Recycled Paper Weaving Craft

Here is a simple and creative craft that you can do with your little ones. All you need is paper (newspaper, magazine paper, paper bags or any other recyclable paper), glue, scissors, and pre-cut strips of paper.

First you need to fold the paper in half and cut strips that are spread at least 1/2 or 1 inch apart. Always cut from the folded side up. Don't cut all the way and leave at least a two inch space at the end. Now open the folded paper and demonstrate how to weave a strip of paper with the under and over motions. It is important to do a demonstration to guide your child. To secure the strips I glued them to the paper at the end. Finish weaving all paper strips and glue the ending corners to secure the weaved paper in place.

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The Finished Project - remember to adjust the strips closer together so as not to leave any space in between. This will help in achieving a checkerboard effect.

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Paper weaving is a great way to reuse left over scraps of paper. You can also do patterns while paper weaving by adding different colored paper strips. Another unique way to do paper weaving is by weaving shape cut-outs. Here is a heart-shaped weaving project we are working on currently...

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Hope you are having a loving day ❤❤❤

Annie

Stenciling

Stencilling is a fun and easy project to do with kids! 

What is stencilling? It is tracing a pre-made shape using a stencil. A stencil is made from plastic, wood or a hard material. You take a paper and place your stencil over it to start filling in the designs using a pencil/pen/marker.  The result is beautifully made designs or shapes that can further be colored in, using markers, pencil crayons or paint.

Stencilling has many advantages:

1.  Use on- The stencil can be used on any median: cloth, paper, walls, canvas, cakes/cupcakes, clay, yourself (with henna) or any paintable object.

2. Consistency - Stencils bring consistency in your artwork and provide a sense of orderliness. You can repeat it to produce a design over and over again.  

3. Stencil Tools - Stencilling can be done using any materials such as spray paint, pencil crayons, markers, crayons, oil pastels, knife for carving, frosting, fabric paint, henna, etc.

4. Practice Makes Perfect! - Stencils can be used for artwork or for practice-writing your letters/alphabets, numbers, or symbols.  

5. Cost and Use Effective - A stencil can be used and reused for creating designs, symbols, numbers, letters, etc.

Here is one of the designs done by my preschooler using some cool stencils! We will finish it by coloring it in (I will update upon completion).

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Annie