"Newspaper Christmas trees"

A very cheap and wonderful collaborative activity is to make Christmas trees from newspaper. You need some thin dowel (or similar round wood) about 60 - 70 cm long, lots of newspaper (smaller size) and sticky tape. To make the tubes to construct the tree, carefully roll the newspaper tightly around the dowel beginning on a slight angle, slip this off and secure with sticky tape. As you remove this from the dowel, gently tease it out so it is longer. Create a firm "trunk" by sticking 4 or 5 tubes together. Attach tubes higher and higher and bend out to create branches. Lightly spray with green/gold/silver paint to dust with colour. Students can make decorations from recycled materials if they wish. The students are amazed at what they can create.