One of our last projects in the Blue Jays Class was making handmade paper, as part of our lesson on caring for our earth.

Handmade paper started way back in 105 A.D. when a Chinese eunuch, T’sai Lun, discovered a way to make paper out of old rags. Here is how we made ours:

Materials:

• mold and deckle ours is homemade but Papemelroti’s (as seen here) is really nice
• laundry starch or gawgaw
• used paper
• sponge or chamois
• tub or basin
• newspapers
• water
• blender (optional)

Procedure:

1. We cut the paper into thin strips and small squares, (This is a great exercise for the children’s fine motor skills.) and put them in a basin with water.

2. We squished and mashed the paper with our hands. (Again, a great fine motor exercise, plus it’s a lot of fun!)

3. We let the paper soak in the water overnight.

4. We added the gawgaw and made a nice paper slurry.

5. We took some slurry and spread it evenly on the mold, which is on top of a basin.

6. Excess water was drained out using a chamois.

7. We turned the mold over on top of a newspaper and tapped it to release the handmade paper.

8. We made more handmade paper and placed them under the sun for about 24hours. We cut them into circles, painted the earth on them and made them into globetrotter medals for our moving up!
*Alternatively, the torn paper can be placed in a blender until it is 1/3 full. The rest of the blender must be filled with water. More instructions and craft ideas for your handmade paper here.