Deck your halls with a traditional, sparkling garland! Choose your favorite Christmas symbols and colors for a decoration to treasure for years.

• 1.

  Ropes of Christmas garland are traditionally made after the fall harvest. Greens for making garlands were gathered by day. In the evening, family members sat around the fireplace twisting the greens into garlands. Find out how this tradition started in Europe and was brought to North America by immigrants. What other cultures hang garlands in celebration of Christmas? What symbols are used for the holiday?

• 2.

  To make your own garland, draw several circles on a recycled file folder using Crayola® Erasable Colored Pencils. Cut them out with Crayola Scissors. Set a few circles aside.

• 3.

  Cover your art area with newspaper. Paint one side of the remaining circles with gold Crayola Premier Tempera and Crayola Paint Brushes. Air dry. Paint the other side. Air dry.

• 4.

  Decorate your gold circles with swirls, patterns, and holiday symbols using Crayola Glitter Glue. Air dry flat.

• 5.

  Trace several circles on construction paper. Using Crayola Fine Tip Markers and your imagination, draw and color holiday pictures on each circle. Cut them out. Use a Crayola Glue Stick to attach pictures to file-folder circles.

• 6.

  Punch a hole at the top of each circle. Thread and tie ribbon through holes for hanging on your garland of holiday greens.

Standards

• LA: Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.
• LA: Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting or plot.
• LA: Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding word s.
• LA: Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
• LA: Participate in shared research and writing projects.
• LA: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions with diverse partners on grade level topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
• MATH: Understand that shapes in different categories may share attributes, and that the shared attributes can define a larger category.
• SS: Describe ways in which language, stories, folktales, music, and artistic creations serve as expressions of culture and influence behavior of people living in a particular culture.
• VA: Use different media, techniques, and processes to communicate ideas, experiences, and stories.
• VA: Use visual structures of art to communicate ideas.
• VA: Identify specific works of art as belonging to particular cultures, times, and places.

Adaptations

• Possible classroom resources include: Twas The Night Before Christmas: Edited by Santa Claus for the Benefit of Children of the 21st Century by Clement C. Moore; I Spy Christmas: A Book of Picture Riddles by Jean Marzollo; The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree: An Appalachian Story by Gloria Houston
• Students, working in teams, investigate the origins of various Christmas decorations such as lights, trees, and Santa Claus. Student teams compose a summary of their findings and provide an illustration. Compile a class book representing their findings.
• Students create holiday ornaments using geometric shapes. Decorate the ornaments using Crayola Metallic Colored Pencils. Highlight them with Crayola Glitter Glue and pretend jewels.
• Students investigate their outdoor school environment to find items that can be strung on a garland, such as pine cones, shells, etc. If enough materials are available, have students have a stringing party to create original garland.