Last week, I posted some pictures on Instagram of my kiddos stacking and building Christmas trees with green plastic cups ("Solo" cups). They had so much fun trying to create the tallest tree, the widest tree, a circular tree, measuring their height next to the tree, and crashing the tree towers down. Ha. Not only is this STEM activity great for fine motor skills, it's super cheap too! I found a pack of 84 off-brand cups at the grocery store for $3.99. I also bought some name brand cups, but they were a bit more expensive and not as many came in the pack. Sight words and fluency with math facts are two important concepts that need to be reviewed constantly. This Christmas Tree building activity is perfect for reviewing sight words and/or math facts in centers or the week before Christmas break. The kids will love it, and it's easy to prep. Once you find your plastic cups, you can use a Sharpie to write directly on the cups. Another option is to print the sight words or math facts you want students to practice on Avery labels. I happened to have some of these circular 2.5" labels leftover from another project, but if you don't have round labels, standard mailing labels will work great too. As students build the tower, they will have repeated exposure to the sight words and math facts they are reviewing. You can have students read them aloud, or for some added accountability, have them write the math facts in their journal. Merry Christmas, friends! Still need to write letters to Santa? Download FREE template here.
