Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree
- Trim a Paper Tree … a fun gathering activity the kids really enjoyed!
- Put a large sheet of craft paper on the wall (I just got a package from Amazon last night filled with this brown paper. It was perfect!)
- Draw a simple Christmas tree outline.
- Set out colorful paper, scissors and glue sticks.
- Show the kids the tree and tell them it’s missing the ornaments! Have them cut out any size & shape of ornaments they like. Great scissor practice!
- Let them glue their ornaments on the tree. My kids loved this and stuck with it until the tree was full!
- Read “Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree” by Robert Barry
- This is a new book for us this year. We love it!
- Mr. Willowby puts up his tall, tall Christmas tree in the parlor and realizes it just a bit too tall. The butler chops off the top and gives it to the upstairs maid. She sets up her tree and finds it just a bit too tall. She cuts off the top and sets it outside where the gardener finds it and takes it home. On and on until several more animals enjoy a piece of Mr. Willowby’s Christmas tree!
- The illustrations are wonderful. This is one of our favorite books now.
- Stacking Cone Christmas Tree
- Make a stacking Christmas tree set with the tutorial here from Bella Dia.
- Give each of the kids a set (unassembled) and let them figure out how to stack them in order. We actually just shared one set.
- Read the story again.
- This time, have the kids remove part of the tree every time the tree gets chopped in the story.
- Paper Strips Tree … what a fun, simple idea from Mrs. Lee
- Cut several green strips of paper into varying lengths.
- Have the kids arrange the strips from longest (bottom) to shortest (top).
- Then glue the strips to a red paper.
- Add a brown trunk and top with a yellow star!
- Use a Q-tip to add snow with white paint.
- Christmas Craft Stick Tree … inspiration found here at Mommyapolis.
- Color several craft sticks green (use green crayons, markers or green paint!) We colored one brown and 3 green.
- Cut the craft sticks so they end up being varying lengths. I just used regular scissors to cut them.
- Have the kids arrange the sticks from longest to shortest.
- Glue to a wide craft stick (I love using hot glue, but if you want the kids to be able to do it on their own, regular white glues works … just takes longer to dry.)
- Add fun, glittery sequins, beads, buttons or any other little treasures you like.
- Add a loop to the top (again, I prefer hot glue) and you have a cute preschooler-made ornament
- Decorate a Christmas Tree Game … Mr. Willowby trimmed his Christmas tree. We’ll do the same, with a yummy, colorful treat!
- The game board, cards and instructions can be found at Criss-Cross Applesauce (thank you so much for the great printable!!)
- Print the game, the M&M pieces and grab a big bag of M&Ms.
- Each preschooler needs 20 M&Ms.
- Have them sort the M&Ms into the color-labeled boxes. I colored over the words with crayon for the non-readers.
- Begin by drawing a card and adding that many M&M decorations to their tree.
- Continue until all of the trees are full of decorations!
- Christmas Tree Lunch
- Make your favorite sandwich and cut it into triangles.
- Stack two triangles to make a tree.
- Add crackers or pretzels to make the trunk.
- Give the kids colorful cereal, raisins, mini marshmallows, cheerios or other little snack to decorate their Christmas tree sandwich.
What a fun theme! I tried printing the M&M game from Criss Cross Applesauce, but it's now a private blog and you have to have an invite to access it. Bummer! We were excited to play that.
ReplyDelete