Clay Christmas tree decorations

Last year we entered a local Christmas Tree festival. 

We came up with the idea of making decorations out of clay, and I think they turned out pretty stunning!!

Each one unique!

We spread the craft over a couple of weeks, so that as many of the children that came to our group as possible would be represented on the tree.

Equipment:

• air dry clay
• rolling pin
• large Christmas cookie cutters
• drinking straw
• pencil (to label the back of each decoration)
• poster paints of various colours 
• paint pallets
• pva glue
• paint brushes
• overalls
• wet wipes
• thin gold ribbon/scissors

Preparation:

There's a fair bit of prep involved in this craft - more than we would usually allow, but this one was worth it!

We rolled out the clay and cut the shapes in advance - leaving time for the clay to harden. Whilst the clay was wet, we cut a small hole using a drinking straw, so that the decorations would be able to hang.

We did this in advance, for the children, as otherwise it would need a couple of weeks to complete the craft and not all children come every week.

Pre-cut and dried

On the day of the craft, we laid out materials for the children. We were careful to put out Christmassy coloured poster paints.

Method:

1. Make sure children roll up sleeves and put on overalls before beginning work.

2. Allow children to select tree decoration (we had two designs) and label the back of their decoration with their name - in pencil.

2. Allow children to select and apply paint, as they will! Glitter could be added at this stage, if so desired!!

3. Leave decorations to dry. This may take a few hours depending on how much paint has been applied.

4. Once dry, I applied a coat of PVA glue to add a 'varnish' to the decorations.

5. Once the PVA had dried, I tied a piece of thin gold ribbon to each decoration, so they could be hung. Once the tree festival was over, each child got to take their decoration home.

NB

If we run a craft over a couple of weeks (to try and ensure that everyone has a chance to make it), we tend to have a 'low key' craft running alongside on another table, for those who have finished quickly or have made one the week before. This will take extra prep and organisation. It may also require extra volunteers!!