Contact Paper Christmas Tree with Shape Ornaments!

This Contact Paper Christmas Tree is the activity that my kids have enjoyed the most this winter! I put it up several weeks ago, and my kids have fun re-decorating it everyday! First of all, it’s great for open-ended play. Kids of any age can partake – you don’t have to worry about anything getting “ruined.” As a result, my 1-year-old son was SO happy that he could do the same activity as his 4-year-old sister! Secondly, you can turn it into a Chinese shapes lesson (the main purpose of my website!). I’ll show you how you can make this extra educational!

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Important vocabulary:

圣诞树 (shèngdànshù / Christmas tree)
形状 (xíngzhuàng / shapes)
匹配 (pǐpèi / matching)

Cutting Contact paper for Christmas Tree

What you need for the Contact Paper Christmas Tree:

Con-Tact paper (clear, self-adhesive privacy film)
Green painter’s tape
Scissors
Foam sheets or foam shapes – I preferred to make large foam shapes so the pieces were large enough to write Chinese characters
Cardboard shape stencils (check out how we DIY’d these for everyday use)
Sharpie marker

Contact Paper Christmas Tree! Educational Christmas activity for toddler and preschoolers

How to set up the Contact Paper Christmas Tree and Shape Ornaments:

Cut Contact paper into 2 large trapezoids and 1 large triangle
Peel off backing
Use green painter’s tape to tape the edge of non-sticky side of contact paper to desired surface (eg, window)
Trace shapes with cardboard stencils
Write shape names and cut them out
Trace shapes onto contact paper with cardboard stencils
Match foam shapes with shapes on Contact Paper Christmas Tree!

Below you can see the outlines of the shapes that I made with the cardboard stencils.

Little brother was so mesmerized by his big sister decorating the Contact Paper Christmas Tree!

Voila! This is how the Contact Paper Christmas Tree turned out! Although we did this on a sliding glass door, you could make it on any wall. But I’d recommend a glass door or window so your kids can enjoy seeing it from the other side!

Afterwards, the kids had fun filling in the tree with random scraps of foam!

I taped an extra piece of rectangular contact paper at eye level for my son, so he could stick things on it to his heart’s desire. It was so adorable and fun seeing both kids running back and forth between the tree and the rectangle!

Have you tried this Contact Paper Christmas Tree Activity?

If you try this activity, please let us know in the comments below! What age(s) are your kid(s) and how did it go? We’d love to hear about your learning experience!