This is an easy but fun craft that your kids can do during winter break. The younger ones may need a little assistance, but most should be able to easily pull this one off. In the end, they’ll end up with a nice decoration for themselves, or maybe even a present decoration or a gift for a friend.
You will need...
Green yarn
Twine or string (you could also just use the green yarn for this)
Green and yellow cardstock (you could also use cardboard from a shipping box instead of green cardstock, and yellow construction paper or white paper that has been colored yellow)
Small pom poms
Gold glitter
Scissors
Glue
Tape
First, fold the green paper in half. Then draw a triangle on it to resemble the Christmas tree. Next, take your scissors and cut out the tree to make two identical green pieces.
Next, take the twine or string or yarn and cut a piece about 10 inches long. Knot the ends together to form a loop. This will be used to hang the tree when done. Tape the ends to one piece of the green tree.
Then, use the glue stick to cover that same piece with glue. Once completely covered, carefully place the matching green piece over and stick it to the other side. Be careful to leave the loop out.
Once the paper tree is assembled, take the green yarn and tie one end around the top of the tree about a quarter of an inch down from the top. Tie a double knot and tape the tail piece down.
Then, slowly and carefully wrap the tree with the green yarn. Remind the kids not to pull too tight or the tree will become cone shaped. A little curving is fine. My daughter's tree curved a little and it can now stand on its own - which is kind of neat.
When you reach the bottom, snip off the yarn leaving about 4 inches. Tuck the tail under the wrapped yarn and secure it to the green paper with a piece of tape. Then, take the glue and put a little on the bottom of each side. Gently stick the bottom rows of yarn down on the glue to prevent it from unraveling.
Have the kids draw out a gold star on the yellow paper. Then, cut out the star. Cover the star with glue and coat with the gold glitter. If you do not have glitter, the yellow star will look great on its own, too.
Then, glue the star to the top of the tree (this hides the area that was not covered with yarn).
Finally, let the kids glue down some pom poms onto the yarn tree to represent the ornaments. It works with the glue stick, but it may be easier if you assist them with a glue gun.
Each tree will be different. It just depends on how they wrapped it. But I remind the kids that all trees in nature look different from each other, too. In the end, this is a fun and quick activity that the kids enjoyed.