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Thread Wrapped Pinecones & More

I love December’s theme, Winter in the Woods. It fits in so well with our winter in Wisconsin. It’s not really holiday themed, but it fits in well with the holidays coming up. That’s what I like about using Mother Goose Time. We go beyond celebrating holidays and seasons and really learn about so many topics. I think it’s important because our lives are more than about celebrations. What I’ve found over the years is that children are so much more capable than we sometimes think or allow. What sticks out in my mind is the 3-year-old who told her grandma all about the planets or the 4-year-old that recently was demonstrating to her mother that we were learning about syllables in our names.  See our pinecone activities and the beautiful thread wrapped pinecones we made.

Thread Wrapped Pinecones

Many of the daily kits include beautiful photos. The pinecone one is lovely! Very nice inspiration for our pinecone activities.

Thread wrapped pinecones wasn’t really included in the teaching guide, but I was inspired after seeing the materials provided. We did the other activities too but we had time to make these pretty little decorations with simple materials – pinecones and embroidery thread. There’s no mess and plenty of fine motor practice!

Thread Wrapped Pinecones

Thread Wrapped Pinecones

Needed:

Directions:

  1. Cut a length of embroidery thread.
  2. Begin wrapping thread around the pinecone.
  3. Repeat with various colors of thread.
  4. Add a string to hang the pinecone if desired.
Thread Wrapped Pinecones

We used just a few colors – red, pink, yellow and a light brown. The options are endless. Thread Wrapped Pinecones

The thread separates into many strands but we didn’t separate it. Thread Wrapped Pinecones

One hanging on a tree is lovely or just set it on a shelf. A whole basket of thread wrapped pinecones would be attractive too!
Thread Wrapped Pinecones

Wrapping the pinecones allowed the children to really see the beauty of the pinecone. Some also noticed the little prickle under the scales.

Thread Wrapped Pinecones

Pinecone Bird Feeders

We also made pinecone bird feeders to share with our feathered friends. Unfortunately, I think it’s been so cold that the birds are not showing up. They will find them before long, though. I can not use peanut butter in my group due to allergies, so I had to get creative. I’ve used Crisco shortening in place of the peanut butter before but this time I didn’t have any. I spotted a little coconut oil left in the cabinet so I melted it. We dipped the pinecones in the oil and then sprinkled on the birdseed. It worked! After refrigerating them for a while, we hung them in the tree.

Pinecones are beautiful! The little birds who find these will be happy!

Here’s our below zero view of the back yard.

Pinecone Math

How sweet is this little game?! Great idea, to introduce the minus sign. The game is easy:

  1. Spin.
  2. Put on that many pom pom pinecones on the tree.
  3. If you get a number with a minus sign, take that many pinecones off.

I love games that the kids can play independently and this is one of them.

We will be keeping this one for sure! It’s perfect for the winter season every year.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about some of our pinecone activities. Check back soon for more Winter in the Woods activities!

More Winter Activities