We don’t know about you, but it has never been our jam to bring a proper Christmas tree into our classrooms at the end of the year (no judgment on the festive teachers who love to do this!)
However, having some Christmasy things in the classroom can add to student excitement and brighten up your classroom as you take down displays and prepare for the end of the year.
So, let’s look at some fun ways to make your own creative class Christmas Tree!
Warning: You may want to do them all by the time you get to the bottom of this post!
Idea 1: Kindness Kris Kringle
Traditionally, Kris Kringle is a small gift exchange where each student chooses a name from a hat and then gives a little treat or gift for their chosen person. Instead of treating their Kris Kringle in the traditional way, students need to focus on random acts of kindness for their Kris Kringle.
As your Kindness Kris Kringle continues, students will likely start noticing each other’s acts of kindness more. To easily incorporate this into your classroom, we have created this freebie where students can record the acts of kindness they are seeing or experiencing.
Idea 2: Kindness Advent Calendar
Create this tree-shaped kindness calendar (ideally) 18 days before the end of the school year – but you can always cut it down and make it shorter. The aim is for students to explore the idea of being kind and completing random acts of kindness, leading up to the Christmas season.
A tree that focuses and encourages looking beyond oneself and showing kindness to others!
Grab your copy of the Kindness Tree here.
Idea 3: Handprint Christmas tree
Use paint or paper for this one.
If you teach older students, encourage them to record something on their hand, this will give it a personal touch. It might be:
- Something they enjoyed learning this year
- Something they think is special about themselves
- A Christmas wish
- How to promote giving over receiving at Christmas (the possibilities are endless)
Idea 4: Class Community Tree
This is the sweetest little Christmas tree we ever did see, and such a simple idea. This could work with lots of different age groups. You could even get your older students to create one of these for the teacher’s staff room as a Christmas surprise!
Photo credit: @twoperthteachers on Instagram
Idea 5: Paper chain tree
Borrow a few staplers and tape from your colleagues and split the class into small groups to create your paper chains. Put each group in charge of 1-2 chains for the tree. If they are older, you can get them to work on how long they need to make it and how they want to put it together to create the tree. Here are some ideas:
Idea 6: Turn it into a Maths lesson
Instead of a big class tree, decorate your classroom with these individual trees. Not only do they look great, but they are also educational (and free)! Every time we have delivered this lesson, the kids have loved it!
Get a copy of these FREE Number Sense Christmas trees here.
Community idea: If you have a shared school space or a school community that enjoys sharing celebrations, you could adapt one of these ideas to create a whole school creative Christmas tree!
If you have a creative Christmas tree idea that you would like to share with our community, please reach out to us via Instagram. We are always looking for opportunities to shout out other teachers and share amazing ideas!
Want to save these ideas for later? Pin this image:
What to read next:
Kindness at Christmas – Tips, Strategies, and Free Resources
Our Favourite Christmas Activities that are still Academically Focused
