Christmas belongs to everyone especially the children.  Most of the memories that we treasure for a lifetime are created during childhood.  Help your kids to make memorable moments with edible ornaments.

Edible ornaments are fun to make and even better to eat.  One advantage of these ornaments is that there is less to pack away in containers once the holidays are over.  These ornaments are biodegradable if the kids don’t get to them.

Start with the garland.  Usually we string tinsel and other items that can be harmful to pets and children if they are eaten.  In the early days of Christmas among the settlers, foods like popcorn and nuts were used for garland.  Little treats could be placed on the tree that the kids could eat later. 

Go back to the old ways and have the kids string a few strands of popcorn garland.  Use their favorite popcorn flavors.  You run the risk of more popcorn being eaten than strung but it is a chance you will have to take.  Actually, stale popcorn is easier to string than freshly popped.  Leave a bag or two of microwave popcorn sitting for a day or two and then begin decorating.

Pretzels can be strung as well.  You won’t need a needle for this stringing procedure.  Pretzels can be placed at intervals between the pieces of popcorn. 

A popular tree ornament is candy canes.  The red and white striped treats are a staple of Christmas.  Now, they come in a variety of colors and flavors besides peppermint.  Choose colors that complement your décor and color scheme for the Christmas tree.

They come individually wrapped so the candy can be shared with everyone after Christmas is over.  In fact, if you have a Christmas party, let each child take a souvenir from your tree home to their tree. 

Nuts can be glued together in the shape of a ball and hung like a Christmas bulb.  Leave enough space to slip a piece of string or ribbon through the top and tie it to the tree branch.  Since the shell is discarded anyway, a dab of Elmer’s glue won’t prevent eating them later.

Carefully choose which decorative edibles the kids can eat from the Christmas tree.  For a fake tree, the branches are made of plastic and each ornament is safe for eating.  With live trees, determine if the tree has been sprayed with anything to prevent bug infestation.  Any small bugs or remnants of sprays can render the food inedible after coming in contact with it.  In that case, use some sort of ornament hanger to keep the edible ornaments away from the tree branches and needles.

Edible ornaments are fun to make.  Shellac the ones the kids want to keep so they are preserved for more Christmas memories.