Paper making?

its a hard and messy job, you got to keep it pressed down really hard why not ask parents to bring in any old wallpaper they may have

Sounds a nice idea, but the reality is that it a lengthy and messy process - you are best off - Buying recycled paper from a supplier. - Making the kids use both sides of the paper. - Shredding used paper & recycling that. - TEACH them that they should not waste paper. Good luck

You will need to shred the paper...and then 'pulp' it. You maybe able to carry out this bit with a liquidiser, dont forget to add water. Lay this pulped paper out on a flat surface then use a roller to squeeze out the water and to obtain an overall uniform thickness. Place a very heavy weight on the sheet and leave to dry. A lot of this would be 'trial and error'. I work for a company that makes paper and they use multi million pound machines, I think doing it their way is a little out of your league.

Great idea, the company I work for has all it's waste paper recycled, but if we received a request from a local school, would be delighted to supply almost unlimited supply of shredded paper. I'm sure there's loads of businesses near your school that could do the same. If your based in the West country, there's a great place for a class visit that displays paper making (apart from a lot of other things).

I did a 1 day course about it a couple of years ago. From what I can remember we tore up used and scrap paper and put it into a food mixer partly filled with water, put the lid on and switched it on for a couple of minutes until the paper had become pulp. Next we poured this mixture into a rectangular frame which had some kind of screening on the bottom to allow the pulp to settle. When we were satisfied with our paper we put down a couple of layers of newspaper, and layed the paper out to dry. It can take quite a long time. It may be an idea to look up some of the finer details in a book as I can only remember that much. You may also be interested in felt-making, which is a similar idea, using wool scraps.

My mother makes a lot of paper and I've done it, too. It isn't as scary as the previous posters are telling you. For preschoolers you won't be trying to make professional paper and the paper they make can be used to make holiday cards for their parents! Either tear the paper into small 1"-ish pieces or shred it. Chop up the shredded paper to prevent it from winding around the blender blade. Soaking the paper (clean mop bucket works well) in some water makes the blending easier. Blend the paper in small batches until it is pulped. Put the pulp into a covered container and use within a couple of days. Don't keep this mixture too long or it will start to rot and smell bad. Overnight or for a couple of days won't hurt. Surprisingly, adding a calcium tablet helps the texture of the pulp so I mix one in while I'm blending it. I suggest you do a large batch of pulp at home and do just a sample amount with the kids since their attention span is usually short. This way they can see how its done. To form the paper, I use an embroidery hoop that has door screening instead of fabric. Mom has staple the screening to an old picture frame. Either works well. The limitation is that the frame must fit inside a tub of water, such as a plastic sweater box or dishpan. Fill the pan so that the water is about 2" deeper than the screen. Add enough of the pulp so it is fairly thick in the pan. Slide the screen into the watery pulp and then gently pull it up, shaking it slightly to even out the pulp. With a little practice this'll come easy. I turn my paper out onto some old towels topped with a piece of an old cotton sheet. Mom sometimes turned hers out onto the old towel: it gives more texture. Paper towels stick to the paper. This is okay because it adds sturdiness, but isn't necessary and the unbacked paper is nicer. The paper has to dry, but it can be stacked as long as you have the cotton sheets between the papers. I hurry mine along by ironing it. This could be done while the kids are napping or something, but I don't like hot irons and preschoolers! They are so unpredictable. :) You can tint the paper with paints, no special dyes are necessary.

My preschoolers took an art class once where they did this (with a lot of help). Tear up or shred the paper. You can either let it sit in water overnight to break down, or run it through a blender with some water. Next you will need a rectangular frame made of wood with wire screen stapled on one side. Lay plenty of towels out on a table and place the screen on top of the towels. Scoop some paper pulp onto the screen and spread it over the screen until it is well covered and about 1/8" - 1/4" thick. Press down hard with a sponge all over the pulp to push as much water as possible out through the screen onto the towels. Carefully turn frame over and tap so that the wet paper falls out onto layers of newspaper. Let dry. This can take a day or two. It will dry quicker if you set it out in the sun on a warm day. It is a very messy, time consuming process. The resulting paper is lumpy, thick, and hard (more like thin cardboard). It is difficult to write on even for an adult, but it is OK for crayons. It takes 10-15 shredded sheets of paper to make one sheet of handmade paper. Another thing you could do with all that extra paper is paper mache. It is not quite as messy and my kids love it. It wouldn't give them more paper to scribble, but it might use up the time that they would normally spend scribbling up 20 sheets of paper.