Paper Forest for Tu B’Shvat

Grow a paper tree for Tu B’Shvat!

Another Corona winter Sunday means bored kids. We thought about doing a project for Tu B’Shvat. It’s been a while since we did a project like this together, now that my kids are getting older they are creating their own projects! But every one from ages 4-11 enjoyed this. The 11 year old did it herself, the 4 year old drew the pictures and applied the glue and the 8 year old folded and glued. Everyone was able to participate on their own level. We hope you enjoy it too!

Looking for more Tu B’Shavt projects?
Toilet Paper Roll Trees for Tu B’Shvat
Mixed Media Trees for Tu B’Shvat
Lift-the-Flap Fruit Bowl for Tu B’Shvat
Foil Embossed Tree for Tu B’Shvat

Paper Forest for Tu B’Shvat

Time:
Active: 15-20 minutes
Drying: 15 minutes+ if using regular glue

Age: 4-10

Materials:
Tree template (download here)
Glue stick
Paint, markers or crayons
Scissors

Process:
To make 3 trees in your forest, decorate nine tree tops and nine trunks. You can use our template or draw our own, but try to keep them approximately the same size. When they are dry, cut them out.

Fold each piece in half, folding the colored portion inwards. Working in groups of 3 pieces, using a glue stick, apply glue to the outer side of the first folded piece and attach a second folded piece. Then apply glue to the exposed top layer of the second piece and attach a third. Gently pull the stack and you have created a 3-D tree top. Repeat with all the tree tops and trunk pieces. Glue the tops and trunks directly on to a piece of paper.

Decorate around your trees to complete the scene.

Did you do this project? Share your pictures on our facebook page!

Mixed Media Trees for Tu B’Shvat

Create colorful trees using a variety of materials for Tu B’Shvat!

The weather this winter has been crazy so far. One week it’s in single digits, and the next it’s 60 degrees! But no matter the weather, Tu B’Shvat is coming up. It’s like a little (mostly indoor) preview of all the flowering and blossoming yet to come as the spring approaches. And winter break was the perfect opportunity to spend some time getting ready.

For this project, we used a variety of materials (mixed media, in art lingo). We used what we had around, which is pompoms, buttons and crumpled tissue paper. You can use just about anything to create your trees. Send the kids on quick nature walk and collect leaves and sticks for a more realistic looking tree. Some other ideas include sequins or jewels, construction paper or wrapping paper cut into shapes, star stickers, and foam shapes.

We drew our background first and then pasted on our trees, but you could also glue on other materials for an even more textured result.

Looking for more Tu B’Shavt projects?
Toilet Paper Roll Trees for Tu B’Shvat

 

Time:
Active: 15 minutes
Drying: 15 minutes+ if using paint or glue

Age: 2-7

Materials:
Paper
Glue
Popsicle sticks
Something with which to create your trees – pompoms, buttons, crumpled tissue paper (see more ideas in the post above)
Crayons or markers to draw a background

Process:
Draw a nature scene on a sheet of paper, or glue one on.

Cut a popsicle stick in half to use as a tree trunk. Glue on and then add the top of your tree, using whatever materials you would like.

 

 

Did you do this project? Share your pictures on our facebook page!

Toilet Paper Roll Trees for Tu B’Shvat

“Plant” a tree for Tu B’Shvat!

With Tu B’Shvat just around the corner, we needed to do a tree project! We used toilet paper rolls to create a 3D tree on our page. I keep a stash of these rolls around so when an idea strikes, we aren’t stuck without materials. The kids enjoyed this one. The blue blobs all over are apparently “rain” and the red splotches are some kind of fruit.

We painted it after we glued it down, but the whole time I was debating if we should have painted the whole tube first and cut it into leaves second. If you did do it that way, the edges of the leaves wouldn’t get painted but it would be neater and possibly easier. If you try it the other way, let us know how it went!

Toilet Paper Roll Trees

Time:
Active: 15 minutes
Drying: 15 minutes+

Age: 2-7

Materials:
2 toilet paper tubes, or 1 paper towel tube
paper
paint
glue
scissors

Process:

Cut one of the tubes in half. This will be your trunk.

Fold the second tube in half and flatten, so a football shape is created. Cut thin stripes off the tube. These will be your leaves. We found kid scissors not to be strong enough to cut through the tube, so we carefully used large “grown up” scissors.

Arrange your pieces on a sheet of paper to your satisfaction. Then glue them down. We found the most effective way to glue the leaves was to pinch them together until they were essentially flat. One person held the leaf in this position while the other squeezed out a thin layer of glue. Then when you let go of the pinch position, both sides of the leaf have glue on them.

Let the glue dry for as long as you can bear to wait. 15 minutes should be enough.

Paint! Make sure to get all the sides and inside each leaf.

Did you do this project? Share your pictures on our facebook page!