Even when my youngest K was a toddler, he loved playing with clothespins. So, if an activity has clothespins in it, he's interested.
Then there's my oldest who loves anything with math and numbers (hello, hypernumeracy!).
So, if you combine the two, you end up with an activity that's a guaranteed hit at my house!
But let's also combine it with Christmas because...you know...Christmas is coming up.
The result? A super engaging Christmas tree math and fine motor activity that makes for a great busy bag idea, quiet time activity, or math center for kids.
What You'll Need for this Christmas Tree Math & Fine Motor Activity
Here's what you'll need for this Christmas math activity tray:
- 10 foam Christmas tree shapes - You can find these at the dollar store and, as you can see, ours are glittery! Ideally, I'd use non-glittery trees for this activity so that the dot stickers adhere better. As an alternative, you could cut green foam into triangle shapes or use green cardstock instead.
- Dot stickers - You could just draw dots onto the tree instead, but the dot stickers make the tree look like it's covered in colorful lights or ornaments. Plus, you can get the kids to help put stickers onto the trees for some additional fine motor skills practice.
- 10 wooden clothespins - These will become the trunks of the Christmas trees.
- Permanent marker - To label the clothespins and/or possibly draw dots onto the Christmas tree shapes (if not using dot stickers).
Label the 10 clothespins with the numbers 1-10 using the permanent marker.
Add dot stickers to the foam Christmas trees, starting with one sticker on one tree, then two on another, then three on another, etc.
Alternatively, you can draw dots on the Christmas trees using a permanent marker. I wanted to reuse these tree shapes for other projects so I opted for something more temporary. Plus, the dot stickers look more like colorful Christmas lights or ornaments.
If you wanted, you could also make this activity self-checking. Simply write the correct numbers on the back of the foam Christmas trees. Then your child can clip the clothespin onto the tree and flip it over to check their work. Again, I wanted to be able to reuse these tree shapes for other projects so I didn't make ours self-checking.
Once everything is prepped and ready, simply add the clothespins and decorated foam Christmas trees to a tray, like so:
An Easy Christmas Math Activity that Works on Fine Motor Skills Too!
The goal of this Christmas tree counting activity is to count the dots on the tree and find the matching tree stump (aka wooden clothespin) and attach it to the base of the tree. For example, you can see the tree below has five stickers so the clothespin labeled with the 5 is then clipped onto it.
Your child will simply match all the clothespins to the correct tree until there are no trees and clothespins left. Just count, clip, and repeat!
Both of my boys enjoyed this little Christmas tree math and fine motor activity tray. Will you be giving it a try?
