Cucumber trees and courgette decorations: 4 ways to a green Christmas

It's not easy being eco-friendly at Christmas, but a tight budget is no excuse when you can make your own tree and decorations.

It’s not easy being green, sang Kermit, so to get everyone in the eco groove at this festive time, some creative inspiration may be needed. 

From courgette penguin decorations to microbead-free toiletry gifts, here are a few ways to help you keep it green this Christmas.

1. Deck the halls with boughs of holly

In fact, decorate anything you like with fresh greenery if you have access to it (no “borrowing” from the neighbours). This is miles better than garlands of synthetic tinsel that will eventually end up in landfill, potentially via an intrigued pet’s stomach. 

In the colder months, fruit and veg provide endless opportunities for sparkling up student digs. See if your local market has any citrus fruit past its best and going free. If so, orange and lemon decorations are easy to make and look amazing. Failing that, try fashioning some courgette and carrot penguin decorations – all you need is some carving skills.

Some think that covering their whole house with Christmas lights and setting them to flash in time to Gangnam style is the thing to do at Christmas. Think again. Instead, keep electricity requirements to a minimum and have a go at making a festive wreath that won’t cost the earth. 

According to sustainable fashion advocate and Nottingham Trent undergraduate Sophie Dumontroty, a student budget is no excuse for letting your green credentials drop:

“Most think being cash-strapped at Christmas limits their scope to act sustainably. Far from it! For example, this year I’m making my own sustainable stocking by upcycling unwanted clothing from my overflowing wardrobe.”

How to ... turn your classroom into a haunted house

Deck out your classroom for a spooktacular Halloween with pumpkin lanterns, scary sudoku and ghostly faces.

It’s Halloween again, the only time in the teaching calendar when it’s perfectly acceptable to come into school dressed as Dracula and plaster your classroom with spiders, ghosts and pumpkins. Creating your very own haunted classroom is an exciting, if ambitious, way to celebrate. For those willing to go the extra Halloween mile, here’s our crafty guide:

Draw your students in

A haunted pathway leading up to your classroom – refuse bags are really useful for this – will capture imaginations. You can hang spiders (see below for tips on making these), streamers and tape above it. Make a sign to direct students to your spooky setting or, for a novel twist, create a treasure hunt for students. Check out this example for inspiration.

Come up with a theme

Pirates, creatures of the night, or goblins and ghosts – there’s lots to choose from. If your theme is a haunted hospital, for example, create a section of the classroom with gruesome body parts, such as eyeballs (grapes) and brains (noodles). Or if you’re showcasing creepy creatures, put false spiders in jars filled with hand sanitiser – they’ll look eerily suspended. For more inspiration, check out these drawing exercises that explore the symmetry of black widow spiders and vampire bats.

Create an atmosphere

The sounds of your haunted setting (of which there are lots to choose from online) will have students on the edge of their seats. Involve them in creating a creepy atmosphere by getting them to record their own piece of spooky music ahead of the lesson. Or get everyone involved in a singalong with these spooky song lyrics from Musical Contexts, which can be sung with familiar tunes such as The Addams Family .

Create effective lighting by making a leaf from green card and cutting orange card into strips to make pumpkins. Put flameless tea lights at their centre for a safe but spooky mood setter.

How to teach … Halloween crafts

Ever used pumpkin carving designs to teach reflective symmetry? Use art to trick your students into an educational treat.

Halloween has become a major event in many school calendars, with fun days and fancy dress parades galore.

This week the Guardian Teacher Network is getting into the spirit of All Hallows’ eve with a goody bag of themed arts and crafts lesson ideas – perfect for tricking students into an educational treat.

Classroom decorations are the first port of call. Students can make their own skeletons by cutting out the pieces of this template by Teaching Ideas and attaching them together with brass paper fasteners. They might also enjoy making a 3D witch puppet. This idea from Sing Up involves decorating a wooden spoon with materials including wool, felt and foam. As a follow-up activity, students could work in groups to perform – and even write the script for – a short Halloween play.

Dressing up is at the heart of Halloween, but rather than relying on extravagant shop-bought ensembles, why not encourage pupils to make their own? A good starting place might be these masks for a maned wolf, dyeing poison frog or green anaconda. Before students get sticky with the masks, teach them about the animals of Brazil which the templates represent, using this lesson plan and presentation created by the conservation charity ARKive.

Carving a pumpkin is too tricky (and potentially dangerous) to attempt in class, even with this step-by-step beginner’s guide. An easier (and much safer) alternative is to carve a bell pepper. Orange and yellow ones are best as they look just like mini pumpkins. Ask pupils to bring in a pepper or two from home. Craft knives should be sharp enough for carving. If that sounds too risky still, students could stick on cut-out shapes instead. There are plenty of ideas here.

Newspaper beads

YOU WILL NEED

Old newspapers
White glue
Varnish
Craft paint
Drill
Ribbon or string
Sandpaper