One Christmas my kids wanted us to decorate the small pine tree growing in our backyard for the wildlife that lives in our yard. We first had to figure out what we could put on the tree. We made a list of the animals that live around our yard - both real and imaginary. Next we had to do a little research to find out which animals hibernated and what they ate. The kids decided they would hang small cloth bags from the tree full of reindeer food. They used puffy paints to write the names of all nine reindeer on the bags.
We strung a garland using popcorn, cranberries, and ribbon. It looked beautiful when we weaved it through the branches of the tree. The boys smashed white bread into balls that they covered in peanut butter and then rolled through bird seed. We tied ribbons of green and red around seed balls so they could be hung in the tree. My youngest son scattered seed and sliced vegetables around the tree for the ground eating animals.
While we were tying ribbon to slices of apples the kids had an idea to write a letter to Santa to ask if he could bring something for the animals for Christmas. We finished decorating the Christmas tree and snapped a picture to send to Santa with their letter. They worked together to make a card to send to Santa. On the front of the card they drew a picture of the tree with animals all around it. It turned out pretty cute.
Two days later the kids received nice certificates for being so thoughtful of the small creatures that lived in our yard. The kids were very proud that Santa had sent something so special to them. My youngest daughter couldn’t wait to show her friends down the street what had come in the mail for her.
Our family loved watching the animals feeding at the tree so much that we decided to continue decorating it throughout the winter. Every morning while they waited for me to make breakfast they would look out the back windows at the animals who had gathered that morning. A few times at night we saw a raccoon snacking on apple slices. Before we had decorated the tree I had no idea that there were so many animals surrounding my home.
On Christmas morning my oldest son looked out the window and saw a package under the tree wrapped in shiny red foil. They kids rushed outside to look at the present. The tag said Merry Christmas from Santa in beautiful golden writing. Inside the box the kids found a bird house and bird food. In the bottom there were ears of corn and fresh apples.
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