A Blooming Tree Handprint Paper Craft for Spring

The following is a post from contributing writer Sarah of Sidetracked Sarah

Spring is nearly here and my kids and I are ready to smell the smells of the warming earth along with the blooming flowers and trees.  As we get excited about the activities that the season of Spring brings along with it, my littler kids love to get us into the Spring mood by doing arts and crafts about the season.  Here’s a very simple one that you can do with your kids.

A Handprint Craft – Perfect for Preschoolers through Elementary

Supplies:

• Brown Construction Paper
• Lighter colored Construction Paper (to glue “tree” on)
• Pink Tissue Paper
• pencil (will use eraser end)
• Glue
• Scissors

Directions:

1. Trace your child’s hand and arm on brown piece of paper.
2. Cut it out.
3. Glue it onto a lighter colored background paper.  (we used light gray)
4. Cut your tissue paper into small squares (these will be your blooms)
5. Wrap it around the end of the pencil.                                                            
6. Place a small dob of glue on the flat part of the tissue paper while it is still on the pencil.
7. Stick it to the finger part of the hand cut-out (a.k.a. the branches)   
8. Continue doing this, until you are happy with the amount of blooms you have on your tree.  
9. Let the glue dry.
10. Display that beautiful art work!

When you’re done, take a few moments to talk about why trees bloom and then read a book about Spring time and the changes that this special season takes on.

Sarah is in her 11th year of homeschooling her 6 children.   Though she already has teens, she has toddlers and preschoolers, too.  She loves taking time out of her busy day to do arts and crafts with her smaller children.  She blogs about life as a busy, sidetracked homeschool mom at Sidetracked Sarah.