Make a paper Christmas stocking with room for one drawing

A Christmas stocking shape can hold a little picture even when you have no sewing supplies. Make a flat paper pocket with your child and decide together what drawing will go inside. The pocket is the finished activity; you do not need to fill it with presents or turn it into an extra gift promise.

Draw the outline around the card you want to keep

Choose a small rectangular piece of paper for the drawing. On another sheet, draw a simple stocking outline: a broad upright leg, a heel and a rounded foot. Hold the blank card over the leg section to check that it will fit with space on either side. Leave enough room above it for fingers to take it out.

Place a second sheet underneath and have an adult cut two matching stocking shapes. Keep the shape broad and uncomplicated. Cutting can be the adult's part while the child chooses the color or draws the outline. You can color ordinary white paper; matching sheets of red craft paper are optional.

Join the edges and keep the top open

Lay the two shapes exactly on top of each other. Use short pieces of ordinary tape folded around the outside edge to connect the panels along the sides, heel and foot. Leave the straight top edge open. Check each gap: a corner of the card should not slip through a loose side join.

Try inserting the blank card before you add decoration. If it catches, widen the opening or make a smaller card. Do not force the paper or assume that a pocket which looks roomy from the outside has enough room inside. The test is complete when you can put the card in and take it out without tearing either piece.

Let the drawing set the story

Your child can decorate the outside and make the small picture. Keep thick additions away from the opening. A proposed example is a green tree on the card and small stars around the stocking's foot. Another child may prefer a pretend letter or a drawing of someone who will see the pocket.

Set it flat on a shelf or lean it against a book where it stays in place. Paper and tape make a light picture holder, so put only the small drawing inside. Agree who may open it and where the card belongs afterwards. When your child wants a new picture, remove the first one and test the new card's fit. You can keep the pocket for another day without adding more things to it.