Before the children arrive at the tree
Do the parts that need patience or a ladder yourself, beforehand:
- Lights. Stringing lights is slow, fiddly and involves cables and plugs. Have them on and working before the decorating starts.
- Sort the ornaments. Put the fragile glass, heirlooms and anything with small parts in one box for adults. Put the unbreakable ones - plastic, wood, felt, fabric - in another box for the children.
- Clear the floor. Hooks, glass and tinsel end up on the carpet. A rug or sheet under the tree makes cleaning up easier.
Give each child a job
"Help decorate" is too vague for a small child. Specific jobs work better:
- Toddlers: hand ornaments to an adult, or hang soft ones on the lowest branches.
- Four to seven: hang the unbreakable box, one ornament at a time, with a rule such as "one per branch".
- Older children: garlands, the higher branches with a step, or deciding the colour scheme.
A rule like "one ornament per branch" sounds strict, but it is easy to follow and stops the cluster of twelve baubles on one twig.
Safety, briefly
- Keep glass ornaments and anything small enough to swallow above the reach of toddlers.
- Metal ornament hooks are sharp; ribbon loops or plastic hooks are safer for small hands.
- Avoid ornaments that look like sweets on a tree with young children around.
- Fix the tree firmly in its stand, and consider tying it to a wall hook if a climber lives in the house.
- Check that lights are certified for indoor use and that cables are not under rugs where they can overheat.
Let them have a tree of their own
The hardest part for many parents is the moment a child wants to move everything, again. Two ideas help:
A small tree that is entirely theirs. A tabletop tree, a branch in a vase or a paper tree on the wall, decorated exactly how they like.
A tree on the TV. A decorating game gives children a full-size tree to dress as many times as they want, with nothing to drop or break. They can try every ornament, clear it and start again, and then switch off the lights and show you the result.
Make it a tradition
The things children remember are usually the rituals around the tree rather than the tree itself:
- One new ornament each year, chosen by each child, with the year written on it.
- The same music every time the decorating starts.
- A rotating honour of putting the star on top.
- Switching off the room lights together for the first time the tree is finished.
And afterwards
When the children are in bed, you may want to move a few ornaments. That is fine. Many parents leave a handful exactly where the children put them, however odd - those are the ones that will be pointed out with pride for the rest of December.