Christmas Tree Craft

In case you aren't friends with me on Facebook or Instagram, then I thought I would share this totally awesome Christmas craft that LB and I did yesterday. I got the idea from one of my favorite websites, Play at Home Mom. Yesterday was rainy and dreary and the playdate we had scheduled fell through due to sickness so I decided it was the perfect day for this activity. I turned on some Christmas music and asked LB if he wanted to make a Christmas tree. He started jumping up and down and saying, "Yay." He was ready before he even knew what we were going to do. I love that he enjoys art. Finding creative things for us to try doesn't always come naturally to me but I had a feeling this one would be a hit. Here is what you need:

1. Toothpicks
2. Gum drops
3. Foam Cone (I got one from a craft store and it was only $2.)

That's it. Perfect for me. If you are more ambitious than me then you can let your kid paint the foam cone green. LB still can't totally be trusted with paint. They do paint at school and I let him do finger paints outside but he tends to get carried away. So I let him use a crayon. It didn't work that great but it gave the cone a green sparkle. Then I pulled out the gum drops and toothpicks and showed him how to poke the gum drop and then push it into the tree. That was all he needed and he was off and running.

I love watching his little hands work. He gets pretty serious about it. What made this so great was that he could do it without any help and was so proud of what he was creating. He would tell me what color he was going to do next and as it got more full he had to brainstorm about where to put his hand so he could push the toothpick into the foam. I also think the addition of Christmas music really helped set the mood. He even said, "My love Christmas." And at times he would pretend to sing along to the music. He's such a little performer.

Once he had the one foam cone pretty full he asked to make another one. Sadly, I only bought one but promised him we would do it again. In an effort to keep things real around here, I should disclose that we had a little toothpick incident when we were done. I turned my back to throw a few things away and before I could stop him LB had dumped all the remaining toothpicks on the floor. There were some still on the table and he decided those needed to be on the floor too. Awesome. Thankfully, he was quick to agree to help me clean them all up. Sometimes I think he makes a mess just for the enjoyment of cleaning it up. Sigh. But it was totally worth it. The second D walked in the door, LB ran to him and exclaimed, "My make a Christmas tree! Look Daddy!" He was so proud. The tree is our new centerpiece. Let me know if you try it. So fun!