Our school year is winding down:  classes are ending, the kids are finishing their math and English books, and now my mind turns to curriculum plans for next year.  I love every minute of curriculum research and planning!

We usually work through the summer, but this year we’ll have a light schedule.  I’ve planned some unusual and fun activities for the kids (because too much unstructured time = chaos and sadness in our home!), including some paper arts. In my paper arts plan:

• Marbling paper
• Making paper
• Making bowls from  paper pulp
• Papier mache

Most of my ideas will come from Angelika Wolk-Gerche’s book Papercraft.  On Monday, we tried paper marbling: super easy & fun, and the results are spectacular.  Even Lydia at age 2 marbled paper with a little help.

We used a kit, which you can find at a craft store.  You just fill a cake pan with water and place a little paper disc in the water.  You then take the colored dyes and plop a drop on the disc. It immediately spreads out in the water.

If you don’t drop the dye on the little disc, it just sinks to the bottom. You continue in this manner, adding whatever colors you wish.

Then you create interesting effects by blowing on the water or swirling it with a paintbrush.

Submerge your paper in the water and lift it out carefully.  Blot excess water with a paper towel and allow the piece to dry.  We couldn’t create a bad piece of marbled paper!  Even Lydia’s creation was beautiful:

Use marbled paper for book covers, cards, or gift wrap!  Spectacular!