• Use the candies of the season for crafts.quilted christmas tree image by Katrina Miller from Fotolia.com
  
  Santa Claus, reindeer, ornaments, wreaths, stockings and decorated trees galore -- no season offers more crafting ideas than Christmas. Children often start making crafts for Christmas in school weeks before the big event. Simple craft ideas work best for classroom Christmas parties where excitement runs high and concentration runs low.
  
  

Reindeer Candy Pots

• Use a clay pot for the body of the reindeer and place it upside down on your work area. Trace both of your hands onto a piece of brown construction paper and cut out. Glue hand prints side by side onto the upper rim of the back of the pot with thumbs pointing out so that they resemble antlers. Glue two googly eyes to the front of the pot and a red pompom nose below the eyes. Use a permanent black marker to draw a smile below the nose. Fill the reindeer pot with candy such as swirly mints or Hershey's Kisses.
  
  

Gumdrop Wreaths

• Wind satin ribbon around a Styrofoam wreath form and secure with pearl-headed pushpins. Break a number of toothpicks in half. Push the broken end of a toothpick halfway into the bottom of a gumdrop so that half of the toothpick is still exposed. Carefully push the exposed portion of the toothpick into the wreath base. Continue this process until the top and sides of the wreath are covered, butting candies against each other to prevent visible spaces. Tie a ribbon bow to the top of the wreath and hang.
  
  

Candy Cane Critters

• Cut a 6-inch long teardrop shape out of red felt. Cut 2 1-inch long parallel slits 1/2-inch apart in the felt starting approximately 1 1/2-inches from the teardrop point. Cut a 5-inch long dumbbell shape from green felt. The shape will look like two circles joined in the center by a square. Push the green felt shape into the slits you cut in the red felt. You now have a red mouse body with green ears. Glue a small green pompom onto the teardrop's point and two googly eyes between the pompom and the ears. Turn the mouse over and push the straight end of a candy cane into the green felt loop. Use a piece of masking tape to secure the candy cane to the red felt. Turn the mouse back over to see how the candy cane has become a curly tail.