Invitation to Decorate: Felt Christmas Tree Craft
Looking for some creative inspiration over the holidays? Look no further than the amazing Jenn Morello, of Pink Polka Dots and Pre-K fame! Jenn is a Mom to two gorgeous boys, and is a certified Pre-K teacher. She has an Instagram account, @pinkpolkadotsandprek, that offers regular creative activities which are accessible to all parents, not just creative experts. She can also be found here on Facebook, and is part of the Teachers Pay Teachers community. Basically she is taking the creative world by storm!! Here is a festive felt treat for our Creative QT readers from Jenn!
I don’t know about your kids, but my boys are absolutely obsessed with all things Christmas. I think their favorite part, so far, has been decorating our Christmas tree. In fact, they have decorated it, undecorated it, and then decorated it again! I literally find ornaments scattered all through my house!
Materials Needed:
- Felt Christmas Tree (we got ours in Dollar Tree, but you can always cut out your own from green felt)
- Christmas themed loose parts (we used glittery pom poms, gems, star buttons, peppermints, wooden presents and bows, but anything small and festive will work just great!)
- Tray for loose parts (we used a paint palette, chip and dip trays work great too!)
When I saw these felt trees at Dollar Tree, I knew I had to grab one. I set out an invitation to play for the boys with the felt tree, and a tray full of Christmas themed loose parts. I included glittery pom poms, gems, star buttons, peppermints, wooden presents, and Christmas bows. Really anything small scale that you already have at home could work; ribbons, small ornaments, foam pieces, candy canes, for example. Adult supervision is necessary with younger children since some of the parts are small and a potential choking hazard.
The boys were so excited and immediately got to work decorating the tree. My 4 year old placed the presents at the bottom of the tree and added a star button at the very top, “just like a real tree!”. His little brother was fascinated with the peppermint pieces and loved moving them around the tree.
I loved this activity because not only did it keep their attention, it was also great for building fine motor skills. Pinching those little buttons, pom poms, and gems takes a lot of coordination, and helps to strengthen the muscles needed for more advanced fine motor activities, such as writing and cutting. We’ll definitely be setting this up again soon!
Creative QT loves the simplicity of this play based learning activity. Parenting is a tough job and time is a valuable commodity for us! Invitations to play like this using affordable materials are such a great way to develop creativity and fine motor skills. Thanks so much for sharing Jenn! Don't forget to check out her social media pages for loads more creative inspiration!
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