After creating our summer fun list, we displayed each item as a leaf on a tree in Isla’s room. Not only was the tree a fun craft project for us to enjoy together, but it is a great daily reminder of the things we hope to experience and accomplish as a family this summer.
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To help us keep track of which summer fun activities we have completed, we made these sweet little apples and added them to the tree. After completing something from our list, we stuck an apple up next to that leaf– like putting a check mark next to it, if you will. The really fun thing about this visual is that by September, Isla was left with a tree full of apples- just like real life!
Supplies:
- Sturdy paper, such as card stock or watercolor paper
- Acrylic paint in the colors of your choice (we used 5 different shades of red for our apples)
- A square of cardboard with a straight side
- A covered working surface (we keep or craft table covered with paper, so it catches the paint spillover)
Directions:
- Squeeze dots of different paint colors in a random order along the first 1/2 – 2/3 of the paper.
- Place the straight edge of your cardboard square along the top edge of your paper at a 45 degree angle.
- Firmly press the cardboard down and pull it through the paint in a straight line to the end of the paper using a swiping motion.
- Repeat step 3, until the paper is covered in paint.
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To make the apples, I found an apple clip art outline, loaded it to my silhouette software, made a repeating pattern, and then used that template to cut the apples out of our swipe painted paper.
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Isla then used her brown markers to color the apple stems.
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Each time we completed one of our summer fun list activities, we’d stick an apple next to that leaf on the tree in Isla’s room.
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Each apple signifies joyful memories and time spent together as a family. It makes our hearts so happy to see them! The apples will remain up for the month of September and on October 1 we will begin transitioning the tree from our Summer Fun List to our Thankfulness Tree. Stay tuned!
