I love preschool crafts that look good and are foolproof enough that even the littlest of kids will have great success when they are done. I think it’s more effective and inspiring when children’s first attempts at art are successful.
Now that school has started again, I’ve been doing a lot more crafts for teachers (ohhh, the posts that are on the way!!!). I have a few projects I need to dig up from when I used to work in day care, but this one I developed just yesterday to accompany my Lorax Activities post on Classroom Jr.
You might also love this Cat in the Hat craft as much as I do!

Lorax Activity - Truffula Trees Craft

Truffula Trees Lorax Craft Materials
1 yellow and black striped pipe cleaner (found mine at Hobby Lobby – or buy animal striped pipe cleaners from Discount School Supply)
4 multi colored pom poms (to be true to The Lorax book, use yellow, red/pink, purple and orange)
Green Play Dough (here’s a gluten-free play dough alternative or make your own play dough)
A square of tissue paper for the base (really, anything can work here, including not using anything at all)
Glue
Have an adult clip the pipe cleaner into 4 segments, any length will do, and they don’t have to be even.
Pour out some glue and let the kids dip one end of the pipe cleaner into the glue, getting a good sized drop on top:

Gluing the Truffula Trees Craft
Stuff the glued end of the pipe cleaner into a pom pom – I use a hot glue gun because it’s a little easier, but even just regular Elmer’s Glue sticks remarkably well.
Repeat for the next three pom poms and pipe cleaner segments, making four Truffula Trees.
Slap the green play dough onto the tissue paper and push the sides down a little to make it look like a hill. Again, there’s no right way to do this, pretty much any slap of the dough onto a surface will look good.
Stick the four Truffula Trees into your green play dough ‘hill’.
Done!
Here are more recycled crafts for Earth Day and conservation minded peeps, plus check out these How Do Plants Grow printable activities or these Earth Day printables, too!
Colorations Wheat & Gluten-Free Dough – 5 1/2 lbs.
Jumbo Assorted Wild Animal Pipe Cleaners
Pom Pom Classroom Pack – 700 Pieces
[...] Truffula Trees Craft for Preschool / Kindergarten Kids [...]
[...] Craft Jr. has posted instructions to make these adorable Truffula Trees with your little ones. You could also substitute regular yellow pipe cleaners for the stems by coloring stripes with a permanent marker for your kids ahead of time. [...]
Cute idea! My preschool-aged boys are just starting to really enjoy Dr. Seuss books.
LOVE IT!!
[...] Truffula Trees (The Lorax) Craft by Craft Jr: My friend Wendy came up with this adorable craft, and I absolutely LOVE the use of stripey chenille stems (aka pipe cleaners). So cute, simple, and fun! [...]
[...] The Lorax, Make Truffula Trees [...]
[...] pages: Truffula Trees craft, The Lorax activities, Dr. Seuss Activities Dr. Seuss Cat in the Hat [...]
[...] sure to also check out our page for The Lorax activities, games and lesson plans, Truffula trees craft and this Cat in the Hat craft, [...]
Seusstastic idea. I love that kids can do these. I’m linking to these on my site too.
http://www.obseussed.com/p/seuss-sites.html
[...] Dr. Seuss Craft – Lorax & Truffula Trees Image by Wendy Piersall Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax Craft: Make Truffula Trees [...]
LOVE this and included it in my Dr.Seuss birthday round up today!
http://bugger-dixonline.blogspot.com/2011/03/happy-birthday-dr-seuss.html
[...] can also see a sneak preview of the miniature truffula trees we will be making. Here are some of the sites we consulted as we experimented with making a Chia [...]
[...] Truffala Trees [...]
Thanks for the idea. We did this today!
http://savegreenbeinggreen.blogspot.com/2012/03/playdate-theme-dr-suess-birthday.html
i love this craft. when it was
dr. seuss day, i used this craft
for my tutering school class and
they had a kick out of it when
they fineshed. keep up the good
work on your outstanding crafts.
[...] here for a craft project to make your own Truffula Trees! Share this:Like this:LikeBe the first to like [...]