It’s baaaaccckkkk! Santa’s Workshop, one of my favorite holiday DIY projects, is returning this season and for a good reason: it makes cleaning toys fun for the kids!
With a huge cardboard box, an old play tent frame (optional), and basic art supplies, I was able to get everyone into the Christmas spirit with a Santa’s Workshop storefront! Austin and Callie normally love playing restaurant and serving up pretend meals so this wouldn’t be that different. Instead of serving food, they would be Santa’s elves serving out presents (i.e. their toys) through a small window cut out.
So let’s go see how this was made! My first instinct was to reuse anything that I could inside my home because I didn’t want to make a trip to Home Depot. I ended up using the frame of Callie’s old princess play tent that she lost interest in. If you don’t have a frame, I would recommend getting PVC pipes! Cheap, versatile, and so easy to build! If you want to simplify it even more, get a huge cardboard box and fold it into thirds so it’s able to stand on it’s own.
Next I pulled out our tv box and started tracing and cutting out the front and side panels. I didn’t have enough to cover the top, but it was okay because I ended up throwing a sheet of “fake snow” on it later…
All that’s left is to place their empty toy bins behind the storefront and tell them it’s time to close up shop before bedtime. Who wouldn’t want to help Santa and gain some extra brownie points on that nice list?! With a little team work from the elves, they’ll be cleaning and collecting those toys up so fast that you may actually consider leaving the workshop year round!
And there you have it! Kids pretending to be Santa’s elves running the workshop in a tidy manner :). Guess I’m going to have to think of something else once Christmas is over, huh? Doh!
Holiday Cheers,
THM
Comments (12)
This is so cute. They are adorable!
So cute!
😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄 Omg this made me laugh! Probably because I’ve done so many unpaid internships 😄😭😭😭
Aww man! I totally forgot that you had unpaid interns!
You. Made. That???????
Oh this is so fun and cute!!
Yesss!!! ❤️💚❤️💚 May have to try this!!
Love love love this!! Santa’s little helpers ❤️
Awe. This is the sweetest picture.
Oh my gosh! This is such a fun and genius idea! So cute.
Such a cute idea to keep little elves busy and make cleaning up more fun! We may try it!
This is the perfect workshop. My kids have a DIY fort kit, so we could revise it a little to make a similar workshop. They love creating things so we should give this a try.