No Drama Ornaments for a Llama Drama Story

Today I’m sharing a simple Christmas ornament for kids to make, and a story to go with it. You can make the ornament without the story, or read the story without the ornament – but they’re fun to do together.

A craft stick ornament and story about what's really important at Christmas. This would be a fun preschool or kindergarten craft. You just need popsicle sticks and a few other items.

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The story is Llama Llama Holiday Drama by Anna Dewdney (affiliate). It’s about a Mama llama (yes, a llama! There's a whole series of these wonderful books) who is getting ready for Christmas, and her sweet little llama child who is getting impatient. I think we can all relate!

Dewdney’s charming illustrations show Mama Llama shopping, baking, crafting and decorating. The rhyming text explains how little llama hates to wait. Will Christmas day ever come?

Finally, he can’t take it anymore, and has a tantrum. Mama llama handles it gracefully. She sits him on her lap, hugs him, and reminds him that the important thing is spending time together.

The story gives you a good opening for talking with your child about what Christmas means to you. You can discuss words like joy, love, and peace. To extend that further, you can make Christmas ornaments.

I went with Joy, Love, and Santa. Two grownup words, and one kid word. You might as well acknowledge what’s most important to your child while introducing the larger concepts.

Write out the words you choose and talk about their letter sounds at whatever level your child is at. Your child can help pick out the letter stickers you'll need.

Making the ornaments is really simple. No drama. There is a bit of waiting for paint and glue to dry. Might as well practice waiting, right?

Materials

Craft sticks (popsicle sticks)

Paint

Sparkle glaze (Amazon affiliate link) or glitter glue

Letter stickers

Sticker or mini-eraser (for embellishment)

Glue

Ribbon, thread, or yarn (for hanging)

Instructions

1. Paint the craft sticks and let dry.

2. Paint the sticks again with sparkle glaze or glitter glue. Let dry.

3. Glue or stick on embellishment at the top. The ones shown are mini erasers from the same pack I used to decorate my craft stick gingerbread house.
4. Stick on letter stickers to spell desired words.

5. Tie a bit of string and glue it onto the back of the stick. I used red embroidery thread. Let dry.

When your ornament is finished, have your child hang it on a prominent place on your tree. That way, they will see if often. They’ll remember Llama Llama Holiday Drama and, while they wait for Christmas, they can think about the meaning of the season spelled out on their very own ornament.

You might also like these other Books and Giggles posts:

Easy Candy Cane Ornament

Cookie Cutter Ornament

How to Host a Children's Book Exchange Party