Scrap Ribbon Christmas Tree Ornament {and Practical Life Activity}

I’ve always loved the Christmas tree ornaments my now-adult kids made for my husband and me each year. It’s fun to remember the ages they were when they created each one … and each is still hung lovingly on our Christmas tree every year. I’ve been continuing this tradition by helping my 5-year-old granddaughter, Zoey, make ornaments for her parents each year.

Zoey’s 12-month-old sister, Sophia, and my 9-month-old grandson, Caleb, will be making handprint and footprint keepsake ornaments this year. I saw an ornament online that I thought would be perfect for Zoey to make this year. It’s a scrap ribbon Christmas tree ornament with a practical life addition (lots of knot-tying practice … generally great for kids ages 4-6)! (Shhh! Don’t tell Zoey’s parents about the ornaments!)

I saw the scrap ribbon Christmas tree ornament at Fireflies and Mud Pies.

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Christmas Picture Book Inspiration

The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear was first published in 1984 and was a favorite of my kids when they were little. I saved the book, and it became one of Zoey’s favorites, too!

Merry Christmas, Big Hungry Bear! follows the little mouse and the big hungry bear on another adventure. This book has a sweet and kind Christmas message, too! I figure the scrap ribbon Christmas tree ornament might be the sort of ornament the big hungry bear could have. (Note: Unfortunately, you can’t get the book before Christmas if you live in the U.S., but I think it’s well worth ordering for next Christmas.)

Materials Used for Our Scrap Ribbon Ornament

• Small, straight stick for each ornament (4-6″ I cut Zoey’s to 4″.)
• 13-16 ribbons for each ornament, each ribbon 9″ long to begin with (I got this set of ribbons to use for a variety of activities over the years.)
• Scissors for cutting the ribbons and twine
• Wooden star for each ornament (optional – I got a bag of 25 small wooden stars that will be fun for math activities, too.)
• Twine
• Hot glue gun

Nature Walk to Collect Small Sticks

We started our project with a nature walk to collect the sticks!

Making the Scrap Ribbon Christmas Tree Ornaments

Be sure to check out the directions and video for scrap ribbon Christmas tree ornaments at Fireflies and Mud Pies. I’ll tell you what we did that was a bit different from their directions.

Zoey tied a single knot to connect 13 or so ribbons to each branch.

I cut each branch to 4″ which seemed a better size to go with Zoey’s tree. (That would be the best size for mine, too). I added a bit of glue with the hot glue gun to the top and bottom ribbons to be sure they stayed attached to the branch.

Then I used the hot glue gun to glue the wooden star to the top ribbon and attach a twine loop to the top of the ornament. After that, I cut the ribbons to make a tree shape. I left the ends unfinished, but Fireflies and Mud Pies has directions for finishing them if you prefer to do that.

Adding a book to the ornament work is optional, but we’ve enjoyed sharing the two together!

See all our Montessori-friendly Christmas ornaments, cards, and wrapping paper kids can make here.

Do you have a kid-made Christmas ornament project this year?

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