Display Animated Christmas Tree In Terminal (2025)

The holiday season is here—and if you’re a developer, sysadmin, or just someone who lives in the terminal, why not bring some festive cheer to your CLI? In this quick guide, I’ll show you how to display an animated Christmas tree right in your terminal. It works on macOS, Linux, and even WSL on Windows.

🎅 Why Add a Christmas Tree to the Terminal?

Because we all need a little joy between debugging sessions. Plus, it’s a fun way to get into the holiday spirit while working.

🌲 Method 1: Use a Bash Script

Here’s a simple animated Christmas tree you can run using bash.

Step 1: Open your terminal

Create a new script file:

nano christmas_tree.sh

Step 2: Paste the script

#!/bin/bash

clear
while true; do
    echo -e "\e[32m         *"
    echo -e "        /_\\"
    echo -e "       /_*_\\"
    echo -e "      /___\\"
    echo -e "     /_*_*_\\"
    echo -e "    /_______\\"
    echo -e "        ||"
    echo -e "        ||"
    echo -e "\e[0m"
    sleep 0.5
    clear
    sleep 0.5
done

This creates a blinking tree by clearing and redrawing it.

Step 3: Make it executable

chmod +x christmas_tree.sh
./christmas_tree.sh

🎁 Method 2: Python ASCII Tree with Lights

Want something flashier? Use this Python version with colorful blinking lights.

import time
import os
import random

tree = [
    "         *",
    "        /_\\",
    "       /_o_\\",
    "      /_o_o_\\",
    "     /_o_o_o_\\",
    "    /_________\\",
    "        ||",
    "        ||"
]

colors = ['\033[91m', '\033[92m', '\033[93m', '\033[94m', '\033[95m', '\033[96m']
reset = '\033[0m'

while True:
    os.system('clear')
    for line in tree:
        colored_line = ''.join(
            random.choice(colors) + char + reset if char == 'o' else char
            for char in line
        )
        print(colored_line)
    time.sleep(0.5)

Run it with:

python3 christmas_tree.py

🧑‍🎄 Bonus: Use npx to Run Without Installing Anything

Don’t want to copy-paste scripts? Just run this in your terminal (requires Node.js):

npx christmas-joy

This pulls a festive animation from npm and runs it instantly.

✅ Wrap-Up

Whether you’re coding through Christmas or just want to add some holiday vibes to your workflow, these little terminal trees are a fun way to do it. They’re lightweight, easy to run, and sure to bring a smile—even if you’re just fixing bugs.

Happy Holidays & Merry Coding! 🎅