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Lesson Plans


Re: Papermaking discovery...

From: Sharon Barrett Kennedy (sharonbk)
Date: Thu Jan 06 2000 - 21:21:07 PST

<<Did you have a particular recipe? How many sheets can you make at once?
How long does it need to sit int the screen. Mine need to sit until dry. Is
ther an easier way?>>

First, thanks to everyone who's been kind enough to answer all of MY
questions about papermaking, papercasting, etc. You guys are GREAT!!

I'm sort of the wrong person to ask about the "right" way to make paper as
I'm just starting, but it's fun to be experimenting right along with the
kids.

We filled a blender about 2/3 full of water. Our first sheet was made from
findings in the computer lab--mainly copier paper with lots of print. We
just tore tiny pieces of it, and let it soak for a minute in the blender,
then blended on high for 30-45 seconds, I guess. We added enough paper to
make sort of a half-melted milkshake consistency. We poured it over the
screen, let it drip for a while into a pan, inverted it onto papertowels on
top of newspapers, used a sponge to soak up some of the excess, then removed
the screen. We let it dry overnight. This morning it was somewhat warped
and surprisingly thick. It was a light gray color with scattered black
dots. Interesting.

We also tried one with construction paper and glitter. That was sort of
thick, too, but quite cool in appearance as we combined green and purple
paper. In the blender it turned sort of a forest green, but once it dried,
the greens and purples were more distinct, in sort of a swirling pattern.

We also tried a sheet with off-white construction paper and blue dryer lint
which had some dog hair in it! After removing the screen (once it was
inverted on the paper towels and newspaper), we added another layer of paper
towels and newspaper, put a board on it, and stood on it. Then, we took the
new paper (still on the newspaper and paper towel) and ironed it (using a
cover sheet--and then one of our smocks!) It was still somewhat damp when I
left today, but it seemed thinner and more compact than the ones that had
dried naturally. Very neat color and texture in it. It will be fun to see
what it looks like when it's completely dry.

So we're absolutely figuring this out, one step at a time, and the best part
is when a kid says..."I wonder what would happen if...." and I can
say--"Dunno--try it!"

One kid, in particular, is really into this, and wants to try to embed
flowers, photos, etc. He even asked to take one of the library books home
with him last night, and today brought in a handmade and bound journal that
a relative gave him for Christmas which was made from homemade paper. He
wants to try something similar--and is also interested in natural dyes.

Papermaking is just one part of a month-long papercraft class that's meeting
1-1/2 hours per day (just on a pass/fail basis). All students are working
on papier-mache bowls, and they also have other projects going, ranging from
collages, paper mosaics, designs in paper, etc., etc. I've just got 10 kids
in this class, but ranging from 5th to 11th graders!

Definitely crazy with this much diversity in terms of ages and projects, but
lots of fun, too! And as it's the last class of the day, I'm actually
having to kick them out when I have to leave--they're wanting to hang out to
work on their projects. Is this heaven, or what???

Sharon

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