Fine Motor Skills, Visual Motor Skills

Pattern Christmas Tree Ornament

Colleen Beck OTR/L

Colleen Beck, OTR/L is a pediatric occupational therapist and the owner and author of The OT Toolbox website. She manages all of The OT Toolbox social media accounts and runs the popular newsletter. Colleen created The OT Toolbox in 2011 and since then has written thousands of blog posts designed to support therapy providers, educators, parents, counselors, admin, and caregivers in promoting the healthy development of kids. Check out Colleen's blog posts below:

by Colleen Beck OTR/L
December 2, 2014

This is an ornament we made last Christmas, and I’m just getting around to sharing with you. We love easy crafts and this ornament fits the bill. When it’s possible to add learning into craft and play, it’s bonus for mom…and the kids don’t even mind. We made Christmas tree ornament with basic crafting supplies and added a math pattern portion to the crafting.

Check out these Christmas Fine Motor Activities for more creative ways to work on fine motor skills and address development of skills this Christmas season.

Pattern Christmas tree ornament for kids

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Unfortunaly, in the 11 months since these pictures were taken, I’ve misplaced the images of the actual making of the ornament….But, it’s pretty easy to make.

How to make a Pattern Christmas Tree ornament:

Start with a few basic supplies:

glitter green pipe cleaner
red and white pony beads

Plastic star bead (we got ours from www.craftprojectideas.com)
string (also from craftprojectideas!)

Start by bending the pipe cleaner into a triangle shape. Leave the base of the tree free of beads. Thread the red and white beads onto the pipe cleaner on both sides of the tree. We made our bead pattern in an ABAB pattern and with just a few beads. You could add more beads to the sides or make more complex patterns if you like.

Add the star bead to the top of one end of the pipe cleaner. Twist the ends together. Add string and hang from your Christmas tree. Done!

Let us know if you make this ornament. We would love to see your version. Stop by our Facebook page and share a picture.

Christmas Handwriting Activities

Writing out that Christmas wish list is a difficult task that brings out tears instead of holiday excitement. I’ve got a solution for your kiddo with handwriting difficulties: a packet of modified paper for all of the Christmas handwriting tasks that come up each year. Use this handwriting pack to help kids who struggle with handwriting to participate in holiday traditions while even working on and developing their handwriting skills!

Working on handwriting with kids this Christmas season? Grab your copy of the Christmas Modified Handwriting Packet. It’s got three types of adapted paper that kids can use to write letters to Santa, Thank You notes, holiday bucket lists and much more…all while working on handwriting skills in a motivating and fun way! Read more about the adapted Christmas Paper here.