Straw Painted Christmas Tree Craft

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Let’s add a dash of festive creativity to your holiday season with our Straw Painted Christmas Tree Craft! As the joyful jingles of the holiday season fill the air, it’s the perfect time to gather the family for a delightful crafting adventure. With green, white, and brown paint, along with a handful of colorful accents, we’ll transform ordinary drinking straws into whimsical Christmas trees that sparkle with holiday cheer. So, grab your materials, including straws, paint, and construction paper, and let’s embark on a crafting journey that will bring the magic of Christmas into your home!

Materials You’ll Need

  • Green, white, brown, and assorted colors for the lights paint
  • Black or blue construction paper
  • Straws
  • Scissors
  • Paintbrush
  • Q-tips
  • Sparkly gold paper (optional but adds a festive touch!)

Step-by-Step Instructions for Making Straw Painted Christmas Tree Craft

  1. Tree Base: Begin by drawing the outline of a triangle on a sheet of blue or black construction paper. This will serve as the base for your Christmas tree.
  2. Straw Cutting: Take the straw and make small cut along one end into to create a star. Once one end is cut spread out the slits to create the star.
  3. Paint Party: Dip the end of the straw cut like a star into green paint and then stamp it onto the tree triangle. Repeat this step, overlapping the straw prints to create the tree’s layers. Continue until you’ve formed a full, lush tree shape.
  4. Festive Lights: Using different colors, dip the end of a Q-Tip into the paint and create a string of colorful lights by stamping them onto the tree branches. These add a delightful, twinkling touch to your tree.
  5. Tree Trunk: With brown paint, use a paintbrush to create the tree trunk at the bottom of the construction paper.
  6. Star on Top: If you have sparkly gold paper, cut out a star shape and glue it to the top of your Christmas tree. This adds a touch of holiday magic.
  7. Decorate as Desired: Feel free to get even more creative! You can add ornaments, tinsel, or any other festive decorations you like.

Tips for Making This Craft

  • If you don’t have colorful paint, you can use colored markers or dot stickers to create the string of lights.
  • Encourage your child to experiment with different paint techniques, like stippling or swirling the straw, to add texture to their tree.
  • Use a plastic tablecloth or newspapers or a tray to protect your work surface from paint spills.

Skills Gained

Crafting isn’t just about creating adorable decorations; it’s also an educational opportunity for kids. This Straw Painted Christmas Tree Craft helps children develop:

  • Fine Motor Skills: Cutting, painting, and gluing all involve precise hand movements, which enhance fine motor skills.
  • Creativity: Crafting allows children to express their creativity and come up with unique designs.
  • Color Recognition: Mixing and using different paint colors help children become more familiar with various hues.
  • Spatial Awareness: Arranging the straw branches and decorating the tree improve spatial awareness and problem-solving skills.

Now that your Straw Painted Christmas Tree Craft is complete, display it proudly as a homemade holiday decoration or share it with loved ones as a festive greeting card. Crafting together is a wonderful way to create cherished holiday memories and enjoy quality family time. Happy holidays and happy crafting!

Age Suitability

This activity is good for toddlers aged children 2 years old and up with adult assistance.

Mess Level

The mess level for this activity is medium.

Difficulty to Create 

Easy.

Toddler and Preschooler Curriculums, Books & TV Show!

Play2Learn Toddler & Preschool Programs for Curious Toddlers

There is no limit to your toddler’s energy and curiosity. That energy and curiosity although a joy can be challenging at times. Their interest in just about everything around them is what makes them great learners. One and two year olds can soak up so much just from their senses!

But as a teacher or parent that thirst for learning can be exhausting. That is why I created this toddler and preschooler program. To help you get the most out of this time with your curious toddler without having to come up with creative ways to play and interact with them.

Play2Learn for Toddlers includes 20 Units for toddlers. Each 2-week toddler unit has 20 super easy to set up and engaging activities for toddlers 18 months to 3 years.

Play2Learn Preschool which includes 20 Units for preschoolers. Each 2-week preschoolers unit has 20 unique and easy to set up and engaging activities for preschoolers 3 years to 5 years. That’s over 800 learning activities for your toddler and preschooler at your fingertips! So many ideas you and your child will never be bored again! 

These toddler and preschool lesson plans and activities will definitely keep you and your toddler and preschooler busy playing and learning!

Click here for more information: Play2Learn

Designed for toddlers 18 months and up.

