Hillary, a.k.a The Lesson Planning Mommy, is one of our fabulous Great Lakes Bay Moms Members. Hillary has a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education pre-school through third grade and a Master degree in Elementary Education grades K-8 with a reading endorsement K-12 grade. She loves creating meaningful, mind provoking activities and lessons for kids.
I love this time of year, the air is cool and crisp, there are twinkling lights everywhere and traditions 
are being made… One of my most special traditions I share each year with my little family, is decorating our Christmas tree. We make a whole day out of it! You’ll find Christmas music on in the background, special treats being eaten, hot chocolate with whip cream and candy canes being drunk and Santa hats on, EVERYONE! This week I want to share with you a few fun Christmas tree activities, books, songs and even tasty treats that you might just want to incorporate into your Holiday traditions…
What We’re Reading:
Biggest Christmas Tree Ever
By: Steven Kroll
Merry Christmas, Curious George
By: H.A. Rey
Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree
By: Robert Barry
Songs:
5 Little Christmas Trees
5 little Christmas Trees
Standing all alone Their heart were very sad
‘Cause they hadn’t found a home.
Then chop went the ax
And down fell the tree
And off they went with a happy family!
(continue from 4 to 1 Christmas Trees)
No little Christmas Trees
Standing all alone
Their hearts were very happy
‘Cause they all found a home!!!
I’m A Little Pine Tree
Sung to: “I’m A Little Teapot”
I’m a little pine tree- as you can see,
All the other pine trees are bigger than me.
Maybe when I grow up-then I’ll be
A great big merry Christmas tree!
We’ll Decorate The Tree
Sung to: “The Farmer in the Dell”
We’ll decorate the tree,
We’ll decorate the tree.
Heigh-ho, it’s Christmas time,
We’ll decorate the tree.
The presents we will wrap,
The presents we will wrap.
Heigh-ho, it’s Christmas time,
The presents we will wrap.
Carols we will sing,
Carols we will sing.
Heigh-ho, it’s Christmas time,
Carols we will sing.
Activites:
.:Cute As A Button – Magnets:.
What You Need:
- Green brown stamp pad, marker or paint
- 3 large craft sticks
- 1 small craft stick
- Small decorations (stars, ribbon, fuzz balls, beads, buttons etc.)
- Small magnet
- Craft glue
Directions:
- Paint the 3 large craft sticks with green paint, marker or stamp pad and 1 small craft stick brown.
- Set aside to dry.
- Glue the sticks together to form tree.
- decorate with buttons, bells, stars, ribbon, scraps of paper, fuzz balls etc…
- Add a picture of your little darling.
- Glue a magnet onto the back slap it on your refridgerator or pass onto a gift to a special oved one! 🙂
http://avisanderson.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-01-22T11:54:00-06:00&max-results=15
.:Make A “Scrap Paper” Christmas Tree:.
What You Need:
- Scrap green patterned and/or Christmas paper.
- Glue
- Brown scrap paper
- Construction paper
- Glitter
Directions:
- Cut a bunch of green patterned paper or Christmas paper into skinny strips and all different lengths.
- Start stacking them. random order..random pattern…biggest at the bottom….all the way up to the smallest.
- Continue gluing them down until the tree is complete.
- Add a star to the top, a brown trunk and circles for ornaments and you are done.
- If you want to get real “fancy” add some glitter for a touch of glimmer!
http://megduerksen.typepad.com/whatever/2011/12/two-craftsone-post.html
.:”HANDmade” Christmas Tree:.
This activity has two varieations. One with paint and the other with construction paper.
What You Need: (With Paint)
- A virety of washable paint colors
- White construction paper and/or a blank canvas
- Sweet little hands
Directions:
- Slather your kiddos little hand in green paint.
- Turn your paper/canvas upside down.
- start placing your child’s painted hand in a row on the paper. 4 hands in the bottom row, 3 hands in the next level, 2 hands and one for the top.
- Once the paint has dried, invite the kidddos to make ornaments out of their finger prints all over the tree.
- As a few final details… add a brown tree trunk, little hooks on the ornaments with a paint pen, a star or angel at the top and don’t forget to have them write their name and the year it was created! This will quickly become one of your most cherished Christmas decorations!
What You Need: (With Paper)
- Green, yellow and brown construction paper
- Glue
- Scissors
- Pencil
- Glitter
Directions:
- Trace your kiddos hand at least 10 times and cut them out.
- Cut out a brown tree trunk and yellow star.
- Begin gluing the cut out hands together – 4 hands on the bottom layer, 3 on the next, then 2, and 1 on the very top.
- Decorate with glitter
- Glue onto a piece of festive scrapbook paper and place in a frame!
.:Foot Print Trees:.
Sancks:
Instead of gingerbread houses decorate sugar cones with frosting and candy to make a Christmas tree. Great for younger kids!
The perfect breakfast for Christmas morning… Add a little GREEN food coloring to your waffle batter, arrange the waffle quarters to look like a tree, some bacon for the tree trunk and some berries for the ornaments! Beautiful and delish too!