google.com, pub-8087192757053655, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 Director Jewels: DIY Wall Christmas Tree & Put Out the Fire Game with Free Printables - #PlanesToTheRescue

Monday, December 22, 2014

DIY Wall Christmas Tree & Put Out the Fire Game with Free Printables - #PlanesToTheRescue

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #PlanesToTheRescue #CollectiveBias


My kids love Christmas and they love any sort of vehicle - whether cars, trains, or planes, they'll play with them for hours! I've been meaning to make them a Christmas tree that they can play with (so that we avoid things like the time Lincoln knocked down our tree), and it was a no-brainer to add in an element of play based on the success of our Firefighter Birthday Party Game.

So, it was decided: we would make a Christmas tree for our wall that featured FIRE! The kids would have to use their awesome Disney Planes rescue toys to put out the flames and save Christmas! With everyone sufficiently excited, we headed off to Walmart to grab all the supplies we would need.


Lincoln was all too happy to select a set of Disney Planes Fire & Rescue Die-Cast Vehicles, 3-Pack and I was excited that they were on Rollback to $14.97. At less than $5 each, this set of three die-cast vehicles made a welcome addition to our toy collection. 


There's nothing better than a surprise Rollback just in time for Christmas! We had a tough time deciding which toy to buy. Although Lincoln ultimately chose the die-cast three-piece set, we also considered the Disney Planes Flight to the Finish Speedway (Rollback to $24.97), Disney Planes Fire & Rescue Deluxe Talking Vehicle Assortment (Rollback to $19.97), Planes Character Assortment die-cast set and the Disney Planes: Fire and Rescue Character Assortment die-cast set (both on rollback at $4.97).


With so many toys to choose from, I'm surprised that Lincoln made a confident decision! I was pretty proud of him!


After our toy choice was decided, we picked up the other supplies we would need to make a large Christmas tree and headed home. Once we were there, Lincoln waited approximately 0.442291 seconds before declaring "Mommy! Get them out of the box! And let's make our Christmas tree!"

I was worried that the Christmas tree project would be really complicated with two toddlers involved, but with the help of daddy, it ended up being not too bad. And I only got one spot of green paint on my nicest yoga pants.


If you want to make a tree for your kids this week, here's how!

DIY Wall Christmas Tree for Toddlers

Supplies Needed:
-Poster Board (I used two sheets)
-Packing Tape
-Acrylic Paint and Paintbrushes (you could also use markers or crayons - or just buy colored poster board to save the trouble!)
-Cardstock and a Printer
-Sticky Tack or some sort of wall adhesive


Directions:

1. Tape your Poster Board sheets together and cut out a Christmas Tree shape. We went with a very simple design - just a triangle, but if you're more motivated than me, you could do individual branches, too!


2. Let Toddler Decorate Tree. We threw on a paint smock (aka one of my old t-shirts), gave Lincoln a couple of paintbrushes, and let him go to town. We did end up helping him finish the green paint - it's a big tree!


3. Print off some Decorations, Ornaments, and Flames. You can print the ones we designed here! The flames are pre-colored, but we let Lincoln and Addie use acrylic paint to decorate each of the ornaments, candy canes, and strands of tinsel.


4. Let Paint dry, then laminate to increase sturdiness. We don't have a laminating machine, but were able to take the pieces to a local shop and have them covered for a nominal charge.

5. Use Sticky Tack to Adhere Tree to Wall. This was the easiest part!


6. Apply Sticky Tack to each decoration and let toddlers decorate and re-decorate to their heart's content! This has been so fun for the kids - they love having something Christmas related that is on their level that they are actually allowed to play with!

7. Don't forget to add Flames to your tree - then gather up all of your willing Disney Planes Fire & Rescue toys! We used regular straws as "water hoses" and this created hours of play as Lincoln pretended to put out fires with the planes.


He was even creative enough to connect the straw to his Dusty!


Both the tree and the fire rescue game have been a huge success and I think we'll probably add more decorations to our wall tree each year.


