We'll try something with styrofoam balls too.

If you are really adventuroius, I think you can get wreath shapes!

We have had great times in previous years with salt dough. Just roll it out and use your Christmas cutters to make nice shapes, bake, and paint! (Dont forget to make the hole to hang the ornament +before+ you bake it- they are like rocks when they dry)

dotcomdtcm

Have you tried the ornament where you use a blunt pencil to poke little pinked scraps of fabric into the styrofoam. It comes out great.

Butterflyblue

I've been working with my four and a half year old on sewing. She does really well at embroidery when I draw simple designs in that blue washable marking pen. So I'm having her make the grandmas tea towels for Christmas. I put it out and let her work on it whenever she feels like it, so she doesn't get burned out. She usually does about 5 minutes at a time.