Tips for Christmas Decorating with Kids

One of my favorite holiday memories is decorating the tree with my family. When I was a kids we would put a Christmas movie on (usually The Muppet Christmas Carole) and decorate the tree together. I loved opening the box of ornaments and finding my favorites; the Hallmark baby carriage from the year I was born or the collection of Eeyore ornaments from my teens and my grandmothers hand maid snowflakes. Each ornament was a little memory.

My mom has a collection of angels from a friend that we hang together on the tree and my mom always said that when you give an ornament as a gift you know that people will pull out the ornament year after year and think of you. And it’s true, every year when I decorate my tree I look at the ornaments and am reminded of the people and places that go along with them.

But I also remember my Dad moving the ornaments to “better” locations after we had gone to bed. I remember him advising us to hang the ornaments further back on the branch, to not bunch them all in one spot and to remember to decorate the back of the tree. As an adult I now understand my fathers neurosis about Christmas tree decorating. And it is in that spirit that I offer my tips for decorating a Christmas tree with kids.

Tips for Christmas Decorating with Kids

Timing is Everything

I usually decorate the tree at night but with a 3 year old the best time for him was in the morning. On Black Friday morning he woke up and his first words were,” Is the tree up?”. If I had made him wait till late in the day to decorate he would have asked all day about it and we both would have been annoyed by the time to decorate came around. Now is not the time to teach patience, now is the time to decorate.

Separate the Ornaments

For the past 2 years when I’m packing up the ornaments I’ve put aside the non-breakable ornaments in a small box. This box of ornaments are Jack’s special ornaments that he gets to hang on the tree. They are a collection of my grandmom’s snowflakes, small stuffed animal toys and colorful clay ornaments that were purchased at the dollar tree when I was in college. By having this box he feels special and it allows me to decorate with the ornaments that aren’t meant for little hands.

If You Love It…

Leave it far away from the kids. Any ornaments that I absolutely do not want broken stay far away from Jackson. Usually I wait to hang them until he’s sleeping or I keep them out of reach while decorating.

Prepare for Breaks

Ornaments will get broken. Even if it’s just a colorful ball, ornaments will break. When it happens try to keep calm and not over react. If you’ve planned ahead anything that you love will be out of reach and hopefully the victim will be something that doesn’t have much sentimental value. During our decorating a green ball broke and Jack immediately felt bad. I just told him it was OK and that we need to be careful. Then I kindly told him to step back while I cleaned up the glass.

Have Patience

Don’t rush into decorating. Don’t try to squeeze it in on a day when you have a lot going on. Everything with kids takes extra time and decorating is no different. Plus you are doing this cause you want it to be fun and memorable so allow plenty of time.

Rearranging is OK

Yes, it is OK within reason. After we were finished I made some minor adjustments to the tree. I moved a few of the ornaments Jack hung back a bit so that they would stay on the branch. I moved some ornaments over a bit if one area looked too congested. And I did go around and make sure everything was facing forward. Did I move beloved ornaments to the back of the tree, no.

Forget the Back

If your tree, like mine is in a corner and no one will see the back then don’t decorate the back. However you can give the illusion of having a fully decorated tree by placing ornaments on a few of the branches on the sides near the back. That way when you look at the tree it’s not obvious that the back of it is empty.

Most of all keep it fun. After all it is the holidays.