Scrap Paper Crafts for Kids - Celebrating National Craft Month

Here we are, celebrating the first week of Spring. Can you believe it’s already here? Depending on where you live, this winter either felt cold or colder. Maybe you were even feeling a bit stir-crazy, ready to get out of the house and peek in on your gardens. Hopefully, you’re seeing the first signs of spring: crocus, tulips, and hyacinth peeking out of the ground.

 

March is full of exciting celebrations: from the first day of spring and St. Patrick’s Day to National Craft Month! We, at Pacon, think every month is “craft month.” Don’t you agree?

As arts and craft supply collectors, we also have to celebrate practice spring cleaning. Remember that feeling you had last August when you set up your classroom for the school year and everything had a purpose and was in its intended place? It was absolutely glorious, wasn’t it? After zooming through the school year as fast as you and your students did, things became an awful mess!

 

Half-rolls of Fadeless® Paper in a dusty corner…

A mislabeled box of Bordette® Border odds and ends…

Well-loved (cut to smithereens) construction paper in your Classroom Keepers®...

 

Your hopeful heart is telling you to keep every last scrap -- as it has so much educational potential -- but your brain (and our previous blog post on Tidying Up Your Classroom - Marie Kondo Style) tells you to declutter, declutter, declutter! What to do?!

 

Today is your lucky day, friend. Follow your heart and gather your scraps. We’re going to embark on one last creative classroom craft mission before breaking out the recycling bins.

 

Introducing...

 

Mission: Scrap-a-thon --  a day of celebrating open-ended creativity and personal expression through art!

 

(Shouldn’t that be every day? Yes, we think so, too!)

 

 

What are some of the benefits of holding a scrap material free-for-all?

• Use up leftover materials before the end of the year, making your cleanout process much smoother
• Students learn resourcefulness and encourage sharing
• Get new inspiration from raw, textured edges or curved cutouts
• Students explore textures and materials in a new way, creating multi-dimensional and/or functional projects
• Everyone can feel empowered to create art they see as beautiful without pressure to color within the lines.

Scrap Project Ideas

 

You can always check us out on Pinterest to get inspiration and instructions for endless variations on the awesome projects below:

• Monster bookmarks
• Holiday greeting cards
• Tissue paper luminaries and suncatchers
• Self-portrait collage
• Yarn pompons
• Paper punch confetti/pointillism lesson
• Paper beads necklace
• Paper flower bouquets
• Handmade seed paper
• Paper Quilling
• Origami animals
• Weaving project
• Paper hats and tails
• Hand-bound paper book
• Tissue paper/coffee filter flowers
• Finger puppet people and animals
• Ripped paper tree
• Melted crayon shapes
• Pinata for last day of school
• Miniature parade float!

 

If any of your students want to earn brownie points, allow them to gather and test all of the markers in the room. Now is a great time to throw away anything without a cap and most definitely, anything that no longer works!

As a fun hint of inspiration, share with your students these cool and wacky upcoming holidays:

 

3/22/2019	National Goof Off Day
3/25/2019	Waffle Day
3/26/2019	Purple Day
3/28/2019	National Something On a Stick Day
3/31/2019	National Crayon Day
4/6/2019	National Tartan Day
4/11/2019	National Pet Day
4/12/2019	Grilled Cheese Day
4/16/2019	Wear Pajamas to Work Day
4/18/2019	National High Five Day
4/19/2019	Bicycle Day
4/20/2019	Lima Bean Respect Day
4/29/2019	International Dance Day
5/11/2019	Astronomy Day
5/17/2019	Bike to Work Day
5/23/2019	World Turtle Day
5/28/2019	Hamburger Day
6/4/2019	National Cheese Day
6/5/2019	National Running Day
6/7/2019	National Donut Day
6/17/2019	Global Garbage Man Day
6/21/2019	National Selfie Day
6/23/2019	National Pink Day

 

Who knows? Maybe one of your students will become over-the-moon excited and write a limerick about Lima Bean Respect Day.

 

We wish you the best of luck in welcoming Spring with a positive “out with the old, in with the new” attitude. Don’t forget to follow us on Pinterest for additional bright ideas for arts and crafts the classroom!