If you’re both a teacher and a holiday-lover, winter is probably a tough season for your wallet. After all, how could one resist the prospect of transforming their classroom into a cozy little cabin for the holidays? Well, you and your wallet can rest easy now—your students will love making these holiday crafts, and you’ll love using them to spruce up your classroom decor!

Deck the Ceiling with Snowflakes and Icicles

We know, snowflakes are the oldest holiday craft in the book. But who’s to say you can’t make them exciting again? With hobbyists and craft-enthusiasts populating every corner of the internet, there’s no shortage of innovations you can make to the classic snowflake craft (we especially like the 3D one).

And why stop at snowflakes? We love making our ceilings an all-out winterscape, complete with icicles, fluffy clouds, and maybe even a reindeer or two! If you lay out several options for your students to create, you’ll end up with a bunch of figures you can arrange on your ceiling or wall!

Spruce Up Your Decor with a Holiday Banner

If you want to give your classroom that sought-after Scandinavian mead-hall vibe, there’s no better way than to drape a string of pennants overhead. Yes, we’re focusing on the ceiling again. Given how cluttered classrooms tend to get, aiming your decorative efforts upward is usually a safe bet.

For this craft, you’ll need a long piece of twine/rope (we like it to look tough and rustic, for the aforementioned Beowulfian ambiance) and a bunch of blank paper shaped like pennants, swallowtails, or other flags. Have each student draw something holiday-themed on a flag. When everyone’s done with their doodles, attach each flag to the rope, facing downwards. Hang it in your windows or across the ceiling!   

Decorate a Construction Paper Christmas Tree

Bedecking and bedazzling a Christmas tree is one of the biggest delights of the holiday season. Unfortunately, it’s not always realistic to have a full-fledged fir brushing your classroom’s ceiling. Luckily, there’s an easy solution! All you need is green construction paper and some open wall space.

Using the construction paper, create the silhouette of a Christmas tree on the wall. If construction paper proves to be too cumbersome, you can even draw the outline of a tree on a big piece of white paper. Once it’s up, ask your students to create ornaments to decorate it!

Any Christmas-y craft that can be glued down will work for this, so you have some creative license. Once everyone’s done creating, have them decorate your faux-tree and viola! You have a festive tree that’s easy to clean up once the season’s done.

Teachers, how do you decorate for the holiday season? We’d love to hear your holiday craft ideas. Let us know on Facebook, or in the comments below! Don’t forget to follow ECR4Kids on Facebook and Pinterest!