Skip to main content

Rapt in Love: Homemade Wrapping Paper Even Your Littlest Elves Can Make

boy painting paper

Homemade wrapping paper is the perfect wintry craft project for children of any age: It’ll keep your cooped-up crew cheerfully occupied on cold and blustery days and the final product is something you actually really need—and likely need a lot of. (Plus, our version, which calls for little more than paint and a pair of hands is so easy even a baby could give it a whirl.) Family and friends will be so charmed by the wrapping paper that they may even forget to open their gifts!

 wrapping paper materials

What You Will Need:

  • Large pieces of butcher paper or any other paper big/flexible enough to serve as wrapping paper.

  • A colorful selection of paint

  • Paint brushes

  • A plate or tray

  • A cup or jar of water for rinsing brushes as you work (optional)

Directions:

  1. Lay a sheet of butcher paper on a table or the floor and then put a few blobs of paint in different hues on your plate or tray.

  2. Invite your child to paint on the paper. He can practice shapes, people, and letters or numbers (if able), but also just paint free-form with as many or as few colors as he likes.

  3. Let the paper dry. When you’re ready, use it to wrap gifts (grandparents are great candidates for these packages) and finish with pretty ribbons.

finished product

If you don’t mind a little extra cleanup, encourage your child to paint with his fingers or you can paint his whole hand and help him make handprints on the paper. You can even paint his little feet and let him walk on the paper! Feeling extra crafty? Just follow this easy potato stamp tutorial from FirstPalette.com—kiddos will love covering the wrapping paper with a blizzard of Frosty-the-Snowmans, dreidels, or trees.

Find a KinderCare Center

Find a Center Nearby

Looking for a great learning center? We're here to help.
Get Started