Cereal Box Tree

In today's Time For All Ages video, we saw the ancestral tree of Unitarian Universalism. You can make your own! Only this one stands up.

-cereal box

-construction paper

-glue

-scissors

-markers

-pencil

Unfold the whole thing flat, then cut out the front and back panels so that you have two rectangles of cardboard.

Fold one rectangle in half lengthwise. Use a pencil to sketch half a tree trunk against the fold. Make sure your "roots" go all the way to the edge.

Cut out the shape you have traced. Make sure not to snip the fold!

Fold the second cardboard rectangle in half, place the tree trunk shape on top of it, and trace the same shape.

If the piece you're tracing won't stay still, you can use a piece of masking tape to hold it in place. Cut out the second tree trunk.

Now you have two!

In the Ancestral Tree video, I decorated the tree trunk with words and the names of some of the many people who grew the UU faith. You could do that, writing words the describe and names of those who have influenced your faith. What things are important to you? What people help you be a good human? Who helps you think about hard questions?

Or you can just decorate it! I did both, one on each trunk.

Take a green piece of construction paper (or any color, really, your tree can be any kind in any season!), and fold it back and forth like an accordion. Draw leaf shapes on one side of the accordion. Cut them all out! Cutting through every accordion layer means you get TONS of leaves.

Glue the leaves on the branches on both tree trunks. You can add other things in your tree, too, like fruit. Or acorns! Or squirrels or birds. I added a bird.

Flip one tree shape over. Put glue on HALF of the trunk, staying on one side of the crease of the fold. Take the second tree trunk, lay it on top, and glue it to the bottom trunk. Make sure only half of the top trunk is glued!

Let it dry.

Once your glue is dry, bend out the sides, and stand it up! Now you have your own Ancestral Tree.