Environmental Education - Reuniting Kids w/ Nature

Reuniting Kids w/ Nature – Recycled Paper

June 5, 2013

MATERIALS:

Scrap paper (any non-glossy paper will do), water, window screening, an old picture frame, stapler, large plastic tub, blender, water

TIME FRAME: 

15 minutes prep + 1 hour + drying time (12-36 hours)

PROCEDURE:

  1. Begin by tearing up your scrap paper into pieces about 1 inch square.
  2. Fill your plastic tub with warm water and place your paper in the tub.  Allow to soak for at least 1 hour.
  3. While your paper is soaking, staple your piece of screen to the back of your old picture frame to create your mold.
  4. Put your slurry (pulp and water) into your blender (about a cup of pulp to about 2 cups of water) and blend on medium until it all turns to the consistency of oatmeal.
  5. Fill your plastic tub with about 2 inches of water, add in your slurry and gently stir.  Once mixed, gently lower your mold into the tub of water and slurry, allowing the slurry to cover the screen.  Then, gently lift out your screen and place on a towel or outside to dry.
  6. Once dry, gently peel your paper off your screen and enjoy!

REFLECTIONS:

What was fun about this activity? How is your paper different than the paper you buy from the store?  Why do you think that is?  What will you do differently next time?

CONNECTIONS: 

Take a minute to notice the room you’re in…notice all of the things that have been made out of paper…books, magazines, posters, newspapers, maybe some copier paper or a few pieces of mail.  Now, consider that each person in the United States uses 749 pounds of paper every year, which adds up to about 187 billion pounds every single year.  That’s a lot of trees that are being cut down.  Please think about how you can use less paper and reuse the paper that you have already used.

TIPS & IMAGININGS: 

  • Don’t forget to use your pressed flowers & leaves to create colors and patterns in your paper!
  • Add pieces of colored paper or add small pieces of foil to create “glitter” or colors!
  • Add seeds to your slurry, cut them into bookmark sized rectangles and give them away as gifts to be planted next spring!
xoxo,
M
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4 Comments on “Reuniting Kids w/ Nature – Recycled Paper”

  1. I remember doing this as a kid also. Great project to do with the kiddos! Thanks for posting!

    1. This is one of my favorites 🙂 It’s wonderful to see the end product, how gorgeous it all is and how kids then treasure the paper they’ve created! Quite awesome!

  2. I made paper for one of my science projects when I was a kids. I had so much fun with the project, and went on to add grass to some of them, and pine straw and other natural things. The grass stayed green for years. It was amazing. And fun. Thanks for reminding me of that nice memory. 🙂

    1. Thank you for sharing your memory! It always amazes me how many memories we tuck away until something triggers it to come to the surface again 🙂

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