10 Minute Christmas Tree for the 10 Days Before School Break

Kids love advent calendars and there is an easy way you can incorporate one into your classroom. It is easy, fun and motivating all at once! The wonderful fact about the 10 minute, 10 day Christmas tree is that it truly only takes 10 minutes and doesn't have to be expensive.

To create the tree, all you need is a package of paper lunch sacks. You can use brown or white. Bows, stickers and/or Christmas stamps and tape finish the tree. Then, you will need goodies for the inside. This can be anything from Christmas candy to pencils. You decide what you want to put in it.

Open up 10 sacks and fill them with your goodies. You can draw one name a day or draw multiple names each day. For my tree, I put enough for two students in each bag because I have 20 students.

Then, fold over the top of the bag. Tape them shut. Add stickers and bows. (If you use stamps, you will want to stamp the design on the bags before you fill them.) Now you are ready to attach them to the wall. I used tape to hold my bags on the wall.

Decide what motivating factor you will use. For my students, two things we are working on is completing homework and being at school on time. Both requirements must be met the day your name is drawn. If the student didn't qualify, another name is drawn, but the original name is returned to the pot as a motivation for the next day. Others I know are using memorization work or homework for their motivation. Explain the advent calendar to the kids and begin opening a bag each day.

A special thank you to Suzy and Sandy, two of my greatest inspirations!