How to Make an Easter Tree

Decorate and have fun with an Easter tree! This Easter, as you prepare to decorate and are searching for eggs, bunnies and chicks, you might want to consider an easy and inexpensive craft for you and you children. An Easter tree is a great centerpiece for your table, a fun craft to make and can become a new tradition for your family. The use of a "tree" symbolizes growth and the eggs on the tree symbolize birth. What a great Easter decoration! The craft itself is easy and cheap to make with several variations to make it more interesting.

How To Make An Easter Tree - Variation One

Items Needed

Different colors of Construction Paper

Markers

Foam cup or plastic container

Fabric - Approximately 1 foot square, pastel colors or Easter patterns

Clay or Play-doh

Fallen tree branch - Size depends on how large you wish the tree to be but not too heavy

thread or string

yarn

Instructions

Take your foam cup or plastic container and place the end of your branch in it. You want the branch to be about 3 times the height of the cup or container. Make sure the branch is not too large or heavy or it will tip over. Fill the cup with clay or Play-doh, packing it around the branch to hold it upright. Cut a circle from your fabric, about 12 inches in diameter. Place the tree container in the center of the fabric and gather the fabric around the base of the branch. Tie a piece of yarn around the branch to hold the fabric in place. Tie the yarn into a bow.

Take your pieces of colored construction paper and draw egg shapes on them. Allow your children to decorate the eggs using markers. Have them draw polka dots, stripes or zig zags. When all of the eggs are decorated, cut them out and punch a hole in the top of each egg. The number of eggs you need depends on how many you want on each branch of the tree and how big the tree is. Tie a short length of thread or string in the hole of each egg and attach the egg to the tree branches. Place the tree on your table or wherever you would like to decorate for Easter.

How To Make An Easter Tree - Variation Two

As a variation to the Easter tree, you can have bible verses printed on to the back of each egg. Have your children decorate the other side and add to the tree as before. This is a way to keep the religious aspects of Easter at the forefront of your children's minds.

How To Make An Easter Tree - Variation Three

For this variation, you will need plastic Easter eggs and a larger plastic container to hold your tree. The fabric for the base will also need to be larger to accommodate the larger container. Make the tree as before, using more clay in the larger container to make sure the tree will not tip over. When the base is complete, rather than make paper eggs to hang, you will use the plastic eggs. You can either drill a small hole in the end of each egg or use a hot glue gun to attach a piece of yarn or string tot he end of the egg. Tie each egg to a branch of the tree.

On Easter, before your children wake up, fill each egg with a light object. You can use such things as stickers, temporary tattoos, printed jokes, printed riddles and even bible verses. Light favors such as plastic rings or small candies can also be added. Make sure to use light objects since the weight of the object may make the eggs pop open. If you wish to put several heavier items in the eggs, you could hot glue them closed. This would also make them more of a challenge to open!

This variation is a great idea for people who live in an area with no public egg hunts or for people with no yards to hide eggs in.