Snowman and Kids by the Christmas Tree Coloring Page

Kids Building Snowman with Christmas Tree: History & Fun Facts

Choosing a Tree: Farm, Forest, or Lot

The decorated tree in this scene had to come from somewhere, and families split into a few camps on how to get one. Choose-and-cut farms let visitors walk rows of trees and saw down their own pick, a business that grew big in North America starting in the 1940s once growers realized trees could be farmed in rotation like any other crop. A fir or spruce takes 7 to 10 years to reach a typical living-room height, which is why farms plant new seedlings every year to keep up with the following decade's demand.

Others buy from a corner lot where trees are already cut, or put up an artificial tree that gets reused for years. Each option changes the smell, the mess of dropped needles, and even the tradition itself, since a farm trip becomes its own yearly outing with hot cider and a hayride, while a lot purchase is quicker and often happens on the way home from somewhere else.

Snowmen With Personality

The snowman standing next to the tree in this picture belongs to a long line of snow figures built with whatever's on hand. Coal, buttons, or stones for eyes, a carrot for a nose, and sticks for arms are common because they're durable in freezing temperatures and easy for kids to find outside. A hat and scarf come next, often borrowed from a closet, turning the snowman from a plain shape into something with a face and a personality kids will talk about for days.

Snow structure matters here too. Packing snow, damp enough to squeeze into a solid ball, holds together for stacking, while dry powder just crumbles apart. That's why some winters produce great snowman weather and others don't, no matter how much total snow falls on the ground.

Gifts Piled Under a Decorated Tree

The pile of gifts beneath the tree in this scene reflects a shift in how Christmas trees are used. Early European trees were often small tabletop displays with ornaments and small treats hung directly from the branches. Once trees moved to the floor in the 1800s, the space underneath naturally became storage for presents too large or too heavy to hang, and gift-giving grew alongside the tree tradition rather than replacing it.

Tree lights followed their own path from open flame to electricity. Candle-lit trees were common through the 1800s despite the obvious fire risk, and it wasn't until 1882 that an assistant to Thomas Edison strung the first electrically lit Christmas tree, using hand-wired bulbs he made himself. Strings of electric lights didn't become affordable for most households until decades later, which is why the glowing tree in a scene like this one represents a fairly modern comfort.

Indoor Glow, Outdoor Chill

Between the tree indoors and the snowman outdoors, this scene captures both halves of a snow-day Christmas: the quiet, glowing decoration inside and the noisy, physical fun outside, with kids moving freely between the two all afternoon.

That back-and-forth, warm hands pressed against a cold window to check the snowman's progress, then a dash back outside once mittens are found, is part of what makes a snow-day Christmas feel different from any other day of the season. The tree waits patiently indoors while the real action happens outside in the yard.