Paper Making with Toddlers/Preschoolers

 

One of my favorite crafty thing to do as an elementary student was to make paper.  I remember begging my dad to make me frames to use after we'd watched some people make paper at a craft fair.

 

 

I thought it would be a fun activity to do with my kids, and a great excuse for some one on one time with Lu to make the frames.

 

Keep reading to find out more about our paper making experience.

First Lu and I made the frames.  It was Lu's first experience working with wood, and she LOVED it!  We used a few wooden pieces that we bought at the hardware store (by the craft wood), but you could easily just attach a screen to an old picture frame.

I let her cut the wood herself (I had to hold the pieces though)...

I let her help hammer the nails once I got them started.  We found a rock was easier for her to use than a big hammer.

Here she is so proud of her finished frame.  I stapled a screen to the backside after we took this picture.

 

Now for the making the paper pulp.  We mixed a whole bunch of our paper scraps.  Ellie loved trying to tear the paper, even if she wasn't very effective at it.

 

 

 Added water.

And blended, blended, and blended.

We poured the pulp into a turkey roasting pan and took it outside.

The girls, especially Ellie, loved putting their hands in the pulp.  Lu was so surprised at the color of the pulp, considering the paper colors that went into the blender. 

We used our frames to strain out the pulp.

 

 

 Then pressed the reverse of the screen to a towel and pressed out all the water with another towel.

We also experimented with adding flowers and herbs to the mix.

And here's the final product!  The girls both had so much fun and they keep asking to do it again.

I'm so glad that we checked this off of our 'to do' list before it got too cold here, because this was definitely a great outdoors activity!