Earth Day is on April 22nd this year and my Upcycled Crafting class is the perfect place to teach kids how to save the planet via their creativity. My students are getting the hang of looking for ways to reuse household items, rather than throwing them in the trash. One of the largest waste of paper is the newspaper. It shows up everyday and rarely gets read in its entirety, yet we have not completely switched to digital media yet - there is just something I love about sharing the newspaper; everyone reads a section and passes it along. So, while we still have the paper coming to our house, I thought I would show the kids a fun way to reuse it. Currently in class, we re-use newspaper every week to protect the table with all of our projects, but this time, the paper would be the star of the project!
Papier mache is a really easy project since you can make the paste from ingredients in your kitchen rather than buying something at the craft store. If you are not familiar with this term which means "chewed paper" in French, it's the art of binding paper with glue to make 3 dimensional sculptures. For this project, my students were making banks, but you can make almost anything with papier mache. We used a small balloon as our shape, but if you are not cutting a hole for a bank, you can start with a crumpled ball of newspaper and wrap masking tape around it to hold it in the desired shape.
This is what you will need for this project if you decide to try it:
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Newspaper
Masking tape
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Balloons
2 cups flour
2 cups water
1 Tablespoon salt
Scissors
Utility knife
We started by cutting the newspaper into 1 1/2"-wide strips. Then we made the paste. We whisked two cups of flour and two cups of water together with a tablespoon of salt (adding the salt prevents mold growth). The kids enjoyed taking turns mixing.
Next, we (I) blew up balloons and covered the tied end with a piece of masking tape. Then, in order to balance the balloon on the table while we working on our projects, we made newspaper rings. We took one sheet and twisted it, then turned it the shape of a circle and secured it with a bit of tape. We took the rest of the paper and cut it into 2"-wide strips.Finally, it was time to get messy! This is how you papier mache (if papier mache was a verb): To start, dip one newspaper strip into the paste and remove the extra over the bowl by pulling the strip between your pointer and middle fingers. Then place the strip on the balloon and repeat the process until the entire balloon is covered. Smooth out any bumpy or gloppy areas with your fingers before setting it to dry. Let the sphere dry a bit before adding a second coat of newspaper strips.
Once the balls are completely dried (we waited 24 hours but they were dry before then), it's time to paint. I gave the kids carte blanche on paint choices and let them design whatever they wanted.
The last step is to cut a hole in the top of the ball to officially make it a bank. Use a utility knife to slit a hole 1 1/2" x 1/8" so that bills and coins will fit in easily. To remove the money, either tear the bank apart (it will make you think twice about spending the money if you have to destroy the savings bank), or cut three sides of a 1 1/2" square in the bottom and pull out the loot. The balloon will pop, but the ball will keep his shape.
Some of the kids didn't have the heart to cut the ball, so they brought home spherical sculptures instead of banks. Either way, they learned that on Earth Day and every day, we can find ways to reuse common household items and reduce our carbon footprint while leaving a cleaner planet for the next generation. Tell me, what will you make now that you know how to papier mache?
For more photos, head over to Goodness Gracious Living!
