Family Friendly Succulents to Try This Christmas Christmas is a season of warmth, decoration, and gathering, but it often brings the stress of delicate, breakable, and high-maintenance decorations. This year, consider adding living, sculptural, and incredibly easy-to-care-for plants into your holiday repertoire. Succulents are perfect for this, offering a unique blend of festive color, interesting textures, and, most importantly, durability. They are fantastic for households with children, as most are soft to the touch and hardy enough to survive the bustling holiday season. Embracing family-friendly succulents this Christmas creates a welcoming, vibrant, and, yes, green holiday environment. Soft and Safe: The Best Succulents for Kids
When selecting plants for a family home, safety and texture are paramount. Many popular succulents, like Echeveria and Sedum, are not just soft and non-toxic, but they also offer stunning, rose-like shapes that feel almost magical to children. The Echeveria elegans, often known as “Mexican Snowball,” has a beautiful blue-gray tint that fits perfectly with a winter theme, and its soft leaves are not dangerous. Similarly, the Sedum morganianum, affectionately called “Burro’s Tail,” looks like hanging festive green chains and is soft to the touch, making it a great addition to a hanging planter or a high shelf. These plants are durable, requiring minimal water, which is ideal for a busy holiday schedule.
Another excellent, family-friendly choice is the Haworthia attenuata, or Zebra Plant. With its rigid, white-striped leaves, it looks incredibly modern and exciting. While the tips are pointed, they are not sharp, making them safe for children. Their striking appearance adds an exotic touch to any tabletop or windowsill. The best part is that these plants thrive on neglect, surviving low light conditions, which is perfect for cozy, dimmed winter rooms. Their resilience means they can handle being moved around during festive cleaning, making them true holiday champions. Festive Colors: Red and Green Succulents for the Holidays
You can bring the quintessential red and green Christmas colors into your home without a single plastic decoration. The Crassula ovata, or Jade Plant, is a classic, but the Crassula ovata ‘Sunset’ variant brings gorgeous shades of yellow, red, and green to the table, resembling a miniature, colorful tree. For a more intense red, consider the Echeveria ‘Dionysos’, which produces dense rosettes of deep, reddish-brown leaves that feel almost velvety. These, combined with the classic, bright green Aloe vera, offer a natural, vibrant, and festive look that brings a modern, eco-friendly twist to your holiday decor.
For a unique, festive, and almost holiday-ornament-like look, the Kalanchoe blossfeldiana is an absolute must-have. While they do bloom with flowers (often in bright red, pink, or yellow), their dark green, fleshy leaves are lovely year-round. These can be placed in red pots or on a rustic tray, surrounded by small pinecones for an easy, DIY centerpiece that kids can help create. The best part is that these, like many other succulents, can be easily propagated by your family after the holidays, extending the Christmas cheer long into the new year. Simple DIY Succulent Projects with Children
Creating decorations with succulents is an ideal, engaging activity for children, fostering a love for nature while enhancing the holiday atmosphere. A popular project is a Succulent Ornament: carefully taking small, rooted succulents and placing them into hollowed-out baubles (ensure there’s ventilation) or onto moss-lined, bird-nest-like ornaments. These can hang on the tree or be placed on a table. Another fun idea is a Christmas Succulent Garden. Use a rustic wooden box or a festive, wide-mouthed mug, fill it with succulent-friendly, fast-draining soil, and plant a mix of red, green, and silver-toned succulents. Kids can decorate the top with small, colorful glass pebbles, reindeer moss, or mini holiday figures, creating a personalized, living centerpiece.
Caring for these plants is also a wonderful way to involve children in the joy of nurturing life. Succulents do not need to be watered every day; in fact, they prefer to be left alone. Children can learn to check the soil and only water when it’s completely dry, providing a valuable lesson in responsibility that doesn’t feel like a chore. This simple, hands-on activity makes the holiday season more meaningful and teaches appreciation for the natural world, all while decorating the home in a unique, sustainable, and family-friendly way.
Incorporating these hardy and beautiful plants into your holiday decorations provides a refreshing, sustainable alternative to traditional, often disposable, decor. These succulents not only add a vibrant, living element to your Christmas, but they also bring joy to family members through their fascinating, soft, and colorful nature. By choosing to decorate with living plants, you’re embracing a more natural, festive, and sustainable holiday season that lasts well beyond the holidays.
This holiday season, take a step away from the traditional, fragile decorations and embrace the living, vibrant, and resilient world of succulents. They are an excellent choice for a family-friendly home, offering a unique, beautiful, and sustainable way to bring color and life into your festive, winter, and, yes, green holiday environment. These plants, with their simple, easy-to-care-for, and beautiful nature, are sure to be a, well, blooming, hit.
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