Making crafts with paper strips and newspaper

Paper is easily available product which can be used in variety of ways. You can encourage and help kids in creating crafts with newspaper or paper strips. Usually I keep a stock of colorful paper strips. At crafts class kids love to touch and feel paper strips and they love to create shapes or different objects. This article offers few tips and ideas how you can keep your kids busy with these paper crafts or sculptures.

Newspaper can be used to create crafts and paper sculptures.  “Newspaper sculpture” is a way for kids to create an art piece with tightly rolled-up pieces of newspaper. 


With a “newspaper sculpture,” children will use their hand-eye coordination. Encourage them to make their own sculpture. 

Before you begin the activity, prepare by having several wands of tightly rolled newspaper pre-made. This way, the children can dive right into the activity. Place the wands of newspaper rolls standing up (like a flower arrangement) in a bucket or container so they are easy for the children to grab. Lay out lots of rolls of masking tape of different colors.


 Bring the kids over to your activity area and let the kids start creating their own sculptures. Encourage them to bend the wands of newspaper into different shapes. Have them use the masking tape to help retain the shape of their sculpture and to tape together different pieces of newspaper rolls. You may offer idea of making a weaving mat using newspaper wands.
Learn more at: 'A place of our own.org'

Children love to use the paper strips.   Many objects, figures, shapes or 3D shapes, or mobiles can be made by just tying strings to them. This is a great way to teach children about 3 dimensional figures and space…. not to mention teaching them their basic shapes.


Just show them a few examples of figures or shapes and kids would come up with more ideas. 

Stars and Stripes or Shape Sculptures:   Cut different size strips of red, yellow and blue paper.
Fold some strips into circles, some into squares others into triangles. Cut out large shapes for a base. Arrange shapes and strips on your base and glue into place. 


Cut free-form shapes of varying sizes from colored card stock or scrapbook paper (ours measure 3 to 5 inches wide and 3 to 8 inches long). Snip two to four 1-inch slits into the sides of each shape. Build a sculpture by interlocking the pieces along the slits. 


 Useful links: 
 * Paper Flowers – Anyone Can Do That 
* Recycled Paper Weaving in Grade Two 
* Art Lessons For Kids 
* Summer Crafts For Kids: Sculpting With Paper Strips