Recycle cardboard boxes into Christmas tree ornaments or holiday decorations with your preschooler. Cut out a flat section of cardboard and give your child a holiday cookie cutter or stencil to trace around or let an older preschooler draw his own holiday shape, such as a Christmas tree or Menorah candle. Help your child cut out his holiday shape and let him decorate his ornament with markers, crayons or have him glue on bits of recycled paper. Punch a hole at the top and tie a ribbon through it so the ornament can be hung on your tree or displayed in your home.
Use old paper bags, wallpaper rolls or blank newsprint and let your preschooler design her own holiday wrapping paper using crayons and markers. Recycle old paper bags with handles by having your preschooler cut out holiday pictures from magazines or the front of Christmas cards and letting her glue them over any advertisements or writing on the outside of the bags so they can be used for holiday gifts. Re-use gift boxes by letting your child paint them with bright holiday designs or having him cover the boxes with holiday pictures from cards and magazines.
Turn old magazines into decorative Christmas trees. Break the magazine's spine by opening it and bending it before giving it to your preschooler. Have her fold the top corner of each page down to the inside seam and then fold the outside edge to the seam again, folding the leftover triangle up to make the tree bottom flat after completing both folds. Once your preschooler has finished folding the pages, spay paint the tree for her or let her decorate it on her own.
Create a decorative ribbon chain for your Christmas tree by using old gift-wrap ribbon. Have your preschooler cut an assortment of old ribbon into 6-inch strips and show them how to make a loop with the ribbon. Glue-stick the ribbon ends together and staple it for additional support. Let your child stick a second ribbon through the first, looping it around to form a circle before having him glue and staple the edge again. Continue this process until your preschooler runs out of ribbon or makes a chain long enough. For younger preschoolers, use construction paper scraps, as the paper does not have to be stapled in addition to the glue.