Are you a teacher? Are you wanting some ideas on how to make the class’ Christmas party a little more fun? Are you having to pay for the supplies out of you own pocket, so you need to watch the party budget? If you answered yes to these questions, I am here to help. I am going to give you five of my favorite ideas for decorating that you can get the children in the class to do and party games that you can play that will not break the budget and will still keep the children in the holiday spirit.
Idea 1: Construction paper snowmen and Christmas trees- Get some construction paper cut outs of Christmas trees and snowmen. Have each child take one from either pile to decorate. Let the children decorate them to hang throughout the room. Once they are done decorating their cutout. Attach a string by cutting out a hole with a hole punch. Attach the other string to the desired location of where you want the cut out to be placed.
Idea 2: Have the children write down a letter to Santa to tape to the wall- Have each child write down one or two items that they are wanting for Christmas with their name on the list next to their items. Once all of the children have contributed their part of the list, tape the list to the wall. I suggest getting a roll of paper for this project. If you do not want to purchase a roll of paper you can also use the printer paper that is perforated and still attached to the other sheets.
Idea 3: Have the children sign the naughty or nice list- have each child choose whether they want their name to go on the naughty or nice list. You can do it that way or you can just have every other child add their name to the naughty list. Explain to the children though that this is only for decoration. If they think that this is Santa’s list then they may not want to add their name to the naughty list. One way that a teacher of mine did when I was a kid was she made the children who were bad in class put their name on the naughty list and at the end of the day the rest of the children got to write their names on the nice list. Each day she would start a new set of lists and the children that made the nice list all week got to get a piece of candy on Friday. This is a good way to get the children to behave during class.
Idea 4: Play count the Santas- Place Santa figurines and decorations around the class. Throughout the day give the children a chance during their free time to count them. The one closest to the right number of Santas gets to get a piece of candy. If all the children guess the right number then have a pizza party for them one day. This will be a way for the children to learn their counting and also it will promote team work.
Idea 5: Have a charity event planned for the class- To teach the importance of helping the community, have a charity drive for toys for tots or another local charity. You can do something like have each kid accept donations of non perishable food for the local Salvation Army. This will help each of the children learn that is important to help the community in any way they can. It will also help in teaching them that Christmas season is more about giving than about what you receive as a gift. There may be some children who will not be able to participate due to their own financial situations. Always keep a few spare items for this reason. Send a note home with the children that their parents can inform you if they are not able to partake in this event.
These are a few ideas of what you can do with your students this holiday season to set up for a Christmas party. With the charity you can set it up to where the items can be brought in at the Christmas party. I hope that you have a happy and safe holiday season.
