Make Your Own Paper with Preschoolers

Make Your Own Paper with Preschoolers

Preschoolers use paper all the time for art experiences and developing important writing and literacy skills. Here is a fun way to use paper to also support scientific thinking! In this blog post we are going to show you a fun and pretty neat tutorial on making your own paper with your preschooler.

This activity is great to include in your Earth Day and Recycling Theme since creating your own paper is all about re-using materials and producing less waste. This project supports preschoolers in understanding the idea of taking something old and turning it into something new, and, it's a pretty cool experience! 

Supplies:

• Screen - I used an extra outdoor window screen we had around the house
• Newspaper, enough to fill the blender when it's shredded
• Towels
• Water
• Blender
• Trays to drain paper over if you're working inside: I did the process and drying part outdoors

*Teacher Tip: This is a great activity to start inside and move outdoors. Consider having noise cancelling headphones or alternative available for children that are sensitive to loud noises when then blender comes on.

Let's begin the process

First and foremost, check to make sure your screen is clean before you begin. After you have checked your screen, preschoolers can start shredding the newspaper and adding it to the blender with water.
Note: it does not matter how much water you put inside the blender because it gets drained out later in the process. This is a good opportunity to let children practice measurement skills since mistakes won't matter.

Teacher tip: shredding newspaper is the perfect activity for little hands. It allows them to work on their fine motor skills and it's fun!

You will then want to blend the paper and the water until it is combined enough to be a paste. 

Teacher tip: Invite your preschoolers to touch the paste as this is an excellent sensory experience. Ask them what it feels like, do they enjoy that feeling? What else has this consistency? 

Next, transfer the paste onto the screen and spread evenly over the screen pressing down firmly. This is another step that preschoolers can assist with. Again, allowing them to touch and experience the paste is rich sensory play!

Then place a towel over the mixture and press & flatten to help dry it out - repeat this process a few times with a fresh towel

Lastly, place a fresh towel over the paper, then holding it in place carefully flip the screen over so the paper is on the towel. Dry the paper on the towel inside or outside until completely dry then your paper will be ready to use!

​Teacher tip: Drying outdoors on a warm day makes for a quicker process! 

This process is a great addition to your activities during Earth Day. You can find even more ideas all about recycling and taking care of our planet on our Free Earth Day and Recycling Theme Planning Page.

Teacher tip: Ask your preschoolers to compare their homemade paper to every day paper and note the differences. Be sure to try writing with markers first as this paper is much thicker than traditional paper!

We hope you enjoyed this process! 

More Activities Like This:

Make Your Own Bubble Solution
Soap Cloud Experiment
​Science and Discovery Ideas