Christmas tree tessellation art lesson

This is a great Christmas themed math and art lesson about tessellation. It’s great as a whole class project.

Christmas tree tessellation art lesson

This STEAM math and art lesson teaches children about tessellation as they work with triangles to create a Christmas tree. Free tessellation printables are included.

Children can work individually, or work together to create a collaborative art idea as a whole class or whole school project. The tessellation trees make a great Christmas wall display idea for schools.

This project is part of our Christmas art lessons.

In this article you can:

:: learn about tessellation and mathematical patterns

:: learn about the properties of geometric shapes

:: see examples of tessellation in the real world

:: try a selection of art techniques

:: create a STEAM math and art project, individually or in collaboration with others

Materials needed

:: Tessellation Christmas Trees printable (see below for details of how to print)

:: your choice of art materials to decorate the Christmas tree (green / colour pens and pencils, marker pens, stickers, collage materials)

:: scissors

:: glue

Definition of tessellation for children

Tessellation is a pattern of tiles made from geometric shapes that fit together with no overlaps or gaps.

Equilateral triangles, squares and hexagons are shapes that easily tessellate: they can fit together easily with no gaps or overlaps between the shapes. This is because they are both regular and congruent (identical). They are regular shapes because all their (interior) angles and sides are the same size.

Where can you see tessellation patterns in the real world?

You often see tessellation patterns in floor tiles and wall tiles such as in the kitchen or bathroom; wall, floor, and ceiling designs in Islamic mosques; and in ancient Roman mosaic designs. Honeycombs made by bees and soccer footballs use a tessellation of hexagons.

Let’s use tessellation to create Christmas trees.

How to make tessellation Christmas trees

You can use the Tessellation Christmas Trees printable to guide this lesson. (See below for details of how to print.) Alternatively you might like to use much bigger pieces of paper to create a large wall display.

You will see that the Christmas tree design is made of nine small triangles tessellated together to form one larger triangle.

:: Using the printable, decorate the triangles on the second page with your choice of design. You can use pens, pencils, stickers, paint or collage materials.

:: Then cut out each of the nine small triangles. Mix them up or swap with your classmates so you end up with nine triangles all of different designs.

:: Tessellate the triangles to make another Christmas tree and glue them in place in the first page of the printable, following the grid shown. Add a star to the top to complete your Christmas tree.

More Christmas themed math lessons

See more of NurtureStore’s Christmas math lessons including more free printables and ideas for counting, arithmetic, estimating, patterns, measurement, shapes and symmetry.

More Christmas activities and crafts

See our full index of Christmas activities and crafts for even more great ideas for your children.