Parents of third graders who want to give their children instruction in art at home have an array of options --- from simple drawings to multi-step crafts. Unlike younger kids, third-graders have attention spans and coordination skills that typically are developed to the point where they are able to follow instructions to create art with little or no "hands-on" adult help. Teach your third-grade child to use a variety of mediums to make art for Christmas.

Greeting Cards
Teach third-graders to use collage technique to make greeting cards for Christmas. Instead of just drawing on the outer cover of a folded 9-by-12-inch sheet of card-stock, teach your child to create a textured Christmas scene. Provide sheets of craft foam, felt and other fabrics and scissors. Encourage your child to imagine a Christmas theme for her art --- winter woods, snowmen or a decorated Christmas tree. Let her cut out shapes and arrange them on the card to create the scene. Give her glue to attach the pieces. When the collage is dry, ask your child to write a greeting on the inside of the card.

Christmas Shape Candle
Use beeswax to create art in a lesson that teaches kids to make a Christmas shape candle to display. Buy sheets of green or red beeswax where craft supplies are sold. Buy candle wicks at a candle or craft store to use for the craft. Look through your kitchen stash of Christmas cookie cutters with your child to find a shape to use for the candle. Let your child cut four stars, Christmas trees or angels from the sheets of beeswax. The finished candle should stand, so keep that in mind when you choose the cookie cutter.

Line up two of the beeswax shapes flat on a table. Place the wick on top of the shapes so 1-inch of it will stick out of the top of the candle when two more beeswax shapes are placed on top. Have your child press the shapes together and pinch the edges closed with his fingers. Display the candles as Christmas decorations.

Marshmallow Snowflake
Teach an art lesson in which kids make a "snowflake" from mini-marshmallows and toothpicks. Open a bag of mini-marshmallows and pour them in a bowl. Give your child a box of round, pointed-end toothpicks to use for the snowflake. Let your child poke the toothpicks into the marshmallows to connect them to resemble a snowflake. Stick four toothpicks into one marshmallow, spaced evenly apart. Add more marshmallows to the pointed ends of the toothpicks then connect them to resemble a small wheel. Let your child add marshmallows and toothpicks, fanning out from the original "wheel," until he is satisfied with the result.

Mount the creation on a piece of heavy card-stock. Let your child apply liquid glue to the card-stock with a paint brush. Gently lift the snowflake onto the glue-covered surface, then press the marshmallows to the glue. When dry, mix more glue with a drop of blue food color and glitter, then paint the marshmallows and toothpicks with the solution to finish the sparkly Christmas snowflake.