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Like every year, the time has come to decorate your house and living room with lights and candles. Bake the particular kind of cakes and cookies your child likes. It is time to rest in your couch and watch your favorite TV shows along with your family. And most important of all, it is time to bring home a Christmas tree. As it is Christmas-time and your child has grown enough to realize its importance.

Every family has its own way of celebrating Christmas. It is a thrilling experience for your child to prepare, plan and decorate for Christmas. The traditions related to Christmas, its colors and songs, everything makes him inquisitive about the festival.

Christmas is not merely a festival, it is a holiday tradition.
The most important and probably the most recognized feature related to Christmas is the Christmas tree. All over the world, the Christmas tree is probably the most widely accepted symbol of Christmas. Yet, very few of us are aware of the origin of the Christmas tree. When and by whom was the first Christmas tree brought inside a home to be a symbol of Christmas? What if your child, at some point of time, asks you this question?

No one is clear about the origin of the Christmas tree. It is most likely related to certain religious rituals of the ancient period. Many ancient cultures treated the evergreen trees with awe and respect. The evergreen trees gave them hope, as they remained green while the other trees would shed their leaves. The evergreen trees reminded them that winter is not permanent, it would pass, and the land would again be rich with flora and fauna.

Evergreen trees were an important aspect of the Saturnalia festival, which was the New Year Celebration of the ancient Romans. The Romans considered the evergreen branches and twigs as symbols of good-luck, and they exchanged those as a gesture of goodwill.

According to many historians, the first people, who pioneered in bringing real trees inside their home, were the pagans of Scandinavia. They did so in mid-winter, as a mark of promise to celebrate the advent of spring.

The German Saxons were the first to adorn their trees with candles, trinkets of good fortune and other items of decoration. This ritual, of decorating the evergreen trees, was very prominent in Germany. Many believe that the tradition of Christians using Christmas trees during Christmas developed in that region. Though, a few experts believe the fact that its origin goes back as far as the eighth century.

In England, the Christmas tree was first recognized in the year 1841. Born in Germany, Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria, was the first to place a tree at the Windsor Castle.

Christmas trees were first used around the 1830’s, in America, by German immigrants who had settled there. However, due to the pagan origin of this ritual, it took several decades for this custom to be established in America. But, during the 1890’s, a decorated Christmas tree inside the house became a very common feature in most homes in America.

These days, we decorate our Christmas trees, with items that have important meanings and are relevant to our lives. Early decorations of a Christmas tree, especially in Europe, even included food-delicacies meant to please the spirits that were symbols of good luck.

But the significance of a Christmas tree is entirely different for your child. It acts as a landmark. A place where Santa would leave all the gifts made especially by Santa’s little helpers for all the good little boys and girls around the world, to be unwrapped and celebrated on Christmas morning.

Resources: Fantastic range of artificial christmas trees with next day delivery at Artificial Florist. Many different Xmas tree designs and styles.