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My kids love sticky murals and this one was a big hit with my toddler. This Christmas tree mural activity is fun to make and the best part is that you can keep adding to it for the days and weeks ahead. Also now our playroom has it’s very own Christmas tree that doesn’t need to be watered and is safe for kids too!
Christmas Tree Mural Activity
- Gather your materials. You will need some green wrapping paper (ours is glittery and awesome but messy when cutting), contact paper, tissue paper in various colors, buttons (optional), a pencil, scissors and painter’s tape.
- Start by cutting out a Christmas tree from your wrapping paper.
- Trace onto the backing of the contact paper.
- Tape the tree to your wall using painter’s tape. Place the cut out contact paper on top and hold and peel. Tape it to the wall with more painter’s tape as your peel the backing off. The contact paper should be sticky side out.
- Invite your decorators. Give them the tissue paper and have them rip, crumple and stick it on.
- This was OK for my son but this Christmas tree mural activity really appealed to my 2-year-old, she LOVED it.
- Add some buttons!
- Talk about colors and shapes while they work on the Christmas tree mural activity. She even found a googly eye in the button jar and added it on.
She was so proud of her tree she wanted a picture with it.
Christmas Books
Stick Man
by Julia Donaldson tickles my funny bone and my son thought it was funny and full of adventure too. Stick Man is a happy stick who lives with his stick family until a dog grabs him. He ends up far from his family but determined to get home. As the seasons change he is used as many things from a sword, a bat and even an arm for a snowman. After that, he ends up in a fireplace just as a certain jolly old guy gets stuck in the chimney. This is a unique story we both enjoyed. You’ll never look at another stick in your child’s hands without wondering what it’s been turned into.
How Santa Got His Job by Stephen Krensky is a fun and surprisingly practical story about Santa and how he developed the skills needed for his one of a kind job. It starts with Santa as a young man, bouncing from job to job. He acquires skills like going in and out of chimneys as a chimney sweep, develops a relationship with reindeer as a zoo worker, and gets chubby eating food at an all-night diner gig! My son loved it, especially once the elves showed up, which was when the toys did too! When I was a kid I wanted to know how Santa got his job, and this book did a great job. It’s very cute!
Bear Stays Up for Christmas by Karma Wilson is a heartwarming story about friendship. Bear is hibernating but his friends wake him up to celebrate Christmas. They get a tree, decorate it, hang their stockings, and sing carols. When all the other animals go to sleep, Bear stays up. He is busily making gifts for all his friends, he doesn’t even notice Santa coming and filling the stockings. When his friends present him with a lovely quilt, he snuggles under to sleep, happy and filled with friendship. This is such a wonderful book , I love it’s focus on friendship and the excitement of giving gifts!
Abby says
What a cute idea! I love this!
Maureen says
A great idea – I’ve done it before, laminating everything then using tape to attach, but a lot less steps preparing it your way.
Thanks
Momma's Bacon says
What a cute idea!
valeri says
can you take the items off and put back or do you just have to leave them on it???
admin says
You can take them on and off. The tissue paper will rip if you leave it on for a few days and then try to remove it but pom poms, buttons anything with some umph will come on and off with good quality contact paper.
Jill says
We just did this project and it was so much fun. Also I gave my five year old his own sheets of foam paper to cut out his own shapes. He loved this activity and created for a while. And my 22 month old loved sticking shapes.