It’s the busy season of the year and everyone is getting ready by buying gifts planning out food and scheduling calendars. So it’s very hard to find time to spend with kids. But the true meaning of this season is to cherish the relationships and enjoy each other’s company. We do not need any elaborate steps to make it happen. Just the willingness and an open mind is enough.
As a starter you can try this Christmas tree decorating with few supplies and five minutes of time to set up. This involves a variety of ways in using the supplies. There is sticking , gluing and cutting – all great fine motor exercises.
Materials needed:
- Green foam sheet
- Bling beads
- Round stickers
- Sticky bling beads
- Pink foam sheets cut in strips
- Child safe scissors
- Elmers glitter glue
Cut your green foam sheet into a Christmas tree shape free hand. And then get the supplies ready. While choosing the supplies there’s no hard and fast rule. You choose what you have at home. That’s what simplicity means. No foam sheet? use a piece of paper colored green, No bling beads just use glue and any buttons or beads that you find at home. It’s all about the process and spending time with the kid.
I always like to present less choices for her while making something since I believe more makes her distracted and she keeps going from one to other. First I gave her the tree with round stickers and sticky beads.
She loved to take out the smiley stickers on her own and place it on tree as she please. Here’s a small tip while giving stickers to toddlers: Cut them in strips so that they can hold it easily. Also remove the white part entirely by pulling off the corner just to leave the stickers intact. This way toddlers can take out stickers on their own.
The sticky bling beads were so small that I had to separate it out and give to her. It’s so small that she struggled to place it on the tree. But the more small the item is the more dexterity the fingers need. So encourage them to use small stickers as much as they can handle .
Next I presented her the scissors and glitter foam sheet. I held the strip of paper at both ends so that she can cut it. At this age cutting needs lot of help from adults. Just let them practice the scissor hold and how to open and close the ends. She enjoyed peeling the back of the cut out strip and sticking them.
Lastly I pulled out the glue and bling beads. She was instantly interested in squeezing out the glue from those tiny tubes. Even though I had to prompt her putting the beads on glue she happily glued away.
And here is our finished tiny Christmas trees. I hole punched the top and threaded a yarn through it to hang it on our tree. R noticed the new decor in the tree and commented it’s looking good. Yes it is to me too because it’s the proof of the time we spent together!!
