Happy December! Now that it's the last month of the year, you're probably feeling the holiday spirit as are your students. This is why it's the perfect time to decorate your classroom to be festive and bright for the entire month.
Greens and reds are classic holiday colors, but there are many more ways to transform your classroom into a winter wonderland. Consider these creative ideas and watch your preschoolers squeal with delight when they arrive the next day.
Felt Christmas tree
Craft No. 3 from Sol and Rachel is an amazing idea for a preschool classroom, plus can be reused year after year! Cut out the form of an evergreen tree for the wall and then cut out felt shapes for kids to decorate the tree, such as stars, circles, bulbs, etc. An alternative idea would be a felt snowman, with a variety of accessories to dress him up or down as students please.
Santa's helpers
This fun idea from Tippytoe Crafts is perfect for bulletin boards, hallways or doors. Start by getting students' right and left handprints in brown paint. After they dry, cut each out. Then use your freebie Lifetouch Preschool Portrait classroom photos to transform students into reindeer! Hang on the wall for season-long holiday cheer.
Chain-link Christmas tree
The perfect decor for a door or entryway is a fun chain-link holiday tree. Cut green strips of construction paper and then get out the glue sticks. Have students work together to create long chains by interlocking circles made from those strips. Finally, hang long strands vertically to shape a tree and get ready to sing "O Christmas tree!"
Snowman doorway/refrigerator
Do you have a boring white door that leads to your classroom, the bathroom or another school space? How about a plain white refrigerator in the lunchroom? Turn blah into aha when you remake these spaces into cute snowmen. The Creative Stamper Spot shows how to do this at home, but the idea could easily be done in a school setting, too. Simply use construction paper to cut round snowman eyes, a mouth and buttons, along with an orange carrot-shaped nose. Finish with a dashing scarf made from 3-inch-wide ribbon.
Festive reading nooks
Do you have a reading corner in your classroom? If so, give it a holiday makeover by redoing the wall with a festive design. For example, cut out gingerbread people and add names of each student. Then hang on the wall with the phrase, "Smart cookies read!" Another idea would be to string lights around the space (out of kids' reach, of course) and add a note on the wall that says, "Reading makes you bright!"
Happy December! Now that it's the last month of the year, you're probably feeling the holiday spirit as are your students. This is why it's the perfect time to decorate your classroom to be festive and bright for the entire month.