Ribbon Tree

I had the kids select a good sized branch and enough stones to "plant" it in a small bucket we had. I cut lengths of ribbon, string, and pipe cleaners for them to use to decorate their tree. This was good practice tying knots. The end result was interesting. Several people, including my husband, found it creepy - maybe because some of the ribbon we had was grayish-black. I thought it was festive. Half way through the boys asked me for sparkly things, so the craft expanded to include glue and spangles. They glued the spangles directly onto the branch, and also on to ribbons which they then attached to it. They did this 100% outside, which was good for me, and they cooperated nicely on it - seems like a project that lends itself to multiple kids working toward one outcome. The older helped the younger with tying, for instance, and the younger one introduced the spangles.