Easy DIY Geoboard Christmas Tree

Add this geoboard Christmas tree to your Christmas activities for preschoolers and kindergarten kids this December. It’s very easy to make, and you only need a few materials to get started.

On top of it being low-prep, the Christmas tree geoboard is incredibly engaging for your students. It’s novel shape and concept really draws the children’s interest.

Use the Christmas geoboard tree during small group math lessons, or place it (and a few buddies!) in your math center for independent practice. Kids practice multiple early learning skills as they play and interact with the foam geoboard trees.

multiple foam trees with golf tees and text that reads geoboard christmas tree

We’ve had fun creating all kinds of geoboards throughout my teaching career. Many are nonseasonal, but the most interesting ones tend to be the creative seasonal geoboards.

This one was inspired by a walk through a local craft store. I loved the foam trees they had available and knew the kids would get a kick out of them. Add in the children’s interest in pounding golf tees and making shapes with geoboards, and here we are.

Geoboard Christmas Tree

Now let’s jump into all the fun! Please keep in mind that I’m sharing how it went in my pre-k classroom. You know your students and their needs best, so feel free to make adjustments based on that knowledge.

Also, please note that these don’t have to be Christmas trees. They can just be plain ol’ geoboard trees. We were using them near Christmas, so that’s what the kids started calling them and I ran with it. But you don’t have to!

How to Prep the Christmas Tree Geoboards

First, go ahead and gather the materials you’ll need. Here’s what we used (I may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post):

Green and white foam cones
Golf tees
Rubber bands (we used the tiny ones leftover from rainbow loom bracelet-making)

As I mentioned earlier, you really don’t need many supplies to make your own Christmas tree geoboard. I do suggest making more than one if you have a group of kids. It’s just more fun that way.

closeup of christmas geoboard tree made using styrofoam tree, golf tees, and rubber bands

Once you have the supplies, it’s time to get those geoboard trees ready. Here’s what to do:

Gently push golf tees into the foam cones, spaced somewhat evenly apart.
Place rubber bands or loom bands nearby.
Don’t forget to leave out some extra golf tees for the kids to use.

And that’s about it! If you want, you can also place some shape images nearby as visual cues for the children.

white and green foam trees with golf tees in them to make geoboard christmas trees

Yes, I’m aware that the tree geoboards look a lot like Dr. Who’s Daleks! In fact, the first year we did this, my English friend and co-worker walked in and immediately spotted them, saying, “Oh, look at the little Daleks! Dalek geoboards!”

How to Use the Geoboard Christmas Tree with Kids

Geoboards are often used to explore shapes and sizes with young children. Older children can use them to practice more sophisticated geometry concepts.

child placing rubber band on white styrofoam geoboard christmas tree

Related: Pumpkin Geoboard

With that being said, the geoboard Christmas tree invitation is an open-ended one. Children make the decisions about how they interact with the materials (within basic classroom expectations, of course). This means you will see all sorts of playful learning!

Here are some of the ways you might see kids using the geoboard trees (I know because I’ve seen my former preschoolers do so):

Create geometric shapes with the rubber bands.

Add as many rubber bands to each tree as possible (sometimes they count the bands, sometimes they don’t).

Put all the trees together, trying to create one big geoboard (this process was hysterical to watch).

preschoolers playing and learning with 3 foam christmas tree geoboards

Place rubber bands in lines vertically around the foam trees.

Attempt to create letters using the bands and golf tees.

I used Styrofoam cones for this activity. And they were used over and over and over again! I’m interested to see how the “softer” foam cones would fare.

I think the children might be more inclined to add and remove the golf tees with the softer cones, giving them even more options with the geoboard Christmas trees. Or it might be that I placed the tees in the cones from the beginning, so perhaps I’ll leave them off next time.

shapes kids made using rubber bands on a geoboard christmas tree

Be sure to save this idea for future reference. A Christmas Activities Pinterest board or a Math Activities Pinterest board would be a great place to start.

More Christmas Fine Motor Activities for Kids

If your students loved the geoboard Christmas trees, and you’re looking for even more fine motor development ideas for the holidays, I’ve got you covered:

Christmas Tree Roll and Color Games

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If your students enjoyed the geoboard Christmas tree activity, I bet they’ll love our Christmas tree roll and color math games. Click on the image below to get your own copy: