ColorNest
The tradition of decorating an evergreen tree at Christmas became widespread in the 1800s, largely popularized by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Britain, who were illustrated decorating a Christmas tree in 1848. Before ornaments were commercially produced, families made their own from walnuts wrapped in foil, popcorn strings, and paper decorations. The star on top represents the Star of Bethlehem from the Christmas story.
Coloring ideas: make the tree a rich dark green, and give each ornament its own color — try a set of red, gold, green, and blue balls. Color the garland strands gold or silver. The star topper looks striking in bright yellow with a white center. For the presents below, give each box a different colored wrapping paper and contrasting ribbon — for example a red box with a green bow.
Younger kids can start with the big tree triangle and color the ornaments one at a time. Older kids can try creating a repeating color pattern for the ornaments — for example rotating red, green, gold, and blue all the way around the tree.
