Decorate Christmas Trees for Kids - Easy Ideas for Decorating a Kid's Christmas Tree

I discovered that Christmas didn't have to be about me and my decorating skills the year that we were homeless.

We were in transition between jobs and had sold our house but hadn't yet moved to our new location yet. In the meantime we were living off the generosity of some friends in their vacant townhome.

I was not excited about the idea of decorating someone else's second home for Christmas, so I only bothered to get our artificial tree out of storage. And that only because my kids were asking for a Christmas tree. The ornaments and garlands never saw the light of Christmas candles that year.

Once the tree was put together, I realized I had to decorate it. Since the kids were the ones who wanted the tree, they could be the ones to decorate it. For garland we strung Fruit Loops. We hung candycanes and popcorn balls. I found a recipe for cinnamon applesauce ornaments and we made some simple saltdough ornaments, too.

The kids had so much fun decorating the tree that Christmas. But if we were having a fun contest, I am sure that I would have won. My fun surpassed their fun by far because my fun was determined by their fun, and boy, did they have fun!

And that was my epiphany: Christmas isn't about my ability to make the house look good or to bake complicated cookie recipies; Christmas is about the twinkle in my kids' eyes as they participate in all aspects of the holiday without their mother hoovering over them making sure that everything looks perfect. In fact, I dare say, the more imperfect the better.

The first thing you need to do when you decorate the tree with kids is to rid yourself of the idea that your tree should look like it belongs on the front cover of Southern Living or Better Home & Garden magazines. Let your tree look like it belongs on the back page of Family Fun.

This may mean that all your ornaments are placed on the lower half of your tree. It may mean that you have blinking colored light strings with bubble lights instead of the subtler white lights. Or it may mean that your ornaments are of the colored construction paper variety instead of the ornamental glass kind.

As far as I'm concerned, an artificial tree is a life saver with little kids, but once they reach a certain age, the kids anticipation of and excitement over the trip to get the real tree (not to mention the real tree's fragrance and beauty) is worth the vacuuming I have to do. (And I would rather pull my fingernails off one by one than vacuum. I am not kidding.)

When we made the move from artificial to real, we didn't throw away our fake one... we just started putting up two - which is surprisingly less stressful than you might think. One was the "Kid's Tree" in the family room, and the other one was "Mom & Dad's Tree" in the living room. This took care of any increased heart rate as I imagined a popsicle stick manger scene ornament hanging next to the crystal baby carriage ornament. Needless to say, the kids loved their tree. And you know what? I always like the kids tree best too.

Decide what kind of lights you want. Decide what kind of lights your kids would like. Are you going to have multi-colored lights? White lights? Blinking lights? Bubble lights? I like to go a little overboard on the "Kids' Tree" lights. They love colorful and blinking and novelty and slightly gaudy, and I love to give it to them because I love to see them sitting in front of the tree waiting for the bubbles to start bubbling. For our "Mom & Dad Tree" I stick with plain old white.

In the interest of simplicity, I'd like to suggest that you do not need to make sure that every single branch on the tree is sparkling with light. First, your arms get all scratched up reaching into the middle of the tree like that. There's no need for self-mutilation here. Just wrap the tree in light without sacrificing your hands and arms. Second, as you put the lights on, remember you'll have to take them off. Less lights is less work (not to mention less money).

Garland is not really necessary to have, but it sure does make it look nice and it pulls your tree together from top to bottom. There are so many choices for garland, you can't really go wrong here.

Store-Bought Garland
The creative part of me lied to me and told me that I had to have homemade garland. The frugal part of me said that I need to have a homemade garland. The overwhelmed part of me said: shut up! I don't need to stress out about this. Not much stress here, just grab what you like, pay for it and put it up. Shopping after Christmas sales can score you lots of types of garlands or wide ribbon without breaking your bank, which pleases the frugal part of you.

Home-Made Garland
When I am feeling up to the task, I love wrapping the tree with homemade garland because the kids L-O-V-E to show and tell what they made on the tree. The most important thing to remember when making your garland: Have fun with this project. If it's stressing you or the kids out, quit! Begin again later, or decide that it's okay to have a three foot garland around half of the bottom part of the tree. Some of these ideas require a little planning, but none of these ideas are too difficult for you or your kids to manage easily.

- String Fruit Loops on yarn. (This is great for kids who are working on fine motor skills.)

- String cranberries. (poke holes in fresh cranberries - I used a drill bit - before having the kids string them. This will make it easier for the kids and therefore more enjoyable for all.)

- String popcorn.

- String cranberries and popcorn.

- String walnuts (have an adult drill a hole in the walnut first).

- Go crazy and string cranberries and popcorn and walnuts.

