Cardboard isn’t just for packaging! It’s wonderful at the art table. We’ve enjoyed making:
Cardboard Christmas Trees Cardboard Gingerbread Men Cardboard Snowmen Cardboard Hearts Cardboard Easter Eggs
I’ve also shared many of the cardboard creations our 3 year olds teacher has made throughout the years in my Instagram stories. Cardboard is so versatile and costs nothing if you save your boxes! This fall tree craft is just one of the many cardboard creations our three year olds teacher has made throughout the years. (I’ve shared many of them in my Instagram stories.) It also a nice fall display!
For this activity, the three’s teacher (who is a whiz at anything made out of cardboard!) cut a basic tree shape from a large piece of cardboard. She had her class paint it with paintbrushes and stamps, and then invited my class to continue working on it. I decided instead of painting the tree (because it was basically covered by the time we got it), we would glue leaves on top. While we love collaborating with other classes, this activity does NOT need to be a collaboration piece. It can be done by the same group of children. But if you do have a another class who might like to help, this is a great activity for that. Check out even more recycled crafts here! If you want to also add artificial leaves:
Artificial leaves Glue
Preparation
First, cut out your tree. It doesn’t need to be anything fancy. A simple trunk with thick branches is fine. Pour paint into containers.
Setting Everything Up
Place the tree on a table and provide containers of paint, brushes, and stamps.
We did this during our free-choice centers time, so we had groups of children coming up to the art table at random times. As the children worked on this tree craft, they had to share space.
This is a wonderful opportunity for them to learn how to work together while sharing materials!
If you are going to add artificial leaves, this can be done on a different day.
Adding Artificial Leaves
Either provide containers of glue and paintbrushes or small bottles of glue. We used bottles of glue because my two’s class loves squeezing glue and it’s another great way to strengthen the hands. I love tinting glue. because it adds a bit more color to the activity.
Our tree was made for our Thanksgiving Feast, which was in our building’s Fellowship Hall. I love how it turned out, and it looked great on the stage where the children did their musical performance! More fall fun:
Fall Nature Suncatchers Acorn Collage Leaf Painting in a Bag
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