2015 CYC Polar Express Inspiration....

This holiday season, I have volunteered to help with decorations for our local CYC Polar Express celebration.  This is an annual event my kids have loved year after year and it is fun for the entire family!  The kids sign up for a certain train time, arrive and the CYC in their favorite holiday PJs, and wait anxiously in the lobby until the "Conductor" (CYC Commodore) calls their name.  Once called, the Conductor punches their ticket and they climb aboard the Polar Express (i.e. a cute wooden trolley).  Next, they go for a ride around the neighborhood to gaze at the festive Christmas lights, down through the Cleveland Metroparks, etc. while the Conductor reads the Polar Express story.  They make a stop at Center Isle where they get off the Trolley and enter the "North Pole" to make crafts, enjoy a cup of hot cocoa, and then get back onto the Train to return to the clubhouse.  They end the evening with dinner or snacks upstairs, a meet with Santa, and Polar Express movie viewing.

Thankfully, I found a ton of inspiration photos to provide some fun and creative ideas for decorating the space.

I absolutely LOVE the train with yellow rectangles to look like the lighted train...What a cute idea!  I may try to pull this off somehow...

I have already started to collect large-scale ornaments and bowls to use for centerpieces, some gold cardboard stars from Target to hang from the ceiling, and I plan to wrap a bunch of larger cardboard boxes to make faux gifts, make some signs/murals for the walls, etc, but wanted to gather a few more ideas...

A few photos from prior years' CYC Polar Express Events...

Now for a few inspiration pics I found online....

I thought this would be fun to do on the entry door when the kids walk in....

LOVE THIS! I thought something like this might be cute on the fireplace...

I am going to purchase rolls of red, black, and yellow paper to ATTEMPT a smaller version of this...

I love this idea of putting down a runner for tracks.....However, with so many children, I fear it could become a tripping hazard, so I may just look into putting down duct or painters tape to create a train track leading into the Center Isle...

I would love to make a sign like this, if I can figure out the pole structure...

This could be a fun little station for the kids to write letters to Santa...

This has nothing to do with Polar Express, but came across this fun craft we did a few years ago...wanted to share.

This really has nothing to do with the Polar Express but loved this idea for the holdiays!

ADDENDUM:

Here are a few photos from our actual CYC Polar Express...Everyone had a great time and it was super cute to see how excited the kids were to ride the trolley, listen to the story, do crafts, etc.