Being able to make paper yourself

Making paper: Material

Paper consists of organic natural fibre material, the cellulose contained in plants. The basis of paper production is the so-called pulp, a mixture of cellulose, water and other ingredients. The most important other ingredients are kaolin and gelatine: kaolin is finely ground clay that is used to lighten the pulp in order to achieve a more beautiful white colour. Gelatine is also used to improve the quality of the paper, as it makes the surface of the finished sheets smoother. Measuring and mixing these ingredients is a source of fun and interest when making paper yourself. In addition, the process of turning separate ingredients into a uniform, useful base mass in the mixer is highly exciting for children. There are also ways to make your own paper from old newspapers, cardboard boxes and magazines - making it easy to explain recycling using a practical example.

This pulp is scooped out of a tub-shaped container through the sieve-like frame and then remains on top of the frame with the sieve, allowing the water to run off at the bottom. With a group set for paper scooping, you are provided with all the necessary accessories and illustrative instructions to guarantee a smooth process. After drying, the paper can of course be further processed: Use high-quality paper and cardboard products to create such impressive crafts with the paper you make yourself! Clay paper and cardboard are particularly suitable for this.

Great experiences when making paper

Making paper yourself amazes children of all ages and gives them a feeling for how much material, energy and above all water is required to make paper. Creating and designing paper is therefore a great way to stimulate ideas about sustainability and environmental awareness: when children see for themselves how much effort goes into many of their everyday objects, it is easier to explain how everything depends on each other. The tactile handling of individual materials and the paper pulp is simple, and the results can be easily recycled when making things.

When making paper with children, you can give free rein to your creativity and decide for yourself how you want to combine the colour, size and thickness of the paper. You can achieve particularly beautiful effects by adding dried flower petals or strips of coloured paper. You can collect the flowers yourself with the children and dry them with our flower and leaf presses. The addition of watercolours can also create beautiful streaks in the texture - this way, individually designed postcards or other souvenirs can be created during creative crafting.

Flexible with scooping frames and good ideas

Paper scooping is such a flexible project because of these numerous possibilities - depending on requirements, it can be a one-off, short activity, or part of a larger chain of individual tasks, at the end of which the children have created their own book with pressed meadow plants, or something similar. In this example, the individual steps would be divided into collecting and pressing plants, making paper, binding a book and finally decorating it with the pressed flowers and leaves.

But there are no limits to the imagination, and a project customised for the class is lots of fun. Let yourself be inspired by seasonal handicrafts, or continue browsing TimeTEX for the right inspiration!