Yarn Wrapped Christmas Tree Twig Ornament

My kids and I recently went on a nature walk and gathered up some materials we found that could be used for crafting. Whenever one of us picked up something it was fun to talk openly about different ways we could use the item in a craft. This in itself is a fun creative preschool activity! We came back with quite a pile of neat materials but my preschooler and I were especially excited about some twigs we gathered. Since our creative preschool theme this week is nature inspired Christmas ornaments, we combined our twigs with some fun fine motor work and made these yarn wrapped Christmas Tree Twig Ornaments. Make sure to check out more ideas for nature inspired ornaments at the bottom of this post!

HOW TO MAKE A YARN WRAPPED CHRISTMAS TREE TWIG ORNAMENT
Supplies you will need:

• twigs
• low heat glue gun
• green yarn
• foam star sticker (optional)
• mini poms* (optional)
• tacky glue
• small ribbon
• scissors

*We received our mini poms from Craftprojectideas.com. All opinions expressed are my own. You can find them in the craft aisle at your local Walmart.

Directions:
1. Go on a nature walk with your preschooler and invite them to gather some twigs to make your ornament. When you get home break the twigs so you have two pieces of equal length, then one piece a little smaller and one last small piece to use as a trunk.
2. Use a low heat hot glue gun to glue your three larger twig pieces into a triangle shape. We used the smaller of the pieces for the bottom of the triangle. I helped my daughter hold a twig piece while she added a dot of glue on the end of it, and then she attached another piece onto the glue. We continued with all three pieces. Adult supervision is required when using a hot glue gun with children.

 3. Cut off a length of green yarn that is 4-5 feet long. Attach one end of the yarn onto the twig triangle with a dot of hot glue. Then your preschooler can wrap the yarn around the triangle in all different directions until they reach the end of the yarn. When you reach the end of the yarn you can secure it to the tree with another dot of hot glue.

4. Use the hot glue gun again to glue the trunk at the bottom of the tree and also to glue a piece of ribbon to the back of the tree so you can hang it on your Christmas tree.

5. At this point you can leave your ornament as is, or you can decorate it with the embellishments of your choice. My preschooler used clear drying tacky glue to glue a foam star sticker on the top of the tree and mini poms all over her tree for ornaments.

Once the tacky glue is dry on your ornament you can hang it on your Christmas tree. I love how the twigs add a fun rustic element to the ornament. It would be fun to make several different variation of the ornament with different colors of yarn and display them all on your Christmas tree.
SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER TO KEEP UP WITH OUR LATEST CRAFTS AND ACTIVITIES!

This post is part of a collaborative preschool series where five bloggers and myself have joined together to bring you fun crafts and activities based on a common preschool learning theme. This week we are sharing ideas for making nature ornaments.
Check out more nature inspired ornaments from our creative preschool buddies: Snowflakes Ornaments with Sticks | A Little Pinch of Perfect Easy Twig String Art Ornaments | Pink Stripey Socks Easy Kid Made Shell Ornament | Hand Made Kids Art Painted Twig Icicle Ornaments | School Time Snippets Festive Pinecone Bird Christmas Ornaments | Artsy Momma

Stop by December 18, 2015 for Ninja themed crafts and activities!
You might also enjoy these crafts and activities:

• Yarn Wrapped Reindeer Craft
• Paper Plate Laced Christmas Tree Craft
• Christmas Alphabet I-Spy Find and Trace
• Paper Straw Christmas Tree Ornament
• Magnetic Christmas Tree Busy Bag

Follow I Heart Crafty Things on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest for more crafty fun!