How to Make Christmas Trees out of Handprints

Make a Christmas tree out of handprints.

Christmas is a great time of the year to reminisce on the past and observe the growth of children through the ornaments and art they have created. Children at most elementary schools make and take home memorable Christmas ornaments, but those ornaments aren't the same as art that can showcase the physical growth of a child. A handprint Christmas tree is a simple way to show a child's growth over the years, and is similar to height marks in a doorway frame. Unlike the doorway frame, the tree can be put away and preserved in a memory box.

Things You'll Need

• Pencil
• Construction paper--green, yellow and brown
• Scissors
• Poster board
• Sequins--large
• Glue

Instructions

1. Trace a person's hand on sheets of green construction paper 10 times. Cut out the handprints.

2. Draw a tree trunk on brown construction paper. It does not need to be perfect because it will be serving as a base for your handprint-shaped foliage and only a small portion of it will show.

3. Cut out a star shape. It should be half the size of the handprints you are using to make the tree.

4. Draw a large triangle right side up on a piece of poster board. Glue the tree trunk on the middle, bottom of the triangle. It should look like a tree.

5. Fill in the triangle with the handprints. The fingers need to point down toward the direction of the tree trunk. Arrange and overlap the hands until they look like foliage. Glue the handprints to the poster board.

6. Glue large sequins to the handprint tree to mimic Christmas tree lights or ornaments.

References

• DLTK: Christmas Handprint Tree
• Enchanted Learning: Make a Hand Print Tree
• Creative Kids at Home: Christmas Tree - from child's hand prints