I'm all about projects that entertain my kids for more than five minutes - and this one definitely did!


What fun things are you doing with your toddlers to get ready for Christmas this week?

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. For more information, you can read my Disclosure Policy. #PlanesToTheRescue #CollectiveBias

48 comments:

  1. What a great idea. Super cute photos.

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  2. That is such a cute idea. I'm going to have to save this and try it with my girls. I also wanted to say that I love that hat your little one is wearing. so cute!!!

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  3. This is such a cutie idea! I definitely need to try this!

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  4. I love all of the planes fire and rescue gear. What a fun game to turn it into too!

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  5. That is such a cute idea and looks really fun too! We love Disney Planes Fire and Rescue!

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  6. This is a really fun idea for the kids to do, even all year long with non-christmas trees of course. #client

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    1. Exactly! My kids are always pretending like things are on fire. Haha.

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  7. What a fun activity for the kids! Can really get them into the Christmas spirit without them focusing on presents.

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    1. I'm always looking for ways to make my kids enjoy Christmas without thinking about gifts!

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  8. I don't allow my kids to paint in the house, but as long as we did this outside, I am all for it. It came out really cute.

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  9. Your little one is super cute! This is such a great craft for the kids, great that it adds to their play experience too.

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  10. What sweet photo's of your kids. I love this craft idea - I have to do this next year and maybe even hang up the Christmas cards on it.

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    1. Oh, that's a brilliant idea! My kids would love hanging cards on their tree.

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  11. Julie, very cute! It looks like they had fun. We love Disney Planes too. Thanks for the great photos!

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  12. That is an awesome tree idea!!! We made a felt Christmas tree for my princess but maybe next year painting one would be fun to do ;-)

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  13. The tree idea is an absolutely perfect idea. I can see my girls doing it for a a long time.

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    1. With it being laminated, I think it will last many Christmases! I'm excited.

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  14. This is the cutest. I love how easy it is, and that kids can help :)

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  15. This is such a great idea! It would engage my sons and entertain them, they'd have so much pride in their little tree as well. I could also save it for years to come and have tree after tree, I would love that!

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  16. This is such a fun game/activity! I love how creative your idea of bringing the toys to "life" was!

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  17. With all the items in Walmart, it becomes more difficult to choose which to buy. It's good that you are supportive of your kids and you'd buy the supplies to make the decors for the Christmas tree.

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    1. My kids are overwhelmed whenever we go to the store...I love having a specific goal in mind that they can help me with; otherwise shopping is miserable.

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  18. what a great idea! maybe we'll do something similar with easter, except have a bunny rescue or something. I'm not too sure about the paint mess though - but that's mostly just my type-a personality coming out lol. Great post, thanks for sharing!

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    1. I may have freaked out about the paint a little bit too. Thankfully my husband was home to help us.

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  19. This is so awesome my nephew would love to do something like this, kids love it when they get involved and entrusted with things like this. Well done you for the success.

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    1. My kids definitely do love to be involved in everything. :D

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  20. That tree is TOO cute! What a great idea....my daughter is obsessed with our tree, she would love this!

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    1. I definitely made this partially so my kids could quit obsessing over the real tree, ha.

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  21. My nephew loves Planes so when they put them on Rollback at Walmart we rushed to get him some. That tree is an awesome idea :)

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    1. Lincoln was soooooo excited to go pick out his Planes. :)

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  22. That is such a wicked little craft! I should have done this for my two girls and then maybe they wouldn't have undecorated my actual tree so often :P
    Sometimes it's the simplest things that make all the difference and this is definitely on the agenda for next year!

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    1. Haha...exactly! By the end of the season, my tree looked rather shabby.

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  23. Oh my goodness that DIY Wall tree is ADORABLE! I'll have to add that to our to do list for next year. We love DISNEY Planes!

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  24. What a great and adorable idea! My boys would love this. They love that movie too so they'd think it was the best idea in the world! Also, your little are adorable!

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