Fall Tree Craft [Guest Post from All Done Monkey]

Since I had surgery this week and will be recovering for a few weeks, I am excited to have some fellow mama bloggers guest post here at B-Inspired Mama.  Here is the first fun fall craft from Leanna of All Done Monkey…

Fall Tree Craft

This fall tree craft is a fun activity that's helped my toddler and I get in the mood for fall. And best of all, it can be made with materials you probably already have!

What You'll Need

• Paper towel roll
• Brown and green paint (can also add blue and red for additional touches)
• Paintbrushes
• Cardboard for the base (thick cardboard is best) - Can also use a plain white paper plate
• Orange and red construction paper
• Scissors
• Paste
• Tacky glue 

Making Your Fall Tree

1. Cut slits about 1 1/2 inches long in the bottom of your paper towel roll. These will be your tree's roots. They will also hold your tree onto the cardboard base, so make them about 1/2 - 3/4 inches wide. (Any wider and they will be difficult to bend). Bend the roots back to a 90 degree angle so that the tree can sit flat.

2. Cut branches out of the top of the paper towel roll. I made mine about a 1/4 inch wide and 2 inches long. For a little variety, I added some notches and varied the branch widths slightly.

3. Cut your piece of cardboard into a base for your tree. I made mine about 4 x 6 inches.

4. Time to pull out your paints! I did two coats of paint on the tree (brown) and the base (green). Have fun adding extra touches to the base. My little Monkey decided we needed a stream or two, and I went back later to add some apples. Be sure to paint the inside of your branches, although it is easier to do this a bit later, once the rest of the paint has dried, so that you can hold the branches from the outside as you paint the insides.

5. As the paint dries, cut leaves out of your red and orange construction paper.  

6. Once the tree is dry, use your paste to add the leaves to your tree. If your toddler is anything like mine, he will have a definite opinion about where the leaves should go, but that is all part of the fun!

7. Use the tacky glue to attach your tree to the base. (Paste will not be strong enough.) I had trouble with the roots curling up as the paint dried, so after applying the glue, I weighted the roots down onto the base with heavy books.

8. After the glue dries, add any final touches. I painted on a few apples. Perhaps your tree will have a pumpkin patch or a vegetable garden! We also pasted a few more leaves on the ground, and my little Monkey decided that the extra ones needed to "go home" back inside the tree. I also added a tire swing. My little Monkey was skeptical at first (after all, wheels belong on cars, Mommy!), but now the tire swing is his favorite part.

I hope you and your little one have as much fun with this as we did!  It makes a great decoration for around the house (my little Monkey has made it part of his train set), or perhaps a centerpiece for your Thanksgiving table.  Enjoy!

All Done Monkey is a parenting blog that focuses on raising world citizens, natural parenting, and spiritual education.  Leanna is a stay at home mother to a sweet, funny, rambunctious two and a half year old boy, with a baby on the way.  She draws inspiration from the Writings of the Baha’i Faith and tries to raise her little Monkey in a fun, spiritual, loving environment.  She and her husband, who is from Costa Rica, are raising their little boy to be bilingual and bicultural but more importantly to be a “world citizen,” a major element of which is service toward humanity. "All Done Monkey” is dedicated to sharing this journey with you!



Do you have any clever parenting tips or fun kids’ activities?  I’d love to share them with my readers by having you guest post.  Just contact me for more information!

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