Paper Making

There was a small number of us gathering for coop this week, many down and out with a nasty bug. The small group lent its self well to paper making this week. We have just under an hour for our table time activity, with fewer kids it meant there was no rushing to get it done. We brought with us the screens we had made previously. The outside frame (pink) was styrofoam meat trays we asked for at the grocery store. The screening is the same kind found in windows, we conveniently had a screen with a rip in it, so we replaced it and used the old one for the frames.

Before we began we chatted about how paper is made, which led into how recycled paper is made and why this was important. We brought in the paper from our recycling bin which included scraps of construction paper, newspaper, computer paper, toilet rolls and cardboard. (in the past we have also added tissue paper, wrapping paper, grass, leaves, flower petals, lavender, glitter, etc) We ripped each of these up into small pieces. The kids then each picked from the different types of paper, making their own unique combination.
The paper was added with water in the blender and mixed until we had a pulp. The pulp was placed on the screens for the kids to spread it into their desired shape and thickness. With a sponge or rag they soaked up a bit more of the excess water. After a day in the sunny window the kids flipped the paper to dry both sides, in two days it was dry.

While it isn't ideal paper for story writing, it is beautiful background for art, gift tags or cards.