- String together just about anything you can think of: corks, pompoms, buttons, knots ...

- Make a paper chain.

- Cut circles of colored construction paper and glue two together along the length of a string. Variations of this theme are virtually endless:
~ have the kids decorate the cirlcles before gluing them on the string.
~ instead of cutting circles of colored construction paper, cut circles out of old Christmas cards or wrapping paper.
~ cut out all different shapes, not just circles; differ the sizes of the cut out shapes.
~ use brightly colored stickers that you have on hand from the last garage sale you had.

- If you have a lot of extra yarn on hand, make those twisty ropes that we used to make in elementary school. The kids love this and it is so easy: just twist and twist and twist the yarn until it folds over onto itself making a rope. Combine colors, make it thick or thin. Every twisty rope garland is unique.

Obviously you can go to the store and buy ornaments of various sizes and prices. Here are some ideas for those of you who are interested in filling your tree other ways.

Paper Ornaments
Probably the easiest and most frequently sent home ornament from Sunday School. With construction paper, cut out shapes: simple basic shapes, complicated shapes. You cut them or have your kids cut them. Then color them. Don't forget to put the name and year on one side. Then poke a hole in the top and tie a piece of ribbon/yarn/thread and - whallah! - you can fill your tree with these sweet ornaments.

Popcorn Balls
Make popcorn balls and wrap in Saran-Wrap. During the holiday season you can even find Saran-Wrap in red or green for multi-colored balls. But clear Saran-Wrap gives you a nice white ball that pops on the tree. To hang the popcorn balls, tie them with red ribbon and hang. Or bend a paper clip in half, stick it into the ball to create a hook to hang it with.

Cinnamon Applesauce Ornaments
These fragrant ornaments are wonderfully easy. Here's a recipe that I use from an old church cookbook (which are wonderful sources for homemade ideas, by the way):

Cinnamon Scent Ornaments
5 oz. cinnamon
10 T warmed applesauce
Stir together mixture until it forms a ball, adding more cinnamon if necessary. Turn on to cinnamon dusted cutting board. Roll dough out to 1/4" thickness & cut with your favorite Christmas cookie cutters. Poke a hole in the top for hanging. (If you have straws on hand, they work great.) Place on a wire screen to air dry. It will take several days, depending on the thickness of the ornaments.
- submitted by TJ Casey to Quamba Baptist Church, 1992

If you google "cinnamon applesauce ornaments" you will find all sorts of recipes, some with other frangrent ingredients added, some that take less time to dry.

Salt Dough Ornaments
These fun ornaments last a long time, especially when sprayed with a clear acrylic seal.

Classic Salt Dough Recipe
2 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 cup water
Mix flour and salt together, add water a little bit at a time. Knead until it forms a ball.
For flat ornaments, roll out and use a cookie cutter or a template to cut ornaments. Poke hole with a straw.
For sculptured ornaments, use your imagination, but do not make it too thick as they will not dry well.
Bake ornaments at 275° for 1-1/2 hours or until hardened. (time varies by thickness)
When dried, use acrylic paints to decorate (optional).
Spray with acrylic sealer to save your homemade salt dough ornaments for years to come.

Snowflake Ornaments
Most everyone has the materials to do this, and snowflake making can be a wonderful tradition for you and the kids. Make a lot of snowflakes or just a few. Make them big, or make them small. Hang them on the tree when you're done. Ta-dah! It's a snow covered tree that your kids can be proud of! (Don't forget to put the name & year on each snowflake. Then after Christmas save each person's favorite creation & bring them out year to year. Watch how the snowflakes get more imaginative and intricate.)

Space Fillers: No Work Ornaments
You still need to fill space on your tree? Here's some ideas that require absolutely no work, but your kids will love:
- hang real candy canes
- hang round candies with holes in the middle, small Lifesavers or larger gummi circles
- hang individually wrapped hard candies
- hang photos of the kids - they can be framed or not

What better way to top off a fun child-centered Christmas tree than with a tree topper made by them?

O My Stars
Have them cut out and color a star and attach it to the top of the tree with tape. If you don't want the unsightly tape showing, have them cut out two stars and glue them together, leaving a little opening to stick the top branch into.

Little Angels
If you are lucky enough to have a preschool teacher who has your child make a paper plate angel as one of the crafts, then you can stick that to the top of the tree. Or, you can supervise the making of a paperplate angel yourself with a paper plate, some pipe cleaners and decorative whatever. But I can't guide you through it because I was lucky enough to have my child bring one home.

As you admire your work, and your kids' tree, and their smiles of having a tree all their own, it's my hope that in this small thing you have enjoyed some good family time and made some memories as well as garlands.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on these ideas. Or if this article has inspired any ideas of your own, I'd love to hear about them too.