My Kids Can’t Keep Their Hands off the Christmas Tree!

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This time of year is the one time of year that even those who never decorate for any other holiday pull out at least a few twinkle lights, ornaments, and a Christmas tree. You can be sure to find some kind of red, green or shiny thing in most Christian homes (and many homes of other faiths as well!) It’s so fun and festive to experience the light and glitter and energy these annual decorations bring!!

For many families, however, this fun is tempered by tiny, little fingers who just can’t help themselves from touching every shiny, bright, or glittery object in sight. And, sometimes, that touching turns into eating (like my 7 month old) or into piling the ornaments onto the Little People School Bus (like my two year old).

The constant touching, breaking, and/or rearranging on your child’s end and the constant scolding, reminding, cajoling, fixing, and/or saving-heirloom-ornament-just-in-time on your end might wear on your nerves fairly quickly! You might be thinking “why is my child doing this!? I’ve told them to stop a million times! They just aren’t listening!”

Rest assured, you’re not alone. Not by a long shot!

Why can’t my kid stop touching the Christmas tree?

Self-control is a hard won skill. In fact, children don’t even start to learn self control until 3-4 years of age and definitely haven’t mastered it by that age. It is one of the hardest skills to master–many full grown adults are still working on it in one degree or another!

Add on top of the innate difficulty of self-control the fact that Christmas decorations are such a novelty and are purposefully bright, colorful, sparkly, and fun….well, that’s the perfect recipe for little hands having a really hard time staying away. But, since we know that it will be hard–nearly impossible–for our youngsters to resist the temptation to touch these forbidden trinkets, let’s give them some grace. Let’s make it easier for them to have success and give ourselves permission to do something different that previous years in order to facilitate happier holidays.

What might help?

Here are some things that myself and others have done to minimize this frustration in ourselves and the temptation to touch for our littles:

• Only put ornaments on the top half of the tree where your children can’t easily reach. Sure, it looks a little funny but your sanity will remain in tact! (Or, at least you won’t be loosing it over the Christmas tree struggle…there are plenty of other ways your kids can make you loose it!)
• Put your tree in a play pen, behind a baby gate, or in a play yard. Let your young one admire the shiny balls and twinkle lights from just beyond hand’s reach. Here are some examples that can easily accommodated a tree:
  • Evenflo Portable Playspace
  • Regalo Super Wide Adjustable Babygate and Play Yard
  • Dream On Me Playpen
  • Summer Pop N’ Play Deluxe Ultimate Playard – We have this one and I love it!
• Avoid having all your decorations become toys by decorating it WITH toys. Seriously, the entire tree is now your toy cubby. Where’s Spider-Man? On the tree! Kid’s favorite train? On the tree! Need a ball? It’s on the tree! Teething ring? You guessed it–on the tree!

• Make your own decorations that are kid-friendly. Think yarn pom-poms. Kids handprints on construction paper. Ribbons. Styrofoam “snowballs”. Crocheted figurines. Paper snowflakes. Fabric streamers. (Head to Pinterest and you’ll have no end of other ideas!) Not only will you have created ornaments that your kids can’t break but you’ll have achieved a unique homey look that isn’t the cookie cutter fad tree of everyone else. And, depending on their ages, you can make an arts and crafts afternoon out of it!

• Purchase a special “kid tree” that they’re allowed to play with such as this felt one or this stand-alone Step2 toy tree that’s toddler height.
• Invest in some shatter-proof ornaments or kid-centric ornaments (like these dinosaurs!)
• A combination of any of the above. This year we have simple ornaments on the top half of the tree that won’t break if the tree is shaken and they fall off. The bottom half is full of toys. And we have a simple red ribbon running from the top to the bottom, helping the tree have a more cohesive look.

Is our tree this year the most beautiful thing ever? No. But it still makes me happy. And I’m not loosing my mind or my patience. Nor am I killing the very Christmas spirit that the tree is supposed to symbolize by loosing my cool every time my son can’t resist the sparkles.

There will be other years for the fancier and fuller decorations that look like the fairy tale trees on Instagram. For now, I’ll watch my sons interacting with our tree and finding magic in the novelty and lights. And I’ll reassure you that this is a blip in the childhood years that will pass before you know it. So, shake it off. Laugh it off. Be creative. And don’t despair.

Hello! I’m Briana!

As an Amazon Affiliate, I may receive a commission, at no additional cost to you, if you use one of the provided Amazon links. All opinions shared are my own. You can review my full privacy policy here. Thank you for supporting Parenting on a Rollercoaster through your purchases.