With everyone getting ready for the festive season that much earlier these days, it's great to have a quick and easy handmade Christmas decorations activity handy for when the little ones want to start filling the house with sparkle and shine. @nannasparks found a brilliant little make that's not only easy to do, using materials you probably already have around the home, it's also just as fun for adults as it is for children.

Nanna Sparks' Rainbow Scratch Decorations

If the Christmas season is all about spending time with the ones you love, then I am all for anything that creates an opportunity for that. This little make is a wonderful way to get creative with my grandchildren. The time we spend together doing things like baking, crafting and exploring outdoors often give me the greatest joy as a Nanna. It's so lovely to find ways that create memorable family moments and more often than not, I can enjoy conversations with my little bears, filled with the wisdom and humour that can only come from a four-year-old. Now that I've had a practice run with these myself, I'm really looking forward to having a go with Tilly and Jesse.

You will need:

Thin white card, glitter or holographic card, a pencil, some wax crayons, acrylic or poster paint, double-sided tape or glue, a paper clip, scissors, some pipe-cleaners and (optional) some string or ribbon.

1. Print and cut out my templates, place onto thin white and draw around or why not draw some of your own?

2. Colour each of the shapes in with the wax crayons in little blocks of colour, making sure you don’t leave any white showing and cut out. Why not try blending the colours or making patterns? This is a great time to talk to your little ones about their favourite colours and patterns or about what colours they like to see at Christmas.

3. Next, take some paint and paint over the top of the crayon with dark colour paint, dark green or blue works well, you can use acrylic or poster paints.

4. When the paint is dry, using a paperclip, you can scratch patterns into the paint until the wax colour shows through, revealing a rainbow of colour in your design! The cut out each of your designs using the scissors.

5. With a little glue or double-sided tape, stick the shape onto the glitter or holographic card and cut around leaving a border of 0.5-1cm.

6. Turn the decoration over and put more glue or double-sided tape on the back. Then add a length of pipe cleaner or thin ribbon in a loop at the top and stick another card shape on to the back, to hide the ends.

7. Tie the finished shapes evenly onto string to make beautiful bunting or use singly as Christmas tree decorations. These Christmas decorations are fun for you to make with your children, they can be personalised by scratching a name when decorating and could also be given as gifts from children to friends and family!

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