Holidays, such as Christmas, are supposed to be about spending time with family and creating memories. Combine common holiday tasks, such as decorating the tree, with making memories. Decorating your Christmas tree with your children can become a family tradition you can eventually pass on to your grandchildren. Allow your children to choose the type of decor or theme for the tree decorations.

Themes

Use a particular theme or color scheme for your tree to keep it all connected. For example, use only handmade ornaments that your children have given you. If the tree looks a bit bare, make more ornaments with your kids. Consider an edible-themed tree with cookies, gingerbread, strung popcorn and candy canes. Limit your decorations to a particular type, such as Santa Claus, snowmen, village houses, birdhouses or angels. Alternatively, use a specific color scheme, such as red and green, blue and purple, red and gold or blue and silver.

Location

Put a Christmas tree in any room you desire, as there are no rules or limits to the number of trees you can have or where they must be set up. Allow each child to decorate her bedroom with a small tree in any color or style she wants, provided it’s safe.

Consider the room the tree is in and your current decor when planning your Christmas tree decorations. For example, a whimsical tree with handmade decorations and a hodgepodge of colors might seem out of place in a formal living room or foyer with a specific color scheme. Use silver and blue tree decorations to complement a room decorated primarily in blue, or a red and gold color scheme in a red room.

Types

Different species of trees are commonly used for Christmas trees, such as fir, evergreen and spruce trees. Live trees can dry out or shed needles, but they also give off a fresh scent. Alternatively, artificial trees come in various sizes, shapes and thickness as well. They don’t require water, won’t die and won’t shed, but lack the natural scent that live trees offer. Artificial trees come in various colors and materials to mimic live trees, appear to have freshly fallen snow or in metallic colors for a modern twist. Some trees are prewired with lights. The best tree will depend on your personal taste and where you want to set it up.

Ornaments

Choose ornaments for your tree that hold special meaning or fall within the color scheme and theme you’ve chosen. Above all, choose ornaments that are safe for your household. Glass bulbs or small ornaments that can pose choking hazards are best left to another room or for later years if you have a baby or toddler who spends a lot of time in the room or if you have animals that can knock glass ornaments off the tree where they’ll break.

Finishing Touches

Add finishing touches to your tree to get the look you want. Tree skirts come in many colors, fabrics and shapes, which can work with a variety of themes and color schemes. Loosely fold fabric around the tree stand to cover it if you don’t have a tree skirt you like. Cover your tree with rolled cotton or cotton balls and dust it with flour or artificial snow if you want to create a freshly fallen snow look.