Do you have any great gothic room ideas?

What are some ideas of how to set up a new room for Jr. high students (6th-8th graders)?

• In my youth group we have now decided to split the 6th - 8th graders from the 9th - 12th graders into a different room. this new room was recently transformed from a nursery to a room for us and another older group that uses it on sunday mornings. We may or may not have permission to paint the place. If we do get the permission it will be something simple because the older group will still be meeting there in the mornings. We have a limited budget yet we don't want the jr. highers to think we are pushing them out of the "real" youth room because there is not enough space. We want them to feel more like they have their own youth room that sr. highers are not allowed into. Any ideas about how to decorate? In our other youth room we have Ikea lamps and 4 couches. we are thinking about going and buying more lamps and bringing 2 of the couches into the jr. high room. I was also thinking maybe some moving lights or flashing lights that we could turn off easily when we are going to start. Any ideas about where to get/make cheaper light systems? Any advice is helpful. Even it is something expensive I want to hear the idea. :) Thanks and have fun brainstorming ideas.

• Answer:

  One of the coolest things I've seen in a junior high classroom has been plants. The kids planted different types of plants in containers, decorated the container, and the teacher hung them from the ceiling and walls. In one of my classrooms we each got a colored pipe cleaner and made it into a shape/creature/letter or anything we liked. Then we connected them together, either by bending the edges or bending twist ties to hold them together. We strung it up along the top of one of the walls. That was a fun experience.