5 Fun 2D CONNETIX Christmas Ideas

By Kathleen Prinsen

Can you believe Christmas is almost here? Some may argue it’s too early to put a Christmas tree up in November. However, it’s NEVER too early to start making CONNETIX Christmas decorations! Unleash your creativity this season and create your own CONNETIX Christmas magic. Read on to kick start your Christmas spirit with these fun CONNETIX Christmas ideas.

1. Make Presents

It’s no secret that most kids would LOVE to receive a present containing CONNETIX. However, did you know you can also make many different presents using CONNETIX? The square tiles work well as wrapping paper to make square and rectangle 2D-shaped presents. Ribbons can be made using small rectangles and triangles. Experiment with different colours, different sized presents and consider making presents in different shapes (e.g. circles or ovals). If you’re looking for more inspiration there’s a great flat-lay of a present in the free CONNETIX resources Christmas series (on the CONNETIX website).

3D presents are also a lot of fun to make! My kids love to make gift boxes using CONNETIX and fill them with little treasures to give to family members. Once the gift boxes are opened, they take them back and put new treasures in their CONNETIX gift boxes. My kids love to play this simple game over-and-over again. If you’re looking for something more challenging, you can make 3D presents in various shapes and sizes with ribbon details. Ribbons can be made out of CONNETIX or simply add real ribbons. You could even draw patterns or pictures on the tiles (e.g. with chalk markers) to make the wrapping paper extra special.

2. Decorate Christmas Trees

We absolutely love making CONNETIX Christmas trees. There are just so many ways to make them! They can be; 2D, 3D, all one shade of green, different shades of green, a combination of green and clear tiles, made completely with clear tiles, multi-coloured or whatever else you choose.

If you’d like to make a large Christmas tree, I’d highly recommended making a multi-coloured tree. Incorporate all the different types of square tiles (including doors and windows). The combination of doors, windows and regular square tiles brings a cool effect to the completed tree. Limiting yourself to one or only a few colours can make it hard to build big, unless you have a very large collection. Once you’ve made your CONNETIX tree, have a go at decorating it. Things you could use include; jingle bells, metal stars, pom poms, tinsel, ribbons and chalk markers. Adding pretend presents at the bottom of the tree can also add a special touch to your tree. I’ve even seriously considered putting real presents under a CONNETIX Christmas tree instead of having a store-bought Christmas tree.

3. Create Candy Canes

Create candy canes that are so good, you’ll want to eat them! Alternating clear and coloured tiles works really well as a contrast for the candy canes. The quarter circles from the expansion packs are also ideal for creating a nice smooth curve at the top of the candy cane. Don’t worry if you don’t have the exact shapes or clear tiles though, you can still make candy canes using two different colours and using triangles instead of quarter circles when you get to the curved area of the candy cane.

4. Build a Snowman

The clear tiles are excellent for making snowmen. Snowmen can be made on the floor as a flat-lay, on a whiteboard, standing up with support or even made into a ball run! Once you’ve made the basic shape of your snowman, it’s time to bring it to life. For this snowman I used red rectangles for the scarf. However, you could also make a scarf by using a ribbon, tinsel or a small knitted scarf wrapped around the snowman. You could even draw on a scarf with chalk markers. The new black tiles from the CONNETIX Roads Range were perfect for making a black top hat for this snowman. If you don’t have black tiles, you could make a hat using different colours, make one out of cardboard, use a Santa hat or use a small novelty top hat. I used wooden loose parts for eyes, nose and buttons for this snowman. In the past, I’ve used plastic caps from food squeeze pouches, paddle pop sticks and drawn on details with chalk markers. There are a lot of other things you could use to add details to your snowman including; bottle caps, buttons, sticks and cardboard/paper. Don’t have clear tiles but still want to make a snowman? Check out the CONNETIX Christmas resources on their website for a snowman made using pastel mint, emerald, violet and sapphire tiles.

5. Style a Santa

Take your Santa styling to the next level with the addition of the new black tiles from the CONNETIX Roads Range – hello black belts and boots! For this Santa, I used a combination of tiles from the CONNETIX clear, rainbow, pastel and roads range. I realise not everyone is going to have tiles from all the CONNETIX ranges, so here are some alternatives. I love the red colour from the CONNETIX rainbow range for Santa hats and suits, but you could use the berry colour from the pastel range if you prefer. I also like the lemon colour from the pastel range for skin, but you could use the yellow tiles from the rainbow range instead. If you don’t have any clear tiles, you could make a beard from cotton wool. Alternatives to black tiles can be tricky, but the purple tiles from the CONNETIX rainbow range are a good alternative or simply using black paper on top of the tiles. There are so many ways to make a Santa. You could try just making a Santa face or Santa hat. You could even make the suit and turn a family member or stuffed toy into a Santa by standing behind a free-standing Santa suit.

What’s on your list of things to make this season? Will you give any of these ideas a go? Maybe you’ve got some tiles stashed away for Christmas and can’t wait to try some of these creations on Christmas day as a family? Maybe you’re thinking you might need to add to your collection this Christmas. It doesn’t matter how big or small your CONNETIX collection is – Christmas is a great time to bring the whole family together and create with CONNETIX.

Still need some inspiration? Keep an eye out on CONNETIX socials. They’ll be releasing an advent calendar to inspire your play each day in December.

Wanting to gift CONNETIX this Christmas, but not sure what to get? Check out the NEW Christmas guide recently released on the CONNETIX website. It’s packed with advice on which pack will be the best fit. We wish you all a safe, happy and Merry CONNETIX Christmas!!!

Kathleen Prinsen

Katie is a pharmacist who found a passion for play when she became a mum of 2 boys. She enjoys inspiring creativity and learning through play. Katie especially loves experimenting and creating with CONNETIX. You can find more of her play ideas on her Instagram account @dudekidz.

Stay Updated

If you’d like to be informed when we release one of our new articles about open-ended play and STEAM concepts, please subscribe below.

X/Twitter

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.