Materials:
• 12" X 16" piece of posterboard
• 9 sheets of green construction paper
• Transfer or carbon paper
• Markers, paint, crayons or color pencils
• Pencil or ballpoint pen
• Glue
• Printer
• Stapler
• Small candy canes or peppermints (in wrappers)
• 8" piece of baby ribbon or string

1. Draw a triangle on the posterboard that measures 16" tall and 12" wide. Cut it out. (Fig. A)
2. You may trace the hand template provided or load your printer with green construction paper and print 9 copies of the hand template. Cut out all hands. Don't worry if some of the lines show, you can turn them over when you glue them down.
3. Run a line of glue along the bottom of the triangle approximately 1 ½" up from the edge. Begin laying hands along the glue line making sure to overlap each one about 1" to 1 ½". Refer to Fig B. Repeat the process until you cover the entire tree. (Fig. C)
4. Fold the ribbon in half. Tie the ends in a knot to form a loop. Place ribbon on the back side of the tree and staple it in place. Make sure the staple is above the knot. (Fig. D)
5. Print out the advent decorations. Using markers, paint, crayons or colored pencils, color in the Mr. Bingle figurine. Glue the Mr. Bingle figuring to the top of the tree. Next, glue 24 mini candy canes or peppermints on the tree, arranging them in a random pattern. If you want, you may cut out the numbered disks and attach them to the candies with a dab of glue. (Fig. E)

Each day, let your child take a candy from the tree, starting on December 1 with the candy numbered 24. Continue until Christmas Eve. This is really exciting for young children as they count down the days remaining until Christmas.

Click here for Hand Template
Click here for Advent Decorations