What you will need: A strong cardboard plate, white paper, scissors, paint brush, green paint, glitter paint, red pom poms, blue-tack, craft glue/PVA, a Christmas Poem from the heart, laminater + laminating sheets, and some teeny tiny hands : )

Step 1 – Paint green paint on the child’s hand or let them paint their own if they are able to.

Step 2 – When the hand is completely covered with paint help the child to press it down firmly on the white piece of paper without moving it, then lift it gently. Repeat the same process several times so that you have at least five or six prints with one hand and then do the same with the other hand. You should have about ten to twelve prints all up.

Step 3 – After the green paint has dried, paint the handprints with glitter paint and let that dry.

Step 4 – Carefully cut out each hand print and then laminate them. When laminating is complete, carefully recut each print leaving a small edge of laminate around each hand.

Step 5 – Either write or find a Christmas poem – written from the heart. Type it up, cut it to size and print it, then laminate it and cut it out.

Step 6 – Get cardboard plate, blue-tack, handprints, Christmas Poem, pom poms and craft glue/PVA ready.

Step 7 – Blue-tack the handprints around the plate exactly where you want them and then adjust them as you see necessary.  When you are happy with how they fit, remove one handprint (removing the blue-tack) and put a line of glue on the plate where you want to paste it. Firmly press it down  and then repeat the process with each handprint one by one until each handprint has been pasted on.

Step 8 – Glue your laminated heart-filled Christmas Poem in the centre of your plate/wreath.

Step 9 – Glue your red pom poms randomly around your poem with fairly even spacing between each.

Step 10 – Your gorgeous Heart Print Christmas Tree is complete, so place it somewhere special where everyone can see it and feel the Christmas love.

This is a fun and fabulous activity for developing creativity, fine motor, and an appreciation for the real meaning of Christmas!

Happy guiding and a heart-filled Christmas,

Darling Precious Children

p.s  – If you have more than one child it is lovely to combine all the different hand/heartprints in the one wreath as I did : )