Book: Exciting Sensory Bins for Curious Kids

Did you know I wrote a book of sensory bins? Click here for more information Exciting Sensory Bin for Curious Kids. Or grab your copy at Amazon

Boring afternoons are made exciting with awesome animal-based bins, like Salty Shark Bay or Yarn Farm. Pretend play bins like Birthday Cake Sensory Play or Bubble Tea Party encourage creativity and imagination. And your kids will have so much fun they won’t even know they’re getting smarter with STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) activities like Sink or Float Soup, Magnetic Letter Hunt or Ice Cream Scoop and Count.

Designed for toddlers 18 months and up.

Book: Super STEAM Activity Book for Kids

Learning all about science, technology, engineering, art, and math sets kids up for scholastic success―and it can be so much fun! Watch kids enjoy building STEAM skills as they color friendly fish, help water find its way to tree roots, solve math problems with mazes, and more. 

Find out more and grab your copy here.

Designed for preschoolers 3 years old and up.

Book: Big Book of Riddles for Kids

Riddle me this: What’s an exciting way to practice critical thinking while having a blast? The Big Riddle Book for Kids, of course! From hilarious puns to tough brain teasers, kids can build problem-solving skills with hundreds of riddles tha. t show them how to think outside the box.

  • 350 riddles for kids—Have hours of fun with riddles, puns and jokes, and math and logic puzzles that’ll get their wheels turning!
  • Level up their skills—Riddles get trickier as kids progress through the book, challenging them as they get better at solving puzzles!
  • Double-check their work—Kids can check their answers in the back of the book with a handy answer key.

Help children expand their minds while having fun with this puzzle book for kids!

Designed for kids ages 6 years old and up.

TV Show: Curious Crafting

I’m so excited to share my crafting TV show Curious Crafting which launched in July 2022 on TVOkids and TVOkids YouTube! Season 2 aired in August 2023! My show was also nominated in 2023 for Best Live Action Preschool Series by the Youth Media Alliance Awards of Excellence.

Curious Crafting Season 1 is also now airing in Australia on ABC! Watch it here!

Set in the ultimate crafting space, Curious Crafting is a short form pre-school age series about the joy of making crafts. I lead a rotating cast of adorable little preschoolers (including my own) making magic out of common household objects.

In each episode we transform recycled items into magical crafts like a milk carton school bus, paper bag puppet or cotton pad turtle. The crafters learn and laugh their way through each activity while demonstrating what their young imaginations can create. 

Curious Crafting shares the adventure and joy of making art with takeaway lessons for creating crafts at home.

This show designed for toddlers and preschoolers 2.5 years old and up. 

The Best Sensory Play Kits for Kids

Play is at the core of learning during the early years and it can take many forms. One of the most important of these is sensory play because it engages all of a child’s senses (taste, touch, smell, sight and hearing) and has a enoumous positive impact on brain development.

Our Sensory Play Kits are some fun and easy ways to keep your child engaged while at the same time using sensory play to nurture their mind!

Shop our ready made play kits here.

Designed for preschoolers 3 years old and up.

Straw Painted Christmas Tree Craft

Materials

  • Green, white, brown, and assorted colors for the lights paint
  • Black or blue construction paper
  • Straws
  • Scissors
  • Paintbrush
  • Q-tips
  • Sparkly gold paper (optional but adds a festive touch!)

Instructions
 

  1. Tree Base: Begin by drawing the outline of a triangle on a sheet of blue or black construction paper. This will serve as the base for your Christmas tree.
  2. Straw Cutting: Take the straw and make small cut along one end into to create a star. Once one end is cut spread out the slits to create the star.
  3. Paint Party: Dip the end of the straw cut like a star into green paint and then stamp it onto the tree triangle. Repeat this step, overlapping the straw prints to create the tree's layers. Continue until you've formed a full, lush tree shape.
  4. Festive Lights: Using different colors, dip the end of a Q-Tip into the paint and create a string of colorful lights by stamping them onto the tree branches. These add a delightful, twinkling touch to your tree.
  5. Tree Trunk: With brown paint, use a paintbrush to create the tree trunk at the bottom of the construction paper.
  6. Star on Top: If you have sparkly gold paper, cut out a star shape and glue it to the top of your Christmas tree. This adds a touch of holiday magic.
  7. Decorate as Desired: Feel free to get even more creative! You can add ornaments, tinsel, or any other festive decorations you like.

WILL YOU SET UP THIS STRAW PAINTED CHRISTMAS TREE CRAFT? PIN IT FOR LATER!

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