8 sustainable Christmas activities

With Christmas just a few short weeks away, it’s a great time to start getting creative with fun craft and activities that will keep everyone busy.

1 - Make a DIY Christmas wreath
Creating your own Christmas wreath is super easy and a fun activity. Go for a walk and collect natural green foliage to form the basis of your wreath – any plants with red berries are a bonus! Bend a wire hanger into a circular shape and wrap the foliage around it, using twine to hold it firmly in place. Keep adding layers of foliage and sprigs of holly until the wreath starts to take shape. Tie a red ribbon around the neck of the hanger it’s good to go! Don’t worry if it doesn’t look perfect, just trim any excess foliage and remember wreaths are supposed to look rustic. Spray with water now and then to keep it fresh.

2 - Bake Christmas cookies
Making cookies is fun and a great way to get children into the kitchen. Use a simple cookie recipe, some festive cutters, then decorate with coloured icing sugar and let the kids decorate them. It’s a fun, delicious way to spend an afternoon. They make great gifts too.

Christmas CookiesFlotsam via Shutterstock

3 - Make your own Christmas crackers
Ditch the single-use Christmas crackers and replace them with reusable ones. Check out our instructions on how to make your own Christmas crackers by recycling our empty Pure Planet Club toilet roll inserts. They make great eco-friendly Christmas decorations for your festive table and you can match them to your décor.

4 - Create paper garlands
Making paper garlands is another low-cost and simple activity that even very young children can help with. Cut up some of your child’s old paintings and drawings and turn them into paper chains to decorate your tree or home. Cut the paper into thin rectangular strips and use glue to adhere into a loop, then repeat.

Christmas Garlandcolnihko via Shutterstock

5 - Decorate your Christmas table
Forget buying cut flowers or expensive centrepieces, a DIY table decoration looks beautiful and is fun to create. Create a rustic arrangement using fallen branches, leaves and burlap. Check out our blog on Christmas entertaining for more eco-friendly ideas

6 - Make your own Christmas cards
A staggering one billion Christmas cards find their way into landfill every year, so making your own cards with leftover paper, old drawings and paintings or recycled Christmas wrapping paper is a great way to be more sustainable and save some cash.

DIY Christmas CardsNadya Buyanowa via Shutterstock

7 - Make homemade gifts
Christmas cookies, DIY baths bombs, Christmas crackers or other edible goodies like homemade jam make wonderful and thoughtful Christmas gifts, in addition to being sustainable and easy on the pocket.

8 - Create clay ornaments
Make your own clay ornaments for the Christmas tree or to give as gifts. They’re super simple to create – try this easy ornament dough recipe which doesn’t even require hardening overnight so you can decorate them pretty much straight away.

Clay Christmas Ornaments Kira Necheporchuk via Shutterstock

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