Since Lennox has become very invested in arts and crafts lately, I thought that I would share some fun sensory and fine motor activities that we have been working on for Christmas over the next few days!
The first craft we did is an easy Christmas tree craft that is sensory and will work your preschooler’s fine motor skills as well!
This easy Christmas tree craft does not require many materials. All you have to do is search for random things around the house. If you’re a crafty mom like me, I’m sure there are endless items you could throw into this craft. In the meantime, in the next section, I recommend a few things that work well with this activity.
Enjoy, and I am sure I will be posting a lot more preschool art posts in the future because not only did Santa Claus stock up on all the best preschool art goods, but crafting also gives us a distraction from quarantine life.
Enjoy, and if you decide to go forward with this fun craft, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram, Pinterest, or Facebook with the handle @lorenaylennox!!
*This site may contain affiliate links. To real the full disclosure, click here.
Items you will need for this easy Christmas tree craft:
- Cardboard or cereal box
We used a mixture of cardboard and cereal box cutouts. Thankfully my little niece helped me, with her steady artistic hand, to cut out the tree shapes. For some reason, I have never been able to draw a congruent Christmas tree. To facilitate this activity for you, I have made a free Christmas tree printable that you can use to trace your tree! You can download this free printable in the next section of this post!
First things first, I recommend using a washable, non-toxic paint like this one here with your preschooler. We worked with acrylic paints in these pictures, but make sure to work on a cleanable surface and wipe them up because they dry quickly!
Tissue paper is a fun, sensory material for this craft. I recommend cutting them into little squares.
You preschooler can choose to put them on flat, or crunch them into little balls like Lennox did.
Sequins and pom poms are also excellent choices because they are great for fine motor work, and they are also not too heavy for Elmer’s glue.
Glitter is an alternative material if you are trying to make the least mess possible.
I decided to go with glitter because the more sensory and messy, the better, in my opinion. Also, I love glitter! It puts me in the Christmas spirit!
Related post: The Best Art and Craft Gift Ideas for Preschoolers and Toddlers
Step 1: Make your outline
Draw your outline of your Christmas tree onto your cardboard or cereal box.
If you struggle like I do in drawing a Christmas tree, I made a free Christmas tree outline printable that is all yours! It comes in three different sizes depending on weather you want an ornament-sized Christmas tree craft, or a decoration tree!
Get your free Christmas tree outline by clicking here.
Step 2: Paint your trees
With a paintbrush, paint your trees. Rinse your brush when you’re done to use for step 3.
I decided to go with all green, but you can pick any color of choosing. Even better, Let your preschooler choose! You never know what fun mixture of colors he will choose!
Let the paint dry for around an hour.
Step 3: Repaint your trees with Elmer’s glue
Generously paint Elmer’s Glue all over the trees. Again, letting your preschooler do this step will encourage him to continue on to the next steps and give him a sense of freedom.
Step 4: Fine Motor the Day Away
Place all of the materials that you selected into a bowl, and let your preschooler get creative with them!
Watch as your preschooler picks up those sequins and scrunches those tissue paper. Their face alone will tell you that their fine motor is at work!
I took two paper plates with glitter; on one, I placed the glitter, and a tree on the other. I let Lennox experiment with how to get the glitter onto the painted Elmer’s glue. After several attempts at picking up the glitter with his pincher grasp, he decided that pouring the glitter from the plate onto the tree got the job done much easier!
It turned into an educational activity as well!
Related: Peppermint Sensory Salt Writing Tray for Preschoolers
Step 5: Let the trees dry
Lastly, let your preschooler’s masterpiece dry!
Once Lennox was done with his trees and his busy brain moved on to the next activity, I applied a sealer overtop just to keep all the materials into place. I hope to one day pass these on to Lennox, like my crafts were passed onto me. Check out the photo below of Lennox imitating one of my preschool crafts.
I hope you enjoy this activitiy, let me know if the comments below if you do!
Also, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram, Pinterest, or Facebook with the handle @lorenaylennox!!
Even more Christmas activities for kids!
For more hands-on, play-based activities to do this Christmas with the littles, check out some of my following posts below!
- An Easy & Sensory Peppermint Slime Recipe To Make this Christmas!
- A Sensory and Fine Motor Pomander Activity To Do With Your Kids This Holiday!
- Peppermint Sensory Salt Writing Tray for Preschoolers
Now that you have some ideas for Christmas activities, check out some of our following Christmas gift guides:
Deborah Ruprecht
Thursday 15th of December 2022
Great!!!