Pupils were in high spirits after receiving parcels and messages from their peers across Europe, resulting in a Christmas tree decorated with crafts made by children from all over the continent.

Students from eight primary schools took part in the European Christmas Tree Decoration Exchange project, led by Europe Direct Valletta and supported by Maltapost.

The schools guided their pupils in preparing decorations and information they later sent to 30 different schools across Europe.

In total, 38 Europe Direct Information Offices and around 280 schools from 16 different countries were involved.

“Every time we received a parcel, excitement kicked in,” said one of the teachers.

The parcels contained decorations that were representative of the country the pupils live in, as well as details about how Christmas is celebrated in their school and country.

The participating Maltese schools came up with plenty of ideas, such as sending honey rings, filming the children while preparing food that is typical in Christmas time and recording Maltese Christmas carols.

The ultimate aim of the project was to educate young children about other EU countries through a creative and fun activity.