How to Make Landscape Toy Trees

Choose a design for your trees. Using artwork from coloring books or childrens' picture books is a good place to start. Photocopy or draw the tree you would like to make in a scale that works with the other toys the child will be playing with. Pick a tree with a wide base to making standing it up easy.

Use the photocopy or drawing as a template. Cut out the outline of the paper tree and use a light spray adhesive to glue it to the face of a piece of 1/2 -inch plywood.

Cut the tree out using a jigsaw or bandsaw. Be careful to stick to the line closely. For jigsaw it is best if the plywood is clamped down. Use a C clamp to hold the piece in place on the edge of a saw horse or workbench. Make sure the blade will not cut through the table top. Move the piece as needed and reclamp. On a bandsaw, cut the section the tree is drawn on away from the larger piece of plywood to make it more manageable. Steer the wood into the blade, turning it gently to avoid springing the blade off its rollers.

Cut a second identical tree from the same material. Notch both trees in the center 3/4 inch wide and half the height of the tree. Notch one from the bottom and one from the top. Add a little wood glue int the bottom of one notch and fit these two sections together to form an "X" if looked at from the top.

Paint the tree with acrylic or latex paints. Use at least two shades of green for leaves and two shades of brown for bark to provide detail.

Make several varieties and sizes to populate a forest. Add painted birds or attach a small piece of balsa wood hanging from two strings for a swing to add even more fun details.