Tiny Xmas trees with unique garlands and decorations 

Tiny Xmas trees with unique garlands and decorations 

When I spotted these elastic hair ties at the dollar store, they reminded me of Christmas tree lights and garlands. I decided to use them to create a simple manipulation activity that is also great for practicing color recognition, among other things.

I gathered a pinecone, a Christmas tree cookie cutter, and a tiny clear plastic Christmas tree that we could use as “canvases”.

With supervision, children can slide the rubber bands on the plastic Christmas tree to decorate it. Encourage children to name the color of each « garland » they add to the tree. If you can find a textured Christmas tree, little fingers will have to work twice as hard.  

The smooth surface of your cookie cutter tree, on the other hand, will ensure younger children can participate.

To add even more color, you can invite children to clip tiny wooden clothespins all around the cookie cutter. I found these Christmas light clothespins and just couldn’t resist using them, but regular miniature clothespins can absolutely work!

The same rubber bands and clothespins can be used to decorate your pinecone Christmas tree.

Another interesting variation for your pinecone tree is to insert miniature pompoms as shown in the picture above. Here, the pompoms will represent Christmas tree lights or ornaments.   

Exploring these Christmas trees and the different types of material suggested above will help develop children’s pincer grasp. The decorated trees can be arranged on a shelf to decorate your daycare at the end of the activity.

Patricia-Ann Morrison