A Kind-hearted Book & Edible Trees!
After reading Robert Barry’s “Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree” we decided to pair it with an activity we’ve been doing for many years; making edible trees. I’m excited to walk you through how we made them, so let’s get started…
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Summary of “Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree”
“Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree” by Robert Barry is a kind-hearted book about a rich man who gets a Christmas tree thats too big; even for his gigantic home. He solves this problem by cutting off the top. The top goes to his maid, but when she puts it in her home its too large to fit also. The story continues page by page with the top of the tree being cut off and tossed aside, where the next person/animal finds it and thinks it will be perfect for their home.
A wonderful message of sharing and togetherness; while seeing the various perspectives of each characters home & how the top of the tree that looked so small in the original mansion was able to make so many families happy. I would definitely recommend this book.
What We Did with Edible Trees?…
We tend to keep the activities as simple as possible around here. We’re not interested in complicated or costly. We are also all about fostering independence. For this activity we gathered the materials & began coloring the vanilla frosting. We decided to go with traditional green for our edible trees. In years past we’ve done just about every other color of the rainbow, lol. We used a spoon to spread the frosting on our sugar ice cream cones.
Next we added the “ornaments” (aka m&m’s) and “lights” (aka sprinkles) and I added some “snow” (aka coconut) to mine. That’s it! Its a great activity to celebrate tree trimming. Also a fantastic alternative to the more elaborate gingerbread house treats, especially for littles. You can see more of this on our Instagram Post.
I would suggest Edible trees if you’re looking for a simple & sweet activity to connect with your child.
Materials We Used
- “Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree” by Robert Barry (from the library or buy one here)
- Sugar cones
- Vanilla frosting
- Green food coloring
- Bowl
- Spoon
- Sprinkles
- M&m’s
- Coconut flakes
- Tray
Click HERE for Free Printable copy (Email Subscribers Only)
How to Make Edible Trees?
- Open the container of vanilla frosting.
- Scoop the Frosting into a bowl.
- Squeeze some green food coloring into the bowl.
- Mix thoroughly.
- Place a sugar cone on your tray.
- Open the m&m’s, coconut flakes & sprinkles & put them in separate bowls.
- Use a spoon to generously spread some green frosting onto the sugar cone.
- Place the m&m’s as ornaments wherever you’d like them.
- Sprinkle on the sprinkle “lights”.
- Perhaps add some coconut “snow”.
- The options are endless with these sweet edible trees!
Click HERE for Free Printable copy (Email Subscribers Only)
Wait, There’s More…
I believe you can easily strengthen communication skills and foster independence all while playing and connecting with your child. To help you do this; I’ve created a FREE printable for each activity called, “Communicating & Connecting”.
It will give you a list of suggestions I’ve found very helpful as a Mom & as a special education teacher; to help you build lifelong skills. Please don’t feel obligated to do everything on the list (but if you do, you’re a rockstar 😉 ).
As a Thank You for subscribing; this is a special FREEBIE for our Email Subscribers Only. 🙂 Click here if you’ve already subscribed. Otherwise, Sign Up below to get the password & access to our entire FREE Printables Library today! 😉
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