A Family Tree Craft for Grandparent's Day

The tissue paper tree collage has yet to be attached to the hand-colored family tree above. In this art project the
grandparent  colors one half of the art project and fills in the child's family tree while his or her grandchild
 crafts the tissue paper tree that will be attached to the top half of the picture with either a narrow
swatch of paste or a brass brad allowing the tree to rotate and reveal the family diagram below.

Teachers will need to collect the following supplies for this art project:

• Green and brown construction paper
• white school glue
• green and yellow tissue paper
• a print of the simple family tree below, one per student
• one copy of the heart tree pattern to create a cardboard stencil from
• scissors
• colored pencils
• brown crayons
• staplers
• brass brads and a hole punch (This is an alternative method of attachment instead of staples.)

Directions:

1. Cut the heart shaped tree and trunk template after sizing it roughly to cover the family tree graph in a Word Document File.
2. Cut the heart shaped foliage from green paper and the trunk from brown. Your students may glue the trunk on the heart after coloring it with crayons or markers and then glue it to the tree. However, I would glue these two together in advance for younger preschool students.
3. The young student may then crumple colored tissue squares and glue these to the surface of their construction paper tree while his or her grandparent fills out the basic family information as shown below in red type. 
4. The grandparent may either color the family tree alone or with the help of their grandchild before stapling together the tissue paper covered tree. Staple the two together to create a flap, just at the upper portion of the tree tops, so that the tree may be lifted up to reveal the graph.

Here you see that the family tree jpg. is enlarged inside of a word document before it is printed out on a
8 1/2 x 11 inch sheet of white typing or drawing paper. On the far right, the tree has been filled out
and colored by an adult. This may also be done by the child if they prefer, however, it is important to
give the child lighter colored pencils to color the birds so that the family names will not be fully
 obscured from view.

On the far left, I have cut 150 trunks and heart shaped folia to assemble the trees for young students
ahead of time. All they will need to do is crumple tissue paper and glue it to the tree's surface and
 color the trunk with a brown crayon. Crafts sometimes need to be preassembled a bit in order for
them to be successfully completed within a limited time allotment.

I have stapled the tree on top of the colored print so that the small birds may nest quietly beneath
the student's artwork. Now Henry will have a nice keepsake to remember Grandparent's Day.

A simple Family Tree Graph showing how one child
 is related to both sets of his grandparents.

Print one simple family tree graph per student for grandparent(s) to fill out and color.

The pattern for the heart shaped family tree that will need to be sized to cover the
above drawn graph sufficiently. You will need to "tweek" it a bit and print it out at
different sizes until you are satisfied with the fit.

More Family Tree Lessons:

• my family tree lesson plan from Art Education Daily
• Design Your Own Coat of Arms Lesson Plan
• Celebrate Your Heritage
• Creating Family Timelines

Young students at our school completed a simpler version of
the same project idea with their own parents and grandparents.

After finishing early a little girl views the members
 of her own family tree on a cell phone.

This young girl has so many family members that she
had difficulty pasting them all onto such a little tree.

Look there's no space left to color in the tree!

Craft a Funny Gobbler From Paper Plates

This seated turkey craft is ready to hang. His tail feathers and body are held together and spin on a brass brad.

Supply List For This Turkey:

• a variety of magic markers
• one black permanent ink marker
• one printed copy of the turkey graphic below
• two paper plates, one larger than the other 
• one brass brad

      This funny paper plate craft is so easy to assemble after coloring the template and drawing "feathers" on to the perimeter of two paper plates. Just find the center of the paper plates and turkey graphic and then poke a brass brad through all three and clamp the elements together. Hang the gobbler up and spin him around to make him look dizzy!

For best results print the turkey graphic out on heavy weight paper. Above you can see how he looks before attaching the tail feathers made from two paper plates.

Download and print this funny gobbler graphic for your next Thanksgiving craft today.

Something to Be Thankful For 

by Clara J. Denton

I'm glad that I am not to-day

A chicken or a goose,

Or any other sort of bird

That is of any use.

I'd rather be a little girl,

Although 'tis very true,

The things I do not like at all,

I'm often made to do.

I'd rather eat some turkey than

To be one, thick and fat,

And so, with all my heart, to-day,

I'll thankful be for that!

Practice Shading An Owl

This owl is wide awake. Give him big yellow eyes and practice shading in all of his little feathers.

       Above is the "digital tracing," of the image. Students may look at the original sample below in order to practice shading techniques on top of the printed digital tracing. After a student learns shading techniques with a number 2 pencil, he or she may choose to try working with colored pencils or even watercolors in order to enhance the digital tracing above.