Thumbprint Christmas Tree Cards

What You Need:

• Green acrylic paint
• Small bowl for the paint
• White card stock and envelopes
• Gold star stickers, sparkly stickers or similar embellishments
• Brown marker
• Iridescent flakes, optional (available at craft stores)
• Adhesive tape from tape dispenser, or glue

What You Do:

1. First, ask your child to pour some paint into the bowl.
2. Demonstrate how your child will stamp her thumb, drawing it on a piece of scratch paper to help your younger child visualize how the tree will look. Explain that she will start at the top with one thumb print, make two thumb prints centered underneath that, then a row of three beneath that and end with four thumb prints at the bottom.
3. Have her dip her thumb into the paint and scrape any excess off on the rim of the bowl.
4. Have her press her thumb onto the upper quarter of the paper.
5. Tell her to dip her thumb into the paint again and make two thumbprints, side by side, underneath the first thumbprint.
6. Have her dip her thumb again and add three thumbprints in a row beneath the second row.
7. Then, ask her to dip her thumb into the paint and make a row of four thumbprints beneath the third row.
8. Have your child set the card aside to dry and make another one. Keep working in small batches until you have enough cards to send to friends and family for Christmas.
9. Once the cards are dry, your child can put the finishing touches on the tree. She can draw a brown rectangle under the tree and color it in to create a tree trunk. Then, she can top the tree with a star-shaped sticker and some sparkly stickers for ornaments.
10. Let the cards dry one more time and then they are ready for you to address and mail! These hand made cards are sure to spread holiday cheer to all who receive them.