Christmas is, hands down, my FAVORITE holiday of the year and I am always looking for new ways to make the holiday season fun for the kiddos. So I am excited to share this easy, affordable pretend Christmas tree set up!
Pretend Play!
After watching my littles enjoy decorating the Christmas tree so much this year, I decided to put a small tree up in their playroom. This pretend Christmas tree allows them the opportunity to decorate again and again all season long!
The Set-up
To create the space for the pretend Christmas tree, I purchased a small artificial tree from Walmart and ornaments from the dollar tree.
Thankfully the Dollar Tree usually carries a wide variety of plastic ornaments so these ornaments are safe for little hands supervised or not.
The Results of our Pretend Christmas Tree
Both kids really enjoyed a tree that was all theirs!
They loved getting to be in charge of the placement of each ornament.
It was fun to watch them take such care with the placement of each ornament!
Learning with a Pretend Christmas Tree
This ‘real life’ experience also worked as a learning-through-play activity.
Both kiddos were able to work on and experience the following with this activity:
- Fine motor movements by placing each ornament on the tree with a small string.
- Color identification
- Teamwork and cooperation
- Counting
- Matching of like ornaments with one another
- Decision making
- Independent play
This activity was loved by both kids (3 years old and 1-year-old.)
An added benefit is that this activity can be used again and again throughout the entire Christmas season. Every few days I simply take down the ornaments and place them back in the basket. The empty tree serves as an invitation to decorate again.
What sort of holiday fun to do have planned for your family? Any special crafts? Comment below with your or your child’s favorite holiday activity!
