How to Make The Trees of the Dancing Goats Ornaments

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Trees of the Dancing Goats Ornaments

📝 This post, The Trees of the Dancing Goats, was originally published in 2015 and has been updated with new information and resources.

The Trees of the Dancing Goats by Patricia Polacco is not only one of my favorite holiday books, but one of my favorite books of all time! You really can’t go wrong with any of Polacco’s books, but this one is a gem.

I read it to my boys every year between Hanukkah and Christmas since both holidays are celebrated in our home. And when I was teaching first grade, I loved sharing it with my students, too.

The Trees of the Dancing Goats

In The Trees of the Dancing Goats, Hanukkah is Trisha’s favorite time of year. Her mother is home for the holidays, her Babushka makes potato latkes, and her Grampa carves animals out of wood to give to Trisha and her brother.

While preparing for Hanukkah, Trisha discovers that many of her neighbors are sick with scarlet fever and unable to prepare for Christmas.

Because Trisha’s family has remained healthy, they decide to help their neighbors. They cut down trees from their farm and deliver them along with homemade food to the families who are sick.

But the trees need decorations!

That’s when the family realizes that Grampa’s hand-carved animals are perfect for decorating the Christmas trees.

It’s such a beautiful story about kindness, generosity, family, and celebrating the traditions of others.

The Trees of the Dancing Goats Ornament Activity

After reading the story with my first graders, we created our own animal ornaments inspired by Grampa’s carved animals.

Before our reading, I sketched some of the animal shapes from the book onto white paper and copied them onto cardstock.

After we read the book, we talked about the story and the role the wooden animals played in helping Trisha’s family bring Christmas to their neighbors.

Then it was time to make our own!

Creating the Animal Ornaments

I gave each student one of the blank animal shapes and asked them to decorate it like the animals in the story.

Students first drew their designs in pencil and then traced over their pencil lines with a Sharpie.

Next, they used markers to add color to their animals.

When the decorating was finished, we glued colored paper to the back of each ornament and cut out the animal. Students signed and dated the backs before I laminated them for durability.

Finally, we added ribbon so the ornaments could be hung in a window or on a Christmas tree.

FREE Trees of the Dancing Goats Ornament Templates

Want to make these ornaments with your own students? I’ve created FREE printable animal templates to make the activity even easier. Simply print the templates on cardstock, have students decorate them, and follow the directions above to create your ornaments.

💚 Grab the FREE Trees of the Dancing Goats Ornament Templates here.

Sending the Ornaments Home

When it was time to send the ornaments home, we placed each one in a zip-top bag along with a short summary of The Trees of the Dancing Goats.

I loved including the summary because it gave families a little context for the ornament and helped students share the story behind what they had created.

These ornaments made such a special keepsake—and, more importantly, gave us another opportunity to talk about the kindness and generosity at the heart of the story.