9 Christmas Decorations in the Classroom Ideas

Looking for ideas to jazz up your classroom for the holiday season? You’re in the right place.

Christmas is my favourite holiday. I worked in the public school system, where we had to be careful how we did Christmas, to keep holiday activities inclusive to everyone.

So, I’m really good at having decorations and activities that are fun but also mindful and inclusive of everyone.

These below Christmas decoration ideas for the classroom are:

• little to no waste (I always try to aim for waste-free, earth-friendly ideas)
• should cost you little to nothing
• Fun and engaging
• can be full on Christmas, or modified to be inclusive to other holidays/cultures as well

So, here are some fun Christmas Classroom decoration ideas!

Ideas for Christmas Decorations in the Classroom

1. Paper snowflakes

I used to visit many classrooms as a rotary teacher, and one of my favourite Christmas decorations I saw were hanging snowflakes that the students had made.

The best thing about this decoration is it’s winter (not specifically Christmas) so there’s no rush to take it down after the holidays!

You can do the very simple snowflakes where you simply fold paper and cut corners off of it (for younger grades) or more intricate snowflakes for the older kids.

For hanging paper snowflakes, you will need:

• Printer paper, of any colour (white, or a mix of white and light blue looks best)
• Scissors, for each student
• String and tape, to hang them

2. Popcorn garland

I love old-fashioned Christmas, and popcorn garland isn’t just biodegradable – but its pretty to look at, and easy to make.

Plus, you can hang it up everywhere. You could have each student make a string of it, atach them all together and hang them up around the room, or around bulletin boards.

For popcorn garland, you will need:

• A string
• Popcorn
• Red or green beeds for some festive spirit
• Pins or a strong tape, to hang it up

3. A paper Nordic-style lantern star in the window

Hanging a paper Nordic star in the window is a Nordic tradition. It also looks as pretty from the outside as it does from the inside.

For a paper nordic star, you will need

• An extention cord, for it to reach an outlet
• You can buy a star to hang, or there’s an oragami craft to make your own (maybe it could be a student craft and hang several of them up!)

4. A small to medium-sized Christmas tree

A classroom Christmas tree is a really nice idea around the holiday season; it makes the room feel cozy, homey and festive.

I’ve seen some teachers bring in fairly large trees. I usually brought a small one that I would put on my desk.

Optional: You can add lights, or even small decorations too!

5. Hanging lights

Depending on how many outlets and if you have any spare extension cords, Christmas lights in the classroom are always a really nice touch – you can dim the ceiling lights, and it makes it much more cozy in the room.

For a hanging lights, you will need

• Strings of small bulb lights, however many you want
• Extenstion cords
• Pins, to hang them up

6. A mural Christmas village (in or outside your classroom)

One teacher in my school went all out for Christmas one year. She didn’t just decorate the door, she did a whole Christmas mural where each student contributed something.

Her contribution was a painting of a Manger Scene (it wasn’t a Catholic school, but she was Catholic) and each student designed and painted their own contributions.

In the end, it looked like an extensive holiday mural. The kids loved coming to school

7. Decorate your door

The school I worked at had an annual door-decorating contest. Classes used recycled materials for whatever design they wanted on their door.

The principal would be the judge of whose was best (one class per division) and the winning classes won a pizza party!

It was a fun way for the school to get in the holiday spirit, and good for staff morale too.

Some of my last day of school party ideas can be done on the last day before the winter break too!

8. Gingerbread House Village

Each kid (or maybe in partners, to keep costs down) decorates a gingerbread house.

You could have a variety of different houses, or all the same. Then, make them into a holiday village.

This would be best done a few days before the break, so that the cookies can still be eaten and don’t go bad.

Since this idea is more of an indulgence, you could also turn it into a whole class reward.

What you need for a gingerbread holiday village

• Gingerbread house sets
• Candy (if not included)
• Lots of newspapers on desks, to make cleanup easier
• A large white tablecloth and/or felt cloth (to look like snow) for the winter village

9. Student holiday crafts

Any holiday or Christmas crafts can be used as decoration for the holiday season in your classroom – just make sure to do the crafts a couple weeks before the break, in order to enjoy the presence of them disaplyed around the room before Christmas.

Ideas for holiday crafts

• Ornaments with students’ faces on them (and they can then go home as a present for parents)
• Origami Christmas Trees (lots of designs offered in Teachers Pay Teachers)
• Snow globes – it may be expensive to buy ones but you can also do paintings of snowglobes (beautiful, and also much cheaper)

10. (BONUS) Elf on the Shelf

I wasn’t going to suggest Elf on the Shelf, but when I told my teenage daughter about this article – it was the first thing she suggested!

Her and her friends really enjoyed having the elves in the classroom. They’re decoration, but they’re also a bit of fun.

I’ve seen the elf in the shelf be used as part of a language program too. I teach French, and we would “Ou est le lutin? Il est sur le tableau”