As the festive season approaches, it’s the perfect time to incorporate some holiday cheer into the classroom with a fun and creative craft activity that students will love. The Christmas Tree Circularama is an ideal project for Key Stage 2 (KS 2) learners, blending artistic creativity with simple geometry, and resulting in a beautiful decoration that students can take home and proudly display.
Materials Needed:
– Green construction paper or card stock
– Scissors
– Ruler
– Pencil
– Glue or double-sided tape
– Decorative materials (e.g., glitter, sequins, stickers, felt scraps)
– String or ribbon for hanging
Instructions:
1.Begin by helping students to cut out two circles of the same size from their green paper. The diameter of each circle can vary, but around 20 cm is a suitable size for handling and decorating.
2.Once the circles are cut out, each student should fold their circles in half, then in quarters, and finally in eighths, creating crease lines that will guide the next steps.
3.With the folds in place, explain that they’ll be cutting along these lines – but not all the way through! Instruct them to leave about a 2 cm uncut portion at the circle’s center.
4.After cutting, gently unfold the paper to reveal a star-like shape with eight ‘arms.’ This will be the framework for their Christmas tree.
5.Now comes the creative part: each student will then fold these arms upwards at different angles to model branches of a coniferous tree.
6.Using another piece of paper, get them to cut out a small rectangle for constructing a trunk and glue it onto one side of their circular cut-out.
7.For stability, use the next step to glue or tape both pieces together at their backs, aligning them perfectly so the ‘branches’ spread out evenly in all directions.
8.Once the basic tree shape has been achieved, it’s time to decorate! Allow students to express themselves by adorning their trees with glitter, sequins, stickers, cut-out shapes from felt or other paper – whatever they have on hand and feel would make their tree festive.
9.Finally, attach a piece of string or ribbon to each tree through the topmost branch’s crease (you could use a hole punch for a clean hole), enabling it to be hung as decoration.
Integrating Curriculum Links:
While this activity is crafting at its core – there are ample opportunities to integrate other areas of the curriculum:
Mathematics: Measuring diameters when cutting circles; understanding fractions when folding; symmetry when aligning branches.
Art: Exploring colour combinations and design principles; practicing cutting skills.
Personal Development: Encouraging individual expression through decoration choices; fostering pride in personal creation.
Science: Discussing evergreen trees and why they’re used at Christmas; understanding sustainable resource use by considering paper sources.
With this activity completed, not only do pupils have an opportunity explore various educational concepts in a hands-on manner – they also gain a charming festive artifact that embodies their skills and creativity learned during this inspiring Christmas craft project.
