Foil Coloring; Create Beautiful Aluminum Foil Ornaments with Kids!

Try out this festive foil ornaments craft project. Have you ever tried coloring aluminum foil with kids? It’s a super fun way to give your crafts a shiny and festive twist—perfect for creating Christmas ornaments! You and your little ones will love making these tin foil ornaments. This fun art technique transforms every creation into something magical. While we’ve given this craft a Christmas theme, you can also use the same technique to make flowers, butterflies, fish, rainbows, and more. It’s ideal for any season or craft theme!

All you need are a few simple materials to create stunning works of art with this tin foil ornaments craft idea! Try this aluminum foil craft with toddlers, preschoolers, kindergartners, and students in grades 1 through 4. Whether you’re looking for an engaging classroom project or a fun activity to do at home, this tin foil art project is the perfect choice. The kids in my class loved it and were very engaged!

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Materials Needed For Aluminum Foil Art

• Aluminum foil
• Colored markers 
• Cardboard
• Twine/yarn
• Tape
• Scissor
• Glue
• Ribbon (optional)

How To Make Aluminum Foil Ornaments With Kids?

Step 1: Gather the above craft supplies and begin with your cardboard. Make sure your cardboard is clean and free of bends or rips. Hard cardboard works best, rather than cardboard that has air pockets inside.

What would you like to create for foil art, a Christmas tree, or a round ornament? Or maybe a candy cane or Christmas bell. Keep your shapes simple; otherwise, the aluminum foil will rip. We created triangle-shaped Christmas trees and round Christmas ornaments.

Step 2: Once you have decided on the shape you want to create, draw or trace that shape onto a piece of cardboard. For our ornament, the diameter should be 4.5 inches (11 cm). The Christmas tree should measure 4 inches (10 cm) wide at the bottom, with both sides being approximately 5.5 inches (13 cm) tall. Afterward, cut out your cardboard pieces. See the pictures A, B and C above.

Sizes are optional. The bigger the shape, the easier for little hands!

Step 3: Take a pencil and a ruler to trace lines on your cardboard shapes. These lines will serve as the foundation for the twine’s placement. Be sure to create abstract shapes large enough for children to color. Smaller shapes can be more challenging to color. See picture C & D for reference.

Step 4: Use scissors to make minor cuts along the outer edge of your shape to secure the twine. Refer to Picture D for a clearer understanding. The cuts should be approximately 0.3 to 0.5 cm deep—just enough for the twine to fit between them.

Step 5: Turn your shape over, take the end of your twine, and tape it to the back of the shape. See picture E.

Step 6: Now, flip your shape over and connect the lines using twine. Refer to pictures F and G for guidance. Insert the twine through the small cuts we made earlier, ensuring it follows the lines you drew previously. Once you have traced all the lines with twine, cut the twine and secure it with a piece of tape on the backside.

Step 7: Begin by taking the aluminum foil and carefully wrapping it around your piece of cardboard. See pictures H and I for reference. The good part of your cardboard shape facing forward, so you fold any excess foil neatly to the back. Once you have wrapped the cardboard completely, use a dry-cleaning cloth to wipe the front gently. This will help make the lines and twine underneath the foil more visible and give your project a clean, professional appearance.

You can add the shiny side of the foil to the front of the mat site; both work fine.

Step 8: Now for the exciting part: let’s color our Christmas shapes. Let the colorful tin foil magic begin!

Use colored pencils with a wider/bold tip, which works best on tin foil. You can more easily tear the foil with a thin, more pointy marker. Choose bold colors that stand out, such as darker blue, purple, red, deep pink, and dark green. Pastel colors generally do not work well on tin foil. For the best effect, use contrasting colors next to each other.

Ensure the kids have rolled-up sleeves or wear an apron, as coloring on aluminum foil can transfer ink to their hands or sleeves. This also depends on the type of markers used.

Step 9: Now, let’s add a tree stem to your foil Christmas tree. We used a piece of cardboard for this, but you can also use a stick from outside, a popsicle stick, or brown paper. For the Christmas ornament, we added a small crown and a red ribbon to make it extra festive.

Step 10: You can transform your Christmas tree and ornament into a Christmas card or gift tag, but we decided to make ornaments for the tree instead. To do this, flip your Christmas shape over and add a piece of twine. This will allow you to hang your ornament on the tree!

You´re all done, great job on this aluminum foil art project! Now, you can try different shapes and colors to create more foil art Christmas ornaments!

If you enjoyed this craft, you might also like our yarn-wrapped Christmas dinosaurs. This fun dinosaur Christmas craft from yarn adds a festive touch to your holiday decorations! Or try out this easy gingerbread man craft for kids! This fun paper puppet project was a huge hit with my little learners. We have a full craft bundle on this gingerbread man craft as well!

 

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