Use recycled materials to make these tree craft ideas! Our tree craft ideas are perfect for any season. They are a great way to talk to kids about how trees change with the seasons and are a wonderful recycled art and craft project for Earth Day.
Tree Craft Ideas for Kids
We are going to use cookie cutters as stencils to paint leaves on paper bag trees. Cookie cutters are easy stencils that children can move around the paper after painting inside them. The cookie cutter can be turned over, turned diagonally, or just slid down the paper making this a great craft for preschoolers.
Related: 16 Nature Crafts for Kids
Some children jump right into painting and creating. Others prefer to have a little more structure to what they are painting and really like to know that it is going to look like the image they pictured in their minds. Cookie cutter stencils give those types of children the opportunity to relax and just enjoy the process. They open the door for them to take other risks like stencil placement and paint color.
Supplies needed to make recycled paper trees
- Old paper bags or cardboard
- Paint
- Cookie cutters in leaf and flower shapes*
- Paintbrushes
- Pencil
- Scissors
- Glue stick
*Cookie cutters of any shape and size make for easy stencils that could be used to decorate the tree. We happened to have fall leaf and flower cookie cutters of various sizes at our house.
Related: Use recycled material for paper mache projects
Instructions for making recycled paper trees
Step 1
Using a pencil, draw a tree trunk and the top of a tree onto a brown paper bag or piece of cardboard, and then cut them out.
Step 2
Place the leaf or flower cookie cutters onto the paper and then paint inside them like you are using a stencil.
By using a stencil to create the leaves and knowing what they would look like, we open the door to being willing to experiment with some of the other elements of painting.
Colors were also experimented with. Traditional fall colors of orange, red, and yellow can be added to an autumn tree. For spring, you can add colorful flowers to your tree too.
Step 3
Use a glue stick to attach the tree trunk to the top of the tree.
Our finished tree craft ideas
Aren’t these so cute! My kids were so happy with these tree crafts, even said they turned out like something you’d see on Pinterest. And you could even turn this into a fall or sprint craft. Maybe add apples and fall colored leaves for fall and flowers and bright leaves for spring.
The best part is, little hands (think toddler) shouldn’t have a hard time making this easy tree craft especially if you help then with our step by step tutorials. And I firmly believed paint themed art projects is a great way to not only work on fine motor skills and have fantastic fun, but it is good for kids creative outlets.
You can even add it to your lesson plan for Earth day! And it uses basic craft supplies so this tree craft is budget-friendly. If you don’t have brown paper bags you can also use leftover construction paper or tissue paper, whatever you have lying around.
Recycled Paper Bag Tree Craft
Make a tree craft for every season, Earth Day, or a tree unit at school using our recycled tree craft ideas.
Materials
- Recycled brown paper bag or cardboard
- Cookie cutters - leaf and flower shapes
- Paint in assorted colors
- Pencil
- Glue stick
Tools
- Paintbrushes
- Scissors
Instructions
- Sketch a tree trunk and the top of a tree onto a brown paper bag or piece of cardboard, and then cut them out.
- Place a leaf or flower cookie cutter onto the top of the tree and paint inside it. Continue moving the cookie cutter around the tree to paint leaves and flowers. Try mixing colors together too.
- Glue the tree trunk to the top of the tree.
More tree craft ideas from Kids Activities Blog
- Colorful fall tree craft for preschoolers using real leaves
- An easy apple tree craft for preschoolers
- Get messy with our handprint tree art
- Origami trees are so much fun to make
- Use pine needles for painting fall trees
- Download and print our free fall tree coloring pages
- Make a paper plate apple tree with pom poms
- Wondering what to do with old magazines? We can show you!
- Extra water bottles laying around? Check out these easy plastic bottle crafts!
Check Out These Great Earth Day Crafts From Kids Activities Blog
- Check out this tree handprint Earth day craft for kids.
- More Earth Day crafts
- Make a paper tree craft for Earth Day
- Earth Day placemats that you can print and color
- Fun Earth Day crafts for kids
- Things to do on Earth Day
- Make a butterfly collage for Earth Day
- Online Earth Day activities for kids
- Check out these Earth Day quotes for kids
- Check our our wasteful activities – ways to teach kids not to be wasteful.
- The BIG set of Earth Day coloring pages for kids
- You gotta try these water bottle crafts!
Have you made our recycled tree craft? Did you use an old cardboard box, paper, or something else?
Wonderful and so pretty!
Thanks for sharing on Kids Get Crafty!
Maggy
What a great idea using the cookie cutters as stencils. We have all sorts of shapes for playing with playdough, I’m going to try this. Thanks
I think this is a fun, easy and educational craft that I know my kids would love! I should head to Michael’s this afternoon to find some cookie cutters 🙂