The Incubator Partners with SPROUT: Paper Making Class at Refresh Gardens

We had such a lovely morning today at the Refresh Garden making paper with neighbors and families! This Saturday the NOLA Artist Incubator partnered with SPROUT to offer a free paper making class at their community garden. We had 20 families signed up for the event, so we came prepared with all the materials for a great day in the garden making art with natural and recycled materials.!

Set up

We used materials from our garden to serve as trays for the learners and recycled yogurt cups as our cups for the pulp.

We made our moulds and deckles from recycled wood and screens.

We came with premixed pulp we brought in a five gallon bucket and used recycled newspaper for the blend.

We also came with seeds we had saved from our garden, and other dried natural materials for children to incorporate in their paper projects.

The Process

The learners were given a brief demonstration of the activity and a cup of pulp, with the option to dye their pulp if they chose to do so. They could put in seeds while stirring the mixture, or directly into their paper as they worked.

We used sponges to soak up the excess water and had recycled paper bags to for children to place their project to take home to dry.

Learners could try and form shapes and take pride in discovering different possibilities in the process. Additionally, children had the option of harvesting directly from the garden to add to their paper creations.

Results

Everyone had a blast! Some time was spent chasing butterflies and catching caterpillars, but the children kept coming back to the paper making project, experimenting further and trying new techniques as they worked. There was discussion about the act of recycling in this art making process, and brainstorming among learners on ways to duplicate the project in their homes and schools. We love that the students became the teachers and gained new skills over the course of the activity.