I wasn't sure how we'd use them at first but after a little thought I decided to make a tree from which the leaves could hang and "fall". I used a couple 50%-off coupons at Jo-Ann Fabrics to buy a yard of brown felt and a roll of adhesive hook velcro.
I had originally just planned on cutting the felt into a simple tree about three feet tall but when I told Husbandie my plan, he took over and came up with something much cooler...
The kids have a lot of fun just pulling off and putting on the leaves. I wanted to capitalize on their excitement so I made up a few learning games.
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| husbandie's floor to ceiling corner tree. *the home sign is always hanging on that wall, i love how he spaced the branches around it |
While he was working on the tree I cut squares of velcro and stuck them to the paint chips.
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| there is a little punch out on the paint chips, placing the velcro over it keeps it in place. |
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| our tree full of leaves |
The kids have a lot of fun just pulling off and putting on the leaves. I wanted to capitalize on their excitement so I made up a few learning games.
1- Each player chooses a color and hangs up fifteen of that color's leaves. The players then take turns rolling a dice to see how many leaves they can take down. The player to remove all their leaves first wins.
2- I stenciled lower case letters on some of the leaves. Depending on the child, I either call out a letter name or say a word and then they identify it's first letter on the leaf.
3- This game is only for Big Buddy. I wrote number words on some leaves and he finds the one that matches the numeral, or set of objects, I show him.
We've had our tree up for about a week now and the kids play with it everyday. I'm really pleased with how well it turned out - Husbandie made it much prettier than the picture I originally had in my head. They only thing I would do differently is have him make some of the branches a little thicker; a bunch of leaves can weigh the thin ones down, or the velcro can pull them off the wall so they need to be re-taped. It's a small thing but something I thought I'd share in case you decide to make your own.
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| sometimes falling leaves result in giggles |
very cool and creative
ReplyDeleteThis is a GREAT idea!! I love how your crafty eye allowed you to make these leaves out of paint samples. How old are your kids?
ReplyDeleteThat is a beautiful tree! I love how it goes around the word "home."
ReplyDeleteAnd I love how the paint chips were used! (I always love looking at the paint chips and thinking of what I could do with them.....)
Stopping in from Homeschool Creations.
What a pretty decoration and fun that it is interactive for the kids. Would be fun to change the leaves with the seasons, too!
ReplyDeleteThat looks lovely on your wall. Love how your using it to decorate and to help teach your children.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful tree!
ReplyDeleteLove this!! Such a creative and fun idea... my kids would absolutely love it!
ReplyDeleteI just popped over from preschool corner and have been looking around for at least half an hour. So glad I found your blog, I'm your newest follower. :)
Ooooh what a beautiful tree!! I love that it is not only a work of art, but how you turned it into an educational activity as well. So so creative!
ReplyDeleteI noticed the unique shape of those paint chips too! What an awesome way to put them to use! I have trouble grabbing a bunch of paint chips from a store. I will do it if I have a project in mind, but something about it feels so sneaky. I love that your husband helps you with these creative adventures! The tree really looks great!
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