Treehouse for Birds

I heard about this idea on NPR. Instead of chucking your Christmas tree, set it out in your backyard to give some protection and food for birds. Especially where we live there are not many evergreen trees to offer birds a place to perch and hide. Winter is also a time when food is scarce for them.

So instead of getting rid of your tree, set it up in the yard and decorate it with bird feeders. We spread peanut butter on pine cones before putting sunflower seeds on them and kept our popcorn garland on the tree. It is the activity that keeps on giving too...because it is just as much fun to watch the birds from your back window.

*If you already got rid of your tree or didn't get a real one, consider just making some bird feeders to set out for the birds.

Variation:
You can spread peanut butter on a card board cut out and then pat on bird seed.

Hands on Christmas Crafts

This is an easy, easy craft that uses stuff you most likely have on hand today.

Small children love to trace their hands and make hand prints.

Dip their hands in green paint and press onto paper several times to to make a tree or a wreath. {For my 14 month old I used his feet.} For the tree I had my son press one index finger at the top for the point of the tree. Let it dry and then decorate.

For less mess and supplies trace their hands in the shape of a wreath or tree and have them cut it out if they are old enough to be handy with scissors. Then color to decorate or glue stuff on (fabric scraps, paper scraps, if you want to or if you have stuff).

Tips...if you are doing a wreath, 12x12 scrapbook paper works best. I also used a piece of paper a little longer than 8 1/2 x 11 for the tree to give my 4 year old plenty of room to create.

Hands-down so easy! ;} Have fun!

This is an easy, easy craft that uses stuff you most likely have on hand today.

Small children love to trace their hands and make hand prints.

Dip their hands in green paint and press onto paper several times to to make a tree or a wreath. {For my 14 month old I used his feet.} For the tree I had my son press one index finger at the top for the point of the tree. Let it dry and then decorate.

For less mess and supplies trace their hands in the shape of a wreath or tree and have them cut it out if they are old enough to be handy with scissors. Then color to decorate or glue stuff on (fabric scraps, paper scraps, if you want to or if you have stuff).

Tips...if you are doing a wreath, 12x12 scrapbook paper works best. I also used a piece of paper a little longer than 8 1/2 x 11 for the tree to give my 4 year old plenty of room to create.

Hands-down so easy! ;} Have fun!

Handmade Ornaments

Why not try spicing up your tree with some homemade ornaments your little one can help with??

Ornament 1 - Christmas Bear

Materials:
(For EACH bear)
One large brown, black, or white craft ball
One medium brown, black, or white craft ball
5 small brown, black, or white craft balls
5 tiny brown, black, or white craft balls
2 google eyes
Small piece of ribbon (optional)
Glue Gun or Elmer's Glue

Directions:
Glue the large ball to the medium ball one on top of the other to make the body and head of your bear. Obviously hot glue will work best, but Elmer's glue also works (just takes a long time to dry) if you want your little one to help. Then take the 5 small balls and glue 4 of them on the front of the body to make arms and legs. Glue the last small ball to the back of the body to make a tail. Glue the 5 tiny balls on the face - two for the ears, one for the nose, and two for under the nose to make the mouth. I use different colored balls for the face to add variety. Glue the two eyes in place. Finally, tie the ribbon into a bow and glue it onto the neck of your bear. YOUR DONE!!

Ornament 2 - Glitter Pinecone

Materials:
(For EACH ornament)
1 large or medium pine cone
Glitter of any color
Elmer's glue
Small length of yarn or ribbon

Directions:
Place your pinecone on a paper plate or newspaper and run glue over the pinecone's outer edges. Have your little one sprinkle the pinecone with glitter. After the glue dries tie a piece of yarn onto the pinecone to make a hoop for putting the ornament on the tree. You can also embelish your pinecone with a large ribbon or bow on the top.

White Christmas

To kick off the first week in December, why not talk about SNOW! Adapt this to the age of your child. With my four year old, we talked about how no two snowflakes are the same and that when magnified they make beautiful patterns. If your child can use scissors he will love cutting away making snowflakes.

We kept things light and simple by reading snowman related books. After which we made a picture of a snow man glittered with salt.

Variation: If your child is too young for scissors you can make the paper snowflake, cover with a thin coat of glue, and have your child sprinkle it with salt. Using a cardboard box top can help contain the mess.

Rice Crispy Turkeys

To make these cute edible turkeys, mix up a batch of chocolate Rice Krispy treats. Grease your hands with vegetable spray and form the the Krispies into balls. Using the end of a spoon, make holes for the candy to be placed in the body. For the snood (the red thing on the turkey's beak) try a red Mike & Ike cut in half or even cut a gum drop in half. Candy corn for the beak is a fun choice-perfect size and color.Then add the feathers. Tons of possibilities for this! Try toothpicks, marshmallows, cereal, gumdrops, etc. and then use mini M&M's for the eyes. These sweet turkeys could even be saved for a fun table decoration on Thanksgiving day to be eaten as part of dessert-so fun!

Courtesy of www.alphamom.com

Leaf Art

Spend the day talking about seasons and leaves!! Start out by reading I Am A Leaf by Jean Marzollo. This is a great little book that takes you on the journey of a leaf through four seasons. (Note: it does talk about chlorophyll but when we read that part my 3 year old didn't ask, so I didn't worry about it). Then show pictures trees in all four seasons, and discuss how each season is different and how it affects the trees.

Finally, take your little one(s) outside and collect leaves of different shapes and colors. You can do green leaves for summer, colored leaves for fall, and blossoms and green leaves for spring. Winter is tricky.... :)

Take your leaves inside and flatten them with a heavy object. Then arrange the leaves onto white or colored paper and glue them on. You can also do leaf rubbings with crayons!

Get Creative with Leaves!

Paper Bag Costumes

Next time you are checking out at the
grocery store say paper instead of plastic!

So I KNOW Halloween is over but it is still fun to dress up any time of the year!

We talked about the first Thanksgiving today and made some Native American costumes out of brown paper grocery sacks. I cut a hole at the top for the neck and two arm holes on the side to create a "tunic" for my son to decorate with crayons. I am sure you could get more elaborate with painting it and gluing embellishments on it but we went for simple today. I then used another paper sack to make a head band. I drew feathers on colored construction paper and had my son practice fine motor skills by cutting the feathers out. We taped them to the head band and then taped it around his head. This could easily be done as a pilgrim costume instead.

I am sure you could use this paper sack costume for a multitude of different costumes so get creative and comment on our activity corner blog when this activity gets posted on there in two weeks. We would love to see what you have come up with!