Recycled Paper Craft - Science Sundays

This is a fun at home craft to do as a family- Make your own paper!

Materials:

• 4-5 sheets of newspaper
• glass bowl
• hot water
• cornstarch
• measuring spoons
• aluminum foil
• wooden spoon
• scissors
• sharp pencil
• decorations for your paper, like construction paper scraps, dried flowers, confetti, or

• glitter

Instructions:

1. To make your own recycled paper, you need to turn paper into pulp, and then back into new paper. Here's how to do it.
2. Start by cutting the newspaper into small pieces. About 4 or 5 sheets of newspaper will be enough to make two small pieces of recycled paper.
3. Put the newspaper scraps into bowl, cover them with hot water and mix it up until all of the paper is wet.
4. Let the paper sit for a few hours, until it's all mushy. Stir it occasionally. When it looks and feels like oatmeal, you're ready to make new paper.
5. Add a few tablespoons of cornstarch and a little more hot water. Mix it all up once more.
6. Now you have a pulpy, watery mess. Pulp is what you need to make paper, but you need to get rid of extra water first. You can make a strainer to help you do that.
7. Take a piece of aluminum foil and fold into a square or rectangle about the size of the paper you want to make. Punch holes in the aluminum foil with a sharp pencil.
8. Now it's time to make the paper. Take a new sheet of aluminum foil and put it on top of extra newspapers.
9. Then, spoon some pulp on top. When the aluminum foil is covered with a layer of pulp, use your strainer to press out the extra water. The pulp that's left behind will become your new sheet of paper.
10. Add decorations to your paper, if you want. You can use dried flowers, confetti, or anything else you find.
11. Pinch together any holes in the paper. You're almost done!
12. Finally, put aluminum foil and books on top of your paper and press it flat. Then take off the books and the top layer of foil and leave it out overnight so that it can dry.
13. When it's done, peel the paper from the aluminum foil. You can leave the edges rough or trim them to look like a card you buy in the store.