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Christmas tree

Christmas Tree Decorating Center

December 23, 2020 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

This festive Christmas tree decorating center for early learners features mini trees and child-friendly, nonbreakable decorations.
This festive Christmas tree decorating center for early learners features mini trees and child-friendly, nonbreakable decorations.

This Christmas tree decorating center has been a staple in my preschool classroom for many years. I introduce it every year in place of setting up a large Christmas tree. The center is effortless to put up, and the supplies store in one tub. During the festive holiday season, decorations on the tree get put up and taken down by little learners on a regular basis.

In preparation for this tactile center I purchased a variety of small Christmas trees one year just after Christmas Day. They were deeply discounted…around $5.00 Canadian per tree. Now every December I place them on a table covered with a soft white tablecloth and add child-friendly decorations.


Setting Up The Christmas Tree Decorating Center

After arranging the branches on the Christmas trees, I gather small baskets and fill them with non-breakable Christmas decorations.

Baskets of child-friendly decorations for a Christmas tree decorating center.

[Read more…] about Christmas Tree Decorating Center

Filed Under: Christmas, display, preschool, sensory, trees Tagged With: Christmas, Christmas tree, sensory play, trees

Christmas Tree Art

December 21, 2020 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

Dazzling, easy to do Christmas tree art painting activity. An all-ages art project.
Dazzling, easy to do Christmas tree art painting activity. An all-ages art project.

This Christmas tree art is quick to set up and simple to do. And it gives early learners a chance to explore color shades and brightness.


Supplies to Collect

green, yellow and white tempera paint

12-inch x 18-inch sturdy paper

paint palettes

paintbrushes

paper towel squares

metallic green star confetti

gold and green Christmas gift bows


Making The Christmas Tree Art

Cut long, narrow triangles from large sheets of sturdy paper. Shown below is manila paper.

Pour dark green, medium green, yellow, and white tempera paint into artist palettes. This color scheme works well when children keep the colors separate or do a lot of blending.

Invite your early learners to paint a triangle. They will embrace painting a unique shape.

Christmas tree art set up with white, yellow, and green paint hues.

A paper towel works well to dab excess paint from the brush before switching to a new color. This is a helpful tip from Patty Palmer’s book “Draw, Paint, Sparkle.”

Painting technique to use when switching paint colors.

Next, have your little charges sprinkle on metallic stars while the paint is still wet. They will loooove doing this too!

Painted triangular tree ready to be topped with a Christmas gift bow.

[Read more…] about Christmas Tree Art

Filed Under: art, Christmas, preschool, trees, winter Tagged With: Christmas tree, painting, trees

Handprint Christmas Crafts

December 18, 2020 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

Heart-tugging handprint Christmas crafts using paper bags as a base. Featured are heart, Christmas tree, reindeer, and fish ornament crafts.
Heart-tugging handprint Christmas crafts using paper bags as a base. Featured are heart, Christmas tree, reindeer, and fish ornament crafts.

There has been a return in popularity of paper grocery bags, so why not use a few for handprint Christmas crafts? The bags are sturdy and give craft projects a vintage feel.

Here are a few festive, heart-tugging crafts that employ brown paper bags as a base.


Handprint Heart Decorations

Cut hearts from paper grocery bags. Feel free to download this heart printable to use as a template.

Heart printable for art and craft projects.

Heart TemplateDownload

This printable is for personal or one classroom use only.


Set out bright red tempera paint and a paper heart. Invite your early learner to dip a hand in the paint and make a print on the heart.

Invitation to make a red handprint on a paper bag heart.

Or, invite your little one to paint a hand and then make the print. This takes more time, but the result is often neater.

Invitation to paint a hand to make a print on a paper bag heart.

After the handprint heart dries, hot glue on a red bow. Then add a looped ribbon to hang the craft.

Red handprint heart craft ready for hanging.

[Read more…] about Handprint Christmas Crafts

Filed Under: art, Christmas, preschool Tagged With: Christmas craft, Christmas tree, handprint crafts, ornaments, paper bag crafts, printables

Build A Christmas Tree STEAM Activity

December 15, 2019 by Annette Kaminsky Leave a Comment

Invitation to build a Christmas tree from clear plastic serving trays, plates, and cups. Decorations and lights embellish the tree. A family STEAM activity with many opportunities for learning.
Invitation to build a Christmas tree from clear plastic serving trays, plates, and cups, A family STEAM activity with many opportunities for learning.

This “Build A Christmas Tree” STEAM activity offers a unique opportunity to incorporate construction, lights, and Christmas decorations in an engaging way. Materials needed are readily available and easy to collect. In the process of building a tree and decorating it, young children progress in many areas of development.

[Read more…] about Build A Christmas Tree STEAM Activity

Filed Under: Christmas, Math, sensory, St. Patrick's Day Tagged With: Christmas tree, construction, STEAM activity

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Hi, I'm Annette Kaminsky. Thanks for visiting my blog. I hope you find inspiration and leave some for me! Feel free to stay awhile!

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puttingtheprettyin.preschool

Silhouette bunny art made with dot markers on a ca Silhouette bunny art made with dot markers on a canvas. This art is done the opposite way of the spring bunny canvas art I’ve featured before. The link in profile leads to blogposts featuring both methods. There is a free template to download for this silhouette bunny art project on the blog.

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Like mini erasers, a teacher can never have enough Like mini erasers, a teacher can never have enough Easter eggs! 😅

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St. Patrick’s Day sheep craft. Link in profile l St. Patrick’s Day sheep craft. Link in profile leads to a printable to help make it, and some facts about how sheep tie into this special day. 

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Paper plate ocean drum. I personalized this for my Paper plate ocean drum. I personalized this for my preschoolers with a picture of themselves. Link in profile leads to the blogpost for how to make the drum, and the many ways it can be used. 🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊

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The bright sun streaming through my office window The bright sun streaming through my office window belies the fact that it is -16  degrees C /  3.2 degrees F outside. So an icy ice drum post it is!  This activity can be done indoors or outside any time of the year. ❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️ 🌞🌞🌞 🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈

How is the weather in your part of the world?

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This post is inspired by the storybook “The Snow This post is inspired by the storybook “The Snowy Day” by Ezra Jack Keats. The book was published in 1962 and features an African-American boy as the main character. I read the story every winter to my preschoolers and they are spellbound each time. ❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️

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A heart jewelry sensory tray that goes beyond Vale A heart jewelry sensory tray that goes beyond Valentine’s Day with its spring colors. The jewelry theme is inspired by a post by @littlelilacpreschool .

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Happy Valentine’s Day! Here’s a last minute cr Happy Valentine’s Day! Here’s a last minute craft for dinosaur lovers. Link in profile to a free printable. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

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Make a last minute purchase at this Valentine’s Make a last minute purchase at this Valentine’s Day store! 😍

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Invitation to decorate a Chinese money tree. This Invitation to decorate a Chinese money tree. This activity is inspired by an invitation to decorate a cherry tree by @rubberbootsandelfshoes .  Money tree facts and a free tree printable are #ontheblog .
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A woolly Valentine’s Day craft. The pattern for A woolly Valentine’s Day craft. The pattern for this craft is now on the blog...link in profile.

This craft was first featured last year and is inspired by a post from Agnes @hellowonderful_co . I’ve shared her adorable version in my stories.

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