This weather has me craving lazy afternoons and cozy crafts with my kiddo. There is just something about making crafts around Christmas time that just gives me all the hygge feels! I also am always up for any reason to go on a nature walk to forage for supplies! So we headed to the woods behind our house and searched for small branches of pine and spruce, berries, and tiny pine-cones. My son was definitely more interested in running through the snow playing cowboys and I did most of the foraging this time. But we still had a nice morning together as a family exploring the forest. And once we got home we spread out our materials and got to making this DIY nature wreath craft.
Supplies:
- Cardboard
- Twine or string
- Any evergreen pieces you can find. We used pine, balsam, and juniper
- Any berries you can find- If you can’t find berries in the wild, you can usually find a bundle of red berries from the floral department of Safeway for just $5
- Any ribbon you have on hand
- Scissors
- Tape
We started off with tracing a dinner plate on some cardboard to make a circle. Then I traced a second circle using a smaller plate in the inside. I cut out the circle with scissors and then the middle of the wreath. I taped up the cut I made to get to the inside circle of the wreath. Your child will be covering this up anyways with greens.
Using twine I wrapped a criss-cross type of pattern around the cardboard wreath, taping one end down. This will hold the greens and pine-cones in place on the wreath. Keep the twine taught so that the greens will stay in place later. I kept the twine extra long at the end so that I could make a loop at the top to hang it.
Then my son got to work with weaving greens around the entire wreath. This is great for fine motor control and kept my son quietly working for about twenty minutes.
No Christmas craft is complete in our house without some hot cocoa and cookies!
After he was satisfied with how all his greens looked, he then started to tuck in the berries and mini pine-cones under the twine.
We tied a wired ribbon around the bottom of the wreath to make a bow and voila!
Quick Tip: be ready for pine needles EVERYWHERE and have wipes ready for sappy fingers!
He was so pleased with his finished creation and quickly bundled up to go deliver it to one of our neighbors. I love that he enjoys giving as much as I do. It was such an easy and fun activity, and the best part is that it didn’t cost a dime! I hope this gives you some inspiration to go on your own nature walk with your kiddos and collect some treasures to craft your own DIY nature wreath!
If you enjoyed this post check out:
DIY Nature Wall Art Craft For Kids
A Simple Colorful Holiday Craft With Goldfish Crackers
Holiday Gift Guide For The Nature Loving Child
This joint search for the materials for any crafts also seems entertaining. As a result, you get a beautiful wreath and a positive festive mood