Press Yourself a Piece of Paper

Before tossing all those old newspapers, your child can repurpose them by making her own unique pressed paper! Those newspapers can easily be transformed into paper pulp that she can press with interesting shaped and textured objects!

What You Need:

• Old newspapers
• 1 tbsp. tempera paint, in the color of your choice
• Measuring spoons
• Blender
• Old window screen
• Objects with textures or shapes

What You Do:

1. Invite your child to gather old newspapers from around the house to use for making the recycled paper. Once she’s got a good pile, she can begin shredding and tearing the paper and then placing it the blender.
2. Once the blender is about half full, she can fill the blender half full with water and let it sit for about five minutes to soak up some of the water.
3. While she’s waiting, your child can look around the house for some fun objects full of textures to use for pressing into her paper. Items such as a potato masher, the bottom of shoes, or the lids of jars are all be fun options!
4. Now she can go ahead and blend the paper strips and water until it becomes a smooth pulp, just like in a paper mill!
5. Ask your child if she would like her recycled pressed paper to be a special color. She can measure out 1 tablespoon of her favorite color of tempera paint, add it to the pulp, and then giving the mix one last blend.
6. Now your child can find a spot to place the window screen that allows for good drainage, such as an outdoor table or, if the weather outside isn’t so nice, the kitchen sink.
7. It’s time to get pressing! Your child can pour the paper pulp over the screen and then use her hands to help press all the water out of the pulp along with carefully spreading the pulp evenly on the screen creating a square.
8. Invite your child to press her found items into the pulp leaving interesting impressions! She can create a pattern or a random design of her liking.
9. Once the paper is dry, she can pull the finished paper from the window screen. Now she has her own homemade paper! Invite her to use it to make a cover for a book, or cut into smaller squares to adorn the front of cards.