One of my fondest Christmas memories as a child was getting the book "The Polar Express" from my aunt and uncle. It has now become a tradition in my family that on Christmas Eve we read "The Polar Express" and then go look for Santa's Sleigh in the night sky. I love pulling this tradition into my classroom around the holidays. As a class we always make a trip to go see Santa, and when we get back, we go along for a ride. What better way to memorialize this day than to make a bulletin board for students to take a picture in front of?
The first thing I did was hang up the Snow Village Backdrop Banner to set the scene. In the story, the train slowly winds its way to the North Pole. The backdrop looks like it is overlooking the North Pole nestled in the snowy mountains.
Once I hung the Train Cardboard Cut Out I added some white puffs to make the steam coming out of the engine. I used die cut letters to make the words "All Aboard".
Whenever we make our trip to Santa he hands each one of our kids a Goldtone Jingle bell Necklace. In the story, Santa gives a bell as the first gift of Christmas and it only rings for those who truly believe. They love listening to their bells jingle!
I had my students dress up in the Boy's Train Engineer Costume to make it look like they were a part of the train crew. However, in years past, I have had my kids come to school in their pajamas the day we visited Santa. I would then just have them wear Kid's Train Conductor Hats and the pictures would be just as cute!
Looking for more fun activities to do in your classroom during the holidays? Check out my list of 6 festive activities! Find out more Polar Express Party ideas here too!
