The Crafty Kids Crate "Artistic Season Tree" is a multi-seasonal tree which teaches children of all ages about the four seasons. The idea is to have this tree become a piece of art year round (keep an eye out for "add on" Crafty Crates that will be available for each season). This art project allows opportunities for: exploring nature, up-cycling, and recycling while utilizing natural materials. This project also encourages: sensory exploration, color identification, counting, visual and fine motor development, eye-hand coordination, sequencing and planning.

Suggested Activities

ART PROJECT STEPS (after watching videos and answering questions)

CHECK OUT THE YouTube Tutorial that guides you through the steps and creating your Artistic Season Tree!

GO ON A NATURE WALK!

-Go outside with an adult and observe a tree in your backyard or in a nearby park

-Gather the following items from nature

7-10 small tree branches that you find on the ground (around 1/4 inch round and 8 to 12 inches long) look for a variety!
Gather a couple of leaves from the tree (observe the different sizes and colors)

Once you have completed the nature walk and gathered your materials you are ready to move on to creating your ARTISTIC SEASON TREE.

Ideas for scaling the activity:

Ages 4-5 years: Children in this age bracket can work on;

Counting, patterns, color and number identification when collecting materials in nature needed for the project. This can be done by asking the child to find a specific number and or color of sticks for their tree. Ask the child to match or group items necessary for the craft by number or color. For example, place 3 items next to the number 3, or put all brown items next to the word brown or on top of a sheet of brown construction paper.
Following directions and sequencing. This can be done by drawing simple pictures to identify the basic steps of the activity inorder by 1,2,3 or by first, second and third. For example; 1) collect sticks 2) put sticks into the craft roll to create branches of the tree, 3) place moss around the tree to represent grass.

Ages 5-6 years: Children in this age bracket can work on;

Writing and eye-hand coordination by tracing simple words that represent items needed for the craft such as; tree, stick, or brown.
Math concepts (Addition/subtraction), number and letter identification. For example, ask the child to place 3 sticks into the craft roll, then have him/her add additional sticks to see how many total sticks they use to complete the branches of their tree.
Basic time concepts understanding such as; day/night or seasons.
Following multi-step directions and sequencing, by identifying the steps of the activity and grouping them in order by first, next, and last

Ages 6-7 years: Children in this age bracket can work on;

Cutting, writing, drawing, and eye-hand coordination. For example, have children trace and or cut out leaf designs. Children can then add details and color in the leaves.
Writing: Trace words that represent objects used in the activity or words that indicate the four seasons.

Ages 8 and up: Children and adults in this age bracket can work on;

Applying math and time concepts to the real world. For example, provide the person doing the craft with a time frame then have that individual figure out how much time is needed to complete the individual activity steps. or work on measurement by measuring the length of each stick. Then ask them to compare numbers using greater and less than.
Writing Concepts: For example, write out steps for the activity. Write sentences describing the four seasons.