Christmas Contact Paper Art With a Seasonal Sticky Table

This Christmas contact paper art is an amazing blend of sensory play and art. What a great addition to your Christmas activities for preschoolers!

Related: Christmas Tree Art with Pumpkin Seeds

I love so many things about this sticky art invitation! To begin with, it’s a process art activity, which gives the kids an open-ended chance to be creative.

In addition to that, the sticky table lets the children participate in sensory play and explore the concept of transient art.

Plus, it’s just plain fun!

Christmas Contact Paper Art

The preschoolers absolutely adored our Halloween contact paper art! Recently, they requested to “play with some more of that sticky paper stuff.”

Of course I was happy to redesign that activity to have a Christmas theme.

Christmas Sticky Art Materials  

You don’t really need that much to get started with this Christmas art invitation.

Basically, start off with some contact paper and add Christmas-themed loose parts to the mix.

Here’s what we used:

• Contact paper
• Green felt
• Small sparkly pompoms
• Pipe cleaners – red, white, and sparkly
• Green and red glass gems
• Colored popcorn kernels (specifically the red and green pieces)

Keep in mind that you can change out our materials for the items you have on-hand. I think mini erasers would be another fun addition!

If you’re doing this activity with younger children, be sure to make adjustments based on their needs.

Oh, and you can definitely create this activity up on a wall. Vertical surfaces allow children to practice a different set of skills.

Setting Up the Christmas Sticky Table

I love that this art invitation is super easy to set up for the kids. In fact, you can likely have them help you get everything ready.

Place the contact paper along the length of one of your classroom tables, sticky side up.

Secure the sticky paper with tape along the table. The will ensure that it doesn’t get dislodged easily.

Next, place the Christmas-themed loose parts in a sectioned tray or small bowls.

Then it’s time to invite the children over to create!

Oh, one more thing! Since this is transient art, I suggest having a camera on-hand to document the kids’ creations.

Playing and Learning with Christmas Contact Paper Art

The preschoolers had such fun with this Christmas art! As always, I loved observing how the kids played and created.

Related: Christmas Preschool Songs

Some of the children simply spread the materials on the sticky paper to see if they’d remain stuck.  

Other children used the materials to create Christmas trees surrounded by presents.

A few of the children gave their tree trunks patterns!

There were also a few piles of the materials, of course!  After making a pile of colorful corn, one of the kids noticed that only the bottom-most corn kernels stuck to the Contact paper.  The kernels on top of the pile weren’t touching the sticky table, which meant they didn’t stick.

Another great observation the kids made related to the use of the felt and the sparkly pompoms.  When they were re-positioning most of the items, there was no residue left behind.  

This wasn’t true with the felt and the pompoms, which caused exclamations of surprise from the kiddos!  This led to an in-depth discussion of what sticky paper pulls and doesn’t pull.

Next time we create our Christmas contact paper art (and there will be a next time very soon), I think I’ll put out a few less materials.  I think some of the children were a little over-excited by all of the choices.

Your students may play in completely different ways, and that’s okay!

Here are some of the concepts children are practicing with this art activity:

• Creativity
• Fine motor skills
• Colors
• Shapes
• Patterns
• Counting
• Language development
• Descriptive vocabulary

Again, your students might explore different skills. Watch them as they create and see what concepts they’re practicing.

More Christmas Contact Paper Art Ideas

I’ve gathered a few more ways the children can create sticky paper art this Christmas.

• Fun at Home with Kids made a huge Christmas tree with reusable ornaments.
• Mess for Less has beautiful kid-made Christmas stickers.
• Mama. Papa.Bubba used tinsel to add sparkle to her life-size Christmas tree.
• No Time for Flash Card’s sticky paper tree has such pizzazz!
• Laughing Kids Learn’s contact paper Christmas tree incorporates wrapping supplies.
• A Little Pinch of Perfect created some pretty sticky paper ornaments with the kids.
• And Next Comes L’s giant Christmas light suncatchers are perfect as window decorations.

And just a few more Christmas activity ideas you should try with the kids:

• Make the House Smell Like Christmas from Nothing If Not Intentional
• White Christmas Train Play from Play Trains
• Complete the Christmas Picture from Buggy and Buddy
• Decorate a Tree Sensory Play from Fantastic Fun and Learning

Printable Preschool Christmas Resources

Preschool Teacher 101 can help with some holiday stress relief with done-for-you preschool resources. Click on the images below for more information, and be sure to check out the membership options.