View Full Version : Help needed to create a weather themed Christmas tree.
FloraDora
13-10-2018, 09:40 AM
I have poste this at the end of another thread, but thought it more appropriate to post here...though technically not Christmas art.
The toddler group I attend is going to take part in the village ‘ decorate a Christmas tree ‘ competition. I do the craft activity every week and they chattered about it enthusiastically which was great....but the theme is weather! Not very ‘christmassy’ really. They want a hand painted sun at the top and then layers of different weathers as you go down, ending with a bottom row of snowmen with the Childrens faces as snowmen. Apparently they always put the children’s faces on something.
I need to plan when we do this and the other weather related items- I thought about sparkly raindrops, perhaps dangly lightening bolts, snowflakes, possibly umbrellas ☔️ but I would like each thing to incorporate a different skill / possibly medium ....and of course to be produced by 1-3 year olds, with some babies input too!!”
A small order for you lovely creative folk I am sure, any suggestions would be welcome.
Mouse
13-10-2018, 10:49 AM
Half a paper plate with a handle for an umbrella? They could be decorated with paint, stickers, collage, finger paints.
Oh what an interesting challenge. I bet we would all love to see a photo of the end result!
How big is the tree and how many children do you have?
Mmmm, skills. Off the top of my head the obvious ones would be painting, printing, paint rolling, stamping, cutting, sticking, marbling, folding, resist painting, finger painting, threading
Media - paint, doughs, glitter, water colour paints/pencils/crayons, glitter glue, puffy paint, fabric and fabric pens/paint, pine cones, different papers, coloured salt/sand, marbling
To represent wind you could do something with blowing if the children are old enough - blowing paint through short straws on to some sort of template
Fog - tracing paper?
Glittery Autumn leaves garland
Icycles
It's quite hard to think of something which doesn't need a template, but I always find that happens around festival times anyway and art/craft activities do become more end product based.
Just had a quick google and saw some gold glittery pipe cleaners folded into zigzags for lightning bolts - nice and simple.
Lots of rainbow activities - a nice simple one had different coloured wool/yarn wrapped around a card template.
mama2three
13-10-2018, 11:15 AM
How about transient art activities too , maybe for ice do blue and silver lametta and other sparkly bits for them to place on mirrors or similar however they choose , then photograph them and peg on the pictures or put them in picture baubles. Then babies and everyone can be involved , enjoy the process without it being prescriptive.
How about transient art activities too , maybe for ice do blue and silver lametta and other sparkly bits for them to place on mirrors or similar however they choose , then photograph them and peg on the pictures or put them in picture baubles. Then babies and everyone can be involved , enjoy the process without it being prescriptive.
Ooooh, you've got me thinking now. Maybe there are some ideas on 'Stimulating Learning with Rachel' (I think that's what the website is called). Simona used to recommend her a lot and there are lots of transient art activities on there.
mama2three
13-10-2018, 02:31 PM
We do so much transient and loose part art , the children love it. Stimulating learning with Rachel is great , look on instagram xx
BallyH
14-10-2018, 07:42 PM
Would they allow you to put a small floor standing fan next to it, maybe hidden behind it, so it resembles the wind and it could blow all the decorations gently.
FloraDora
15-10-2018, 08:19 AM
The tree is 5ft, you can have lights, but they have to be battery operated as there is no available electricity.
Thankyou all for your ideas, Maza, as usual you have given me lots of reminders about types of art we could look at.
I have looked at the website, some good ideas there Thankyou for that signposting.
I love the zig zag pipe cleaners for lightening bolts, though I expect a lot of zig and zags from these LO’s as they crumple them!
I can see there may be an overuse, than I would like, of templates, as you all know I do favour experience over final product usually and loose parts, but at least shapes may need to be used so that the theme is obvious for the public viewing...but I will make sure it is as close to children’s own art as I can.
The mums definitely want a sunshine on top, with handprints so that’s a good one to start with this week.
Rainbows are also on their list so I will look at wrapping wool. The ice idea has really stimulated my thinking around transient activities.
I took my role really seriously and have actually planned an activity for every week this term already, linking to the nursery as some go there too, but I rather got ahead of myself with a lack of knowledge about the village I feel, as I will now abandon that to fit in the Christmas tree decorating. I will know for next year!
Back to the internet to browse the website more.
The tree is 5ft, you can have lights, but they have to be battery operated as there is no available electricity.
Thankyou all for your ideas, Maza, as usual you have given me lots of reminders about types of art we could look at.
I have looked at the website, some good ideas there Thankyou for that signposting.
I love the zig zag pipe cleaners for lightening bolts, though I expect a lot of zig and zags from these LO’s as they crumple them!
I can see there may be an overuse, than I would like, of templates, as you all know I do favour experience over final product usually and loose parts, but at least shapes may need to be used so that the theme is obvious for the public viewing...but I will make sure it is as close to children’s own art as I can.
The mums definitely want a sunshine on top, with handprints so that’s a good one to start with this week.
Rainbows are also on their list so I will look at wrapping wool. The ice idea has really stimulated my thinking around transient activities.
I took my role really seriously and have actually planned an activity for every week this term already, linking to the nursery as some go there too, but I rather got ahead of myself with a lack of knowledge about the village I feel, as I will now abandon that to fit in the Christmas tree decorating. I will know for next year!
Back to the internet to browse the website more.
I bet you secretly enjoyed the planning though!
BallyH
17-10-2018, 12:55 PM
They are very lucky to have you. Enjoy.