Today’s theme was Christmas Trees, and we had a blast making Collage Christmas Trees! The thing I love most about these types of art projects is that they give control to the child. Beyond basic safety, there are no rules! The toddlers really love that. They have so much fun picking out the pieces they want to use, choosing where to place them, and just generally making messy, beautiful art.
For this particular project, I used some odds and ends I already had in the classroom to let the little ones decorate their tree with. I wanted to have a variety of textures and sizes with the materials.
In this case, I used cone-shaped cardboard tubes, an assortment of buttons, red and green tissue paper, six colors of glitter, red and green markers, glue, and a paintbrush. I wanted to give the tots lots of options without being too overwhelming.
Other than helping a little bit with the messiest parts (like dipping the paintbrush into the glue or pressing the buttons onto the cone), the toddlers were able to decorate their trees to their liking! This kind of independence is so crucial at this age, and I like to allow them to make their own choices whenever practical and possible.
Tissue paper was a huge hit, and it was funny to see how some gravitated towards one color, while others covered the tree with whatever they could grab! Some of them did not appreciate how the glue made the paper stick to their fingers, but there were no meltdowns. They were having too much fun!
They also loved sorting through the buttons to pick the perfect one.
The process was the focus of this particular art project, but I have to say- the products are pretty darn adorable, too! They are each so unique, just like their makers.
Teach Toddlers 