Recycled Paper Weaving Project

This was an art project for the 3rd graders of New Artists Afterschool Program, inspired by the blog, Art Lessons For Kids.  Everyday, we are constantly throwing out old papers and newspaper we no longer think we need.  This project allowed us to clean out our office of old paper we could recycle into this amazing art brought to you by our class!

First, to begin the project, find some old 9x12 pieces of cardboard.  For our project, we used the backs of old notepads and notebooks. Each student will get one piece of cardboard for their project.

Then, it was time to pass out all the old paper. Each student was given between 8-10 sheets of recycled paper.  Each student twists the paper to their desired "twisty-ness". 

At this time, students will either glue or staple their paper down to the cardboard.  With our 3rd grade class, teachers walked around and stapled the paper for students where they wanted their paper twists to be placed.  We first stapled the paper twists vertically.  Once the first couple papers were stapled, students began the weaving process.  Students were amazingly creative in the ways they weaved the paper. 

Once all the paper weaving was complete, students had the chance to paint their projects using tempera paint.  Many students mixed paints, painted shapes on their project; all projects were beautifully unique.

Overall, students seemed very excited to create their projects, and I loved that we were able to use so many recycled materials.

-Emily