Sticky Wall Fall Tree Art for Toddlers

Using contact paper and more, your toddler will create their own moving parts fall tree art!  It's a fun fall toddler activity that encourages creativity and imaginative play!  

Recently I've seen a lot of "Invitation to Play..." ideas floating around and I just LOVE the phrase!  Not sure where the phrase originated, but everyone is running wild with it... and I thought we'd have a go, too!

What does "Invitation to Play" mean?

From my understanding the whole premise of  "invitations to play" is to present to your child various objects and materials and allow them to explore and...  play!  To me, it's a lot like the idea of "process art" which is:

• child-led
• child-focused
• no "end" goal or "finished product" to re-create

Our invitation to play was inspired by our latest trip to the apple orchard!

Fall Tree Art

Using contact paper and other parts and pieces, your toddler will create their own fall tree art!

Supplies:

• contact paper
• chalk board
• craft sticks
• buttons
• chalk

Create a Fall Tree

For some extra creative fun, I set this activity up on Little Sis's chalkboard.   The idea behind using the chalkboard as a background was to encourage pretend play and creativity.  I envisioned my toddler "drawing" birds or people playing by the fall tree, etc!

However, you could just cut a large piece of contact paper and tape it sticky side out onto a wall or table.

How to set up this fall tree art activity

I cut a tree out of contact paper and taped it sticky side out to her chalkboard.

I gathered various manipulatives, such as: popsicle sticks, mini wooden sticks from CraftProjectIdeas.Com, buttons, and chalk.

However, the sky is the limit!  You could also add fake leaves, pom poms, pieces of felt, foam, etc!

Once I had everything prepped, my toddler was free to create and play!

Fall Toddler Activity

I gave Little Sis some chalk so we could draw some scenery, but she enjoyed the contact paper tree much more!  I drew some grass, birds, and the sun.

She immediately erased it all.

Obviously I was crowding her space!  She knew exactly how she wanted to play...  

This fall tree art "invitation to create" was eye opening for me!  Things I thought she would love, she didn't!  And things that I laid out thinking she wouldn't care for the materials, she was drawn too.

Case in point, Little Sis LOVED the mini wooden sticks and was very diligent in putting them on the tree trunk.

The "scribbles" to the the right of the tree she proudly announced were, "daddy!," "mommy," and her brothers!

Yes, toddler art at its finest!

This toddler activity was also inviting enough for her older brother!  He came over and helped her create, too!  It ended up being a wonderful activity for them to work on together.  Such a blessing that they play well together... for the most part ; )  Trust me, they have their moments!  But so thankful we get to spend our days together and that we can share them with you!

Who knew contact paper SO fun?!   Toddlers and preschoolers ( and older ones) will LOVE this "invitation to create" fall tree art activity! 

More Fall Tree Art Ideas

And here's 3 more Fall Tree ideas {that we've done prior to our blogging days that I found digging through our photo files} to keep you and your little(s) busy.

These three ideas use your child's handprint as the tree trunk-- which always makes a sweet keepsake!  However, using construction paper and simple straight lines to create the tree trunk would work, too.

 Grab a sheet of construction paper or canvas and create more gorgeous fall trees!

Create a fall tree with:

• feathers
• buttons
• q-tips and paint