Christmas Tree Decorating: A Preschool Activity

When I found this little tree at the thrift store for $1.00 a few weeks ago, I knew it would be perfect to add a little Christmas cheer to Olivia's room.  I had initially planned on sewing up a bunch of cute little simple felt ornaments to adorn her tree, but I hadn't gotten around to it yet.  And then one day when the basket of links we had been using for counting were in her room I had an idea.  :)

(Cute little tree-topper bow from Wendy & Peter)

These little baby toy links are perfect for ornaments that Olivia can put on and take off of the tree--all by herself!  She of course needs a little help here and there, but, for the most part, this is a preschool activity that she really can do independently.

And the other day when we had some friends over, one of Olivia's friends (who's almost 4 years old, so, ya know, slightly more advanced when it comes to tree-decorating skills) even thought to put the Alphabet Bean Bags under the tree as presents.  :)  How cute is that?

Basically, this is how the decorating goes:

• I put all the links (we have about 10-15) in the little yellow basket.
• Olivia sits in a chair at her little table.
• I scoot the tree and the basket of "ornaments' close enough to Olivia so she can reach them on her own.
• She puts the ornaments on the tree and takes them off over and over again.

Here are some reasons why I love this activity:

• It is super adorable watching a one year old decorate a Christmas tree.
• It's a good small motor skills activity.
• It's a good activity for working on hand-eye coordination.
• We can say the names of the colors as she pulls out a link.
• We can count the links.
• It helps teach her to put things away when she's done.
• She LOVES it.

So this little tree has been decorated multiple times already.  And I'm sure it'll still be decorated many more times before Christmas even comes.  :)

So maybe I'll make cute little felt ornaments next year.  For now, we're decorating her room baby link style.  :)

P.S. The almost 4 year old loved this activity just as much as the big O, possibly even more.  And one of her favorite parts was adding the little hair clips to the top of the tree.  So if you do this with kids that are older than Olivia (1 year) I'd suggest adding a few more fun things too.  :)


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Find more fun and easy preschool ideas on the Preschool page.  You can also find them by clicking on the Preschool button in the header.  Enjoy!