A few weeks ago I was walking around the neighborhood with my husband when I spotted this wonderful dead tree sitting on the curb — it still had the roots!! “Honey, pick up that tree for me.” My husband grimaced. He knew all too well – another art project!
Trees are one of my favorite art forms! Here is how I took a dead tree and had the children transform it into a Fairy Tree. (It was a part of my recycling unit – we recycled a dead tree!! LOL!)
I put our Fairy Tree into our Living Dollhouse. It is so sweet. . .
The roots made a wonderful place for the fairies to set-up their home!
HOW TO MAKE THE FAIRY TREE:
First, I put out three or four colors of paint and let the children paint the tree. We let some of the wood remain bare.
I love the gentle strokes of color.
Second, I gave the children squares of tissue paper and tracers to cut out leaves.
Attach the leaves with a touch of a glue stick and pinch it to a limb.
Its just so magical! Liz 🙂
Cool – you guys should enter it in the Magic Onions Fairy Garden Competition. http://themagiconions.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/fairy-garden-contest-2012.html
My girls are going to love this idea. And I have a few misplaced trees in my yard that will make the perfect contribution to this project:)
Pretty!
Jennifer
First Grade Blue SKies
Fabulous idea. And your hubby is so sweet! Renee
I love this…I need so much more time in each day ! 🙂
Lyn
mrsgoffskinders.blogspot.com
This is beautiful. Thanks for the instructions.
I love your fairy tree! What a cool idea.
Barbara
Grade ONEderful
Ruby Slippers
That is so awesome and magical/ *S*
Such a beautiful garden! Love it!
What a magical tree. I like the idea of transforming it with the paint and the tissue leaves.
Great ideas. A friend of mine teaches kindergarten in Florida. I will be sharing this idea with her. Lovely.
I love this concept. I have a dead tree at the daycare and maybe I’ll just turn it the same way you did instead of using it as a family tree documentation. I think this will be more fun for the summer fun activities with the little ones… Thanks for the idea…
So gorgeous! How is the tree held up?
Interestingly, the root system. I trimmed the roots to be sit flat. It was the ONLY small tree I have found with such a wonderful root system still in place. If I do not have that to use – I use plaster to secure the trunk into a wide bucket or tray.
When I first saw your beautiful fairy tree, I knew it was in my future somehow. When they cut down a dead tree at our school I ran out and asked if I could have a large branch. I took a bucket, placed a 1 1/2 piece of pvc pipe in the center and poured cement around it for a stand, and stuck the branch upright in the bucket. (I wanted to suspend it from the ceiling in my room but it was too low.) My students painted it with glittery paint as they felt was needed. We strung kindness beads (one bead for every act of kindness idea), and then hung them on our “tree.” It stood outside our classroom as a conversation piece for the entire school. Now I keep an eye out for branches of any kind…in fact, my husband just removed a small, struggling tree that had been dead on one side for many years, and I’m sneaking out the back to look at the roots!
Oh my word! How wonderful! I love the kindness beads. What a magical idea! Thank you for sharing!!!
Sally,
Have you seen the movie Avatar? They had a living tree that was magnificent. Your tree reminds me of that tree. With your tissue leaves and paint, you could add jewels and hanging ribbons and it could just be added onto, as long as it still would look like magic and not too full. I love your ideas… !!
will you be my teacher?!
Hi Sally 🙂
I love all the wonderful ideas you have in incorporating nature into the classroom. Do you ever worry about bringing in living little critters that may come along with the wood pieces you find?
Great question! I do thoroughly inspect any natural materials that come into my classroom, but sometimes critters love to hitch a ride! This opens the conversation into a whole new realm and we just run with it! (of course ensuring that the critter is a safe critter…that is!)
I especially love the tissue paper leaves…
I have just moved to a rural centre where uninterrupted, child directed play is honoured.
Thankyou for these great ideas, my mind is inspired to see how we can start our own magical tree. ?
I like the idea of turning the dead tree into a magical tree with unique idea!Thanks for sharing.
How do you keep the tree standing in place?
Interestingly, the root system. I trimmed the roots to be sit flat. It was the ONLY small tree I have found with such a wonderful root system still in place. If I do not have that to use – I use plaster to secure the trunk into a wide bucket or tray