Easy Thank You Cards for Kids to Make

With the holidays over and those playrooms bursting with new toys, it’s about time to start sending thank you notes.

With my son still being a toddler, I’m doing most of the writing for his gifts; however, he still helps make the cards – and I try to make the homemade card ideas easy and creative.

Today, I’m sharing four simple kids thank you card ideas.

These homemade thank you cards are easy and always make the fridge 🙂

Also, these homemade thank you cards from toddlers and kids could be used for any occasion – not just for kids thank you cards 🙂

1. Cut-Out Thank You Card Ideas

This type of homemade card is my favorite and the simplest for younger kids like toddlers.

First, use a cookie cutter to trace a few shapes on card stock. We used stars, hearts, Christmas trees, and gingerbread people.

As far as paper, I always use card stock for homemade thank you cards from toddlers because its thicker than construction paper. So when the paint is layered on like the ways kids love to paint, the card doesn’t bend.

I also like the colors of card stock better than ordinary construction paper. They are brighter and more fun, which definitely ups its refrigerator-worthyness.

Then, simply cut the shapes out for your child to paint on. You can then glue these shapes to a folded piece of card stock to make perfectly easy homemade thank you cards from toddlers and kids.

Toddler and Baby Variation: You can also do a variation of this homemade card – which is great for younger ones: Have your child paint all freely over a piece of card stock. Toddlers could use brushes or q-tips. Younger ones could use their hands. Once dry, you can trace the cookie cutters and cut out the shapes.

I did something similar with the below Christmas trees. Using my toddler’s painted paper, I cut out strips and shaped them into trees. It’s his painting, but cut into a pretty shape.

If your child comes home from preschool or daycare with lots of “abstract” freestyle paints,  you can always cut them up to make one of these cute homemade thank you cards from toddlers.

After, glue your cut-outs onto another piece of cardstock and fold into a card.

Your child can continue to decorate the homemade card – my toddler used q-tips and paint to further decorate the trees. You could also use stickers or ribbon – or scribbled markers or crayons works too.

These homemade kids thank you cards turned out so cute and were so easy for mama to oversee 🙂

2. Potato Stamped Homemade Cards

Always looking for new sensory play activities, I decided to give potato stamps a try. It was way easier than I thought it would be – and my son had a ball.

This might just be our new go-to card.

First, cut off the top of the potato. Then, press in a cookie cutter of your choice.

I thought only metal cookie cutters would work; yet, the plastic heart cookie cutter (below) went into the potato without a problem 🙂

After that, use a knife cut the excess from around the cookie cutter, slowly moving your knife around the border of the cookie cutter.

You are left with an awesome stamp that’s easy for kids to paint.

I got a little creative and did a double-sided stamp on this potato – with a star on one side and a heart on the other.

This encouraged my son to be more involved – getting messy and flipping the potato to see the shapes. This is great for kids messy play ideas!

3. Painters Tape Lettered Kids Cards

Use painters tape to spell out a word – such as “Thanks” and then have your child paint freely.

When the paint is still a little tacky, remove the tape from the card.

Definitely use painters tape for best results. I lazily used electrical tape this time and it peeled terribly.

 4. Fingerprint Balloons Homemade Card Ideas

Handprint, footprint, and fingerprint cards are usually not my favorite. It’s usually too structured for my little one; however, we got a really cute homemade card with a few single fingerprints.

​We turned them into letter balloons which my toddler loved.

Simply put a little of each of the colors you are using on a palette or piece of paper, and have your child dip their finger into each color and then make the print.

The number of prints will depend on the number of letters in the word.

​Once dry, use a sharpie to write on the letters and draw the balloon knot and string. This balloon card is definitely an easy thank you card to make.

 Kids Homemade Thank You Cards Tips

• If you will be mailing the kids thank you cards, keep in mind envelope size – or you might be making an unnecessary trip to the post office. With some of the above cards, you might want to cut the card to size before starting. I always do this so I’m not cutting up my kids thank you card after he made it.
• If you feel like your toddler wasn’t as involved as you would have liked during the thank you card making process, have them accessorize the cards with stickers, color on the front, inside, or back of the creation. This preserves the cards refrigerator-worthy quality but also makes it more of their own. Either way – they will be proud of their creation!
• More is always better! Even if you only plan to make one thank you card, have your children paint extra, in case they run their paint-streaked hands across the creation just when you were on the way to the sink for cleanup 🙂 Or, if it doesn’t turn out the way you thought, you have a couple to choose from 🙂 Or, when you are scrambling for a birthday card for someone, you’ll have a secret homemade card stash. ​

My son had a great time making these homemade kid-friendly thank you cards. Arts and crafts is one of his favorite activities, as it’s special time we spend together. He also takes such great pride in giving his homemade cards to his special family members, which is super cute 🙂

Not to mention our family members love the creativity involved and appreciate the time we took to make them something special. If you are looking for some ideas for homemade thank you cards from toddlers and kids, I hope these card ideas helped you out!

I do have to say, the cards definitely make the fridge 🙂

Check out some of our other toddler card ideas too!