One afternoon after school, the kids and I decided to go for a drive to look for pine cones. Pine cones have such a Christmassy feel and they can be used for all sorts of things!
Going on a hunt, a quest, is one of the things I like to do with the kids for a bit of adventure. We didn’t have to drive far; we found pine cones on the ground just 5 minutes from our home.
One of the ways we utilised the pine cones, was to create a play scene. I’m discovering the value of encouraging my children to create their own play — through imaginative play, play scenes and dioramas — rather than solely relying on toys and entertainment for play options. As I was thinking about how we could use the pine cones, I remembered a scene from one of my favourite Christmas movies, White Christmas. In the scene, set on a train, Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen sing Snow. As they sing, they create a quick snow scene with scarves, and I always thought it was all kinds of fabulous. HA! Funny: the things you remember.
Watch/listen to the song if you like.
Below is a picture of our pine cone diorama version of the White Christmas snow scene.
3-6 Pine cones
Cotton Wool Balls
Shoe box (with lid)
Craft pom poms (optional)
Plastic figurine animials (optional)
How to make:
1. Glue cotton wool balls on the inside of the lid.
2. Decorate the pine cones by tearing off small pieces of cotton wool and placing it between the prongs, or for a more colourful look, use coloured craft pom poms. (You can also paint the pine cone prongs with white/glitter).
3. Cut a piece of blue paper (or draw your own backdrop) to the size of the inside of the box and glue down.
4. Glue the pine cones to the box lid (you may have to part some cotton wool to make way for the pine cones).
5. Place the base of the box up on it’s side and glue the lid inside, as shown below.
6. Add back drop detail (for example: sun/cloud) and any relevant (or not so relevant) animials or person figures. We found a reindeer look alike in our toy collection.
* If you like the idea of play scenes, you can create any scene your child likes (without the need for glue!). Use a shoe box, basket or bucket and re-create a scene with items around the house (eg, water scene: bowl of water, rocks, leaves, snake, grass; fairy scene: scarves, sequence, buttons, dolls; zoo scene: animal figures, fences; White Christmas scene: pine cones, cotton wool, scarf, bowl of ice).
I love this craft because it was a process. Despite how much craft is on this blog, I wouldn’t call myself a crafty person (because I don’t always enjoy doing craft, nor am I very neat/good at it). However, I do love creating, and believe it is extremely beneficial for kids too. I enjoy participating in crafty projects with the kids when it means something, and I can connect the dots, which then leaves me with a very satisfied feeling. This is the perfect example: the kids and I had an adventure looking for pine cones, a wonderful memory gave me an idea on what to do with what we found, and when you put them together, this craft if the result.
This is how I like to roll if at all possible 😉
To view the entire range of Christmas Craft on this blog, click here: Christmas Craft.
Below are links to more Pine Cone Craft Ideas