Tree For All Seasons

  When Fall was approaching, I decided I wanted to make a Fall tree for our hallway display.  I painted white bulletin board paper with brown finger paint.  Paint was rubbed all over the paper with hands. A brush was used on parts of it.  I loved how it turned out because it was textured and random, much like the bark of a real tree.  Then I cut a trunk and branches from the painted paper.  After mounting it on the wall in the hallway, it was decorated with various Fall themed projects.  As the children made the art projects throughout the two weeks we were learning about Fall, the art was added to the tree and surrounding area.  The children loved seeing their projects on display. We put leaves, acorns, squirrels, and owls on our tree.

  For Christmas time, our Fall decorations were replaced with child made angel and dove ornaments, gingerbread men, and Christmas cookies (bell, tree and star shapes).  

  After Christmas, we turned our tree into a Winter/Candyland tree.  We kept the cookies and gingerbread men.  We added peppermints, snowflakes and snow.

  

  When we began our unit on Jungle, we turned our Candyland tree into a jungle tree.  Our tree was home to many jungle animals: parrots, toucans, monkeys and tree frogs.

  

  Finally, for Spring, we had an Enchanted Garden theme, so our tree was decorated with our parrots, ladybugs, flowers and giant butterflies.

  Our children loved seeing our tree evolve and change as the year went on.  It made making the work involved in making the tree worth it, as we were able to use it almost the entire school year. I hope these pictures inspire you to create your own Tree for All Seasons.

~Christa~