Genius ways to stop your kids ruining your Christmas tree this year

It's that time of year when parents everywhere pull their dusty Christmas tree boxes out of storage and start decorating.

However, as exciting as it is to get the tree up with all its beautiful decorations and spectacular lights, parents of crawling babies and curious toddlers also dread the possibility that all their hard work could be obliterated by a single pull or shove.

So we asked 9Honey Parenting readers if they had figured out a way a decorated tree and young kids could live under the same roof this festive season.

And, we got some great suggestions!

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Only decorate the top half

One mum who isn't keen on having any of her beautiful ornaments broken by her troublesome toddlers has only decorated the top half of her tree for the last few years. If you choose to do this, she suggests placing the tree next to something like the couch where the bare bottom half can be partially covered.

Buy a small tree and pop it on the dining table

Instead of going to the effort of pulling out a huge tree and decorating it, only to have pulled at by the kids, buy a smaller tree that can be placed in the middle of the dining table or even a side coffee table and make that the family tree while the kids are still young.

Use a barrier of fake presents to keep them away

One very clever suggestion from a mum who's had too many incidences of broken ornaments is wrapping boxes full of books to look like presents and stacking them around the bottom of the tree as a barrier. It not only looks nice, but it keeps the kids distanced from the branches.

READ MORE: Eight ways to save money with kids this Christmas

Tell your kids the tree is hot

Whenever you tell your kids something is hot, they are bound to stay away from it from fear they will get burned. So a few mums suggested telling the kids that the tree and its lights are hot and they shouldn't touch them. To be fair, there is an element of truth to the lights part of that statement.

Purchase a felt wall hanging Christmas tree

A clever way to avoid a huge tree tipping disaster and even get your kids involved in decorating the tree this year is to buy a felt tree. These trees are made from a piece of felt and can be hung on the wall. The felt decorations can be stuck on easily and kids can keep changing them around as it approaches Christmas.

Only use plastic ornaments

Rather than run the risk of having expensive ornaments shattered once they are pulled by the kids and thrown on the floor, only purchase plastic ornaments. They are both cheap and unbreakable! If you do have a few fancier decorations you'd still like to get on there, make sure you put them on the top half.

Protect it with a baby gate

It may not be the most aesthetically pleasing approach, but one of the simplest and safest ways to keep your children away from the tree is to put a baby gate around the bottom of it. This way you can also keep their sticky fingers away from the beautifully wrapped presents.

Secure the ornaments onto the branches

Having to decorate the tree once a year is effort enough, so to avoid any of your creative work going to waste, make sure you secure each bauble onto the tree by folding the end of the tree branches over right at the tip. This makes it very hard for them to be pulled off.