In this hands-on holiday activity, children use felt ornaments to decorate and redecorate 3-D Christmas trees. This play activity is perfect for a classroom center or quiet time activity at home and is a great way to practice fine motor skills and encourage imaginative play. (And it makes a great homemade Christmas decoration too!)
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*This post was originally published on November 15, 2013 and has since been updated.
I remember being so excited as a child as waiting for Christmas to come. Now I still have that same joy, but the happiness comes from watching my children’s excitement grow as each day passes. I love making little Christmas activities and crafts for them to do to celebrate and prepare for the arrival of Christmas.
I set this felt Christmas tree activity up for the kids one day after school. It was so fun watching them decorate the felt trees with all the colorful circles. This Christmas activity would also make a fun classroom center!
It’s very easy to make and set up. You’ll just need a few materials! (This post contains affiliate links.)
Decorate the Felt Christmas Tree Activity for Kids
Materials for Felt Christmas Tree Activity
- Styrofoam cones
(Similar to this one)
- Green felt (enough to cover your foam cones)
- Scraps of felt in assorted colors
- Toothpicks
- Gold paper
- Scissors (These are my favorite for cutting felt!)
- Glue (I used both a spray glue
and a hot glue gun
.)
How to Make the Felt Christmas Trees & Ornaments
1. Spray the entire styrofoam cone
2. Trim off the excess felt.
3. Use a glue gun to secure the edge of the felt down along the side of the tree.
4. If you’d like to add a star on top, glue a star shaped piece of gold paper onto a toothpick. Then just press the toothpick right into the foam on the top of the tree! (We found these toothpick stars already made a local store.)
5. Follow the previous steps to make as many felt Christmas tress as you’d like!
6. To make the felt ornaments I simply cut out a bunch of little circles from my felt scraps.
Playing with the Felt Christmas Tree
Both Theo and Lucy enjoyed decorating the felt Christmas trees by placing each circle on the tree one at a time. Then Lucy thought it would be fun to roll the Christmas tree all around in the felt circles and see how it looked! The kids loved that the ornaments could be removed and rehung in any way they wanted over and over!
I love how these little felt trees can be left out as holiday decorations and played with whenever the mood strikes. I’m also thinking they’ll become a part of a Christmas small world play scene soon!
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Kristina @ SchoolTimeSnippets says
November 16, 2013 at 6:52 amI love this felt christmas tree!!
Malia {Playdough to Plato} says
November 16, 2013 at 7:13 amI love these trees! Such a colorful and fun idea. Pinning and adding them to my to do list. Thank you!!
Jeanette Nyberg says
November 16, 2013 at 8:26 amOh, goodness. This is an awesome idea! I’m totally doing this.
Maria says
November 18, 2013 at 5:02 amThese are wonderful -so simple and pretty! Thanks for sharing!
Ashley says
November 18, 2013 at 10:33 amAdorable! My toddlers would love these! I wonder if the dollar tree has styrofoam cones.. hmm. Thanks for linking up at the Thoughtful Spot Blog Hop!
Natalie says
November 19, 2013 at 7:18 amWonderful idea, and how simple! Thanks for sharing with Afterschool!
Amanda says
November 20, 2013 at 11:09 amThese are wonderful! I can’t wait to make them with my kids!
Pinkoddy says
November 20, 2013 at 3:49 pmOh they are a good idea – do you think you could secure them with a band underneath and make hats?
Chelsey says
November 20, 2013 at 3:51 pmThanks so much! The cones aren’t hollow so I don’t think they’d work as hats, although I bet there must be something else out there that would be sturdy enough to hold the felt and hollow. Cute idea!
Anna@The Measured Mom says
November 21, 2013 at 6:59 pmLove this simple activity! Thanks for linking it up to After School.
Mama Carmody says
December 4, 2013 at 4:28 amI read your post about the “Color the Ornaments” game before I found this one. I think you could use that same concept on these trees too. So the trees could have another use. I like the idea of free play with the trees but to use them as a game occasionally too would also be fun.
Chelsey says
December 4, 2013 at 6:13 amThat is a GREAT idea!!!! And I just posted another use for them today in a craft! Who knew you could get so much out of these trees! LOL
Christine says
December 17, 2013 at 2:05 pmI am worried about the overlap. Do I let the felt overlap and just trim around the bottom? Or do I try to get the felt to align and join in the same place once wrapped around?
I’ve got all the supplies, I’m just nervous going forward.
Love it!
Christine
Chelsey says
December 17, 2013 at 5:06 pmHi Christine! So excited you’re ready to make it! My felt overlapped about an inch. It was no problem~ I just added some glue along the edge of the top overlapping piece. Then trim the bottom and you’re set!