My nieces also teach three year olds, and they too are spending the majority of their time outside.  They too did some nature art for Christmas.  They painted with Christmas tree branches!  These are so easy to gather- you can simply walk up to any Christmas tree lot and they will gladly give you some!

                   

As you can see, they also love just cutting the branches – great scissor practice!  You can even put their small cuttings into some playdough!

My nieces also helped their children make these adorable tree cookie ornaments.  The children used their fingerprints to form a Christmas tree and then added some simple lines and voila – looks adorable!  I don’t like to do too many fingerprints and handprints, but I love some adorable Christmas art with cute little fingerprints and cute little handprints!  My own children (now 22, 20, and 17) have some amazing fingerprints and handprints around the house during the holidays!

Using nature in art projects is so simple, and the end result is always beautiful!