Oh, Christmas Tree! Touch & Feel Felt Christmas Craft

"Oh, Christmas Tree! Oh, Christmas Tree!"
My husband has asked me over and over again to please stop singing these two short lines of the infamous Christmas carol repeatedly. I guess I should go ahead and learn the song in its entirety...But, I'd rather post this blog instead!


Madilyn and I used our 'Art and Crafts' time on Wednesday to make this pretty little felt Christmas tree. She also learned about triangles and circles, textures, and decorating a tree! It is very simple to do and kids have fun decorating their very own tree they can later hang up in their room.

Materials:
1 Green Felt Sheet
Marker or Pen
Ruler or straight edge
Variety of textured paper, dimensional stickers, foam cutouts, or anything you choose to use as 'decorations'
Brown paper (for tree trunk)
Circle hole punch (or scissors if you must!)
Star cutout for top (optional)
Glue or other adhesive (non-toxic)

Fold the green felt sheet in half and mark the back side lightly where the halfway point is located. Unfold and face back side (marked side) up on your table. Using a ruler, draw a line from the halfway point to the bottom right corner, then do the same going to the left corner. This forms your triangle for the tree cutout. Cut along the lines. Next, cutout as many round ornaments from the textured paper as you would like. Gather any other bits and bobbles (be careful with children under 3 years) to use as lights, garland, and ornaments. You now have the hard part finished! Have your child feel along the edges of the tree, noting how many sides and angles it has. THREE! "What shape has three sides?" A TRIANGLE! Now have her trace her fingers around the circles and any other shapes you're using for decorations. A CIRCLE GOES AROUND AND AROUND. A square has four sides; a star has five points... and so on.

Now for the fun part! Gather all the materials on the work space. Allow the child to pick out which decorations she wants to use, either all at one time or you can pick step by step. Help the child with any parts of this activity that may be too advanced for her. This activity is meant to be fun more than learning proper gluing techniques. [I put the glue dot on the felt where Madilyn wanted to adhere the ornament, then she placed it and pressed it on. Yes, her fingers got pretty sticky but nothing a little soap and water can't fix.]

Glue the ornaments and decorations on the felt tree, attaching the star at the top and trunk at the bottom of course. Then let it dry for a few hours or as long as the glue instructions suggest.

As soon as it's dry (hopefully that day!) bring it back for your child to touch and explore. It will be a great feeling of accomplishment and excitement for her to feel the tree 'all done.' Hang it up on the wall or bulletin board where your child can reach it when she wants. Take turns counting the ornaments, tracing the shapes that make it up, and exploring the different textures. You can even write the name and date on the back for a keepsake to bring out next holiday season.


MERRY CHRISTMAS!

FROM THE SENSORY SUN BLOG

DIY Texture Board

UPDATE: Have you created your own TEXTURE BOARD? Share it with us for a chance to win a basket of sensory products including SMENS, stickers, textured paper and more! Just LIKE US on Facebook and share your pictures on our page. We'll pick one winner on December 31, 2011. The more creative, the better! Now go make a DIY texture board and share it on Sensory Sun's Facebook page!

It's never too early to introduce little fingers to an assortment of textures- fun and interesting textures at that! You can easily make this board using our Textured Paper Assortment package and a piece of 1/4 inch foam board from your local hobby store. Children will enjoy just feeling the different squares, or playing matching games. Encourage children to describe the textures and notice the differences between each of them, as well. Ask them to describe real life objects that feel the same. Present 3D objects that feel similar as well. It is best to use objects that the child has had a previous experience with, then show that other things may feel the same way, but are different in ways like how they work and what the are used for in the world. Some examples are given below. Enjoy!

For this example, we used 1/4 inch foam board and 6 different textured paper pieces- but feel free to experiment!

Materials:
2 pieces 1/4 inch foam board, with 1 piece cut into 6x6" squares (6)
1 package of Textured Paper, cut into 6x6" squares
24 sets of adhesive backed Velcro circles
Glue stick
Scissors
Box knife, or similar craft knife blade

Cut Textured paper into 6x6" pieces, having 2 squares of each texture. Cut one piece of foam board into 6x6" squares. Glue 1 square of each texture to one square foam board square piece, ending with a total of 6 square textured pieces.

Next, glue the remaining textured paper squares to the large piece of foam board in a 2x3 column/row arrangement (see image below). Adhere the one side of the corresponding sets of Velcro to the four corners of each textured piece on the board. Then adhere the matching Velcro pieces to the individual textured square pieces. The Velcro helps the squares stay in place for the matching game, but could be skipped if you feel it may interfere with the child learning the major textures.

To use on the wall, you can also place Velcro pieces on the blank side of the board for storing the loose squares, or simply keep them in an envelope or box with the board.

Tactile Texture board with matching tiles

Madilyn matching the "honeycomb" textures

Object and description ideas:

Zebra- notice the raised stripes and show they are different from the fuzzy polka dots on another square. Read a book about zebras and other African animals. Zoobooks offers their magazines in braille by contacting their office.

Honeycomb- feel a real honeycomb (it is often easy to find these from local farms) The added sensory exploration of a sticky honey mess will be great, too! Winnie the Pooh books go great with this activity, as well tasting it too! (Children under 1 year should not eat honey.)

Lizard or snake or alligator (or some reptile!)- many hand size replicas (like from Safari, Ltd.) are detailed enough to feel the scales on the animals. You may even try visiting a pet store that is a temporary home of one of these slithery friends, and ask the store assistant if the child may feel them.
Bubble wrap- show how the bubbles form circles just like the polka dots on the paper. Explain how the bubble wrap pops making lots of noise, unlike the smoother paper dots. Show what how we use bubble wrap for protecting fragile objects by wrapping a cookie with the wrap, place in a box, tape it up and toss around. Next, try the same without first wrapping it in bubble wrap. And you might want to save a few extra cookies to eat after this science experiment!

Sandpaper- the glitter paper feels much like sandpaper, but does not achieve the same results when used like sandpaper. Have the child try this and experience the results himself. Just be careful for wood with splinters!

Dried mud- the black raised mountains with glitter feel a lot like dried mud. Have some fun outside after the next rain dries up outside. Or recreate your own version inside in a plastic box. Clay type mud or dirt works the best! This is a great activity to perform when the child is learning about the desert, too!


Furry Polka Dots - Compare the fuzzy texture to that of a furry animal friend. Describe the arranged dots as a "pattern".