Last week, we started a real life recycle project, cutting up scrap paper into tiny pieces in order to eventually turn it into new, whole paper.
This week, we moved on to the next steps of paper making: turning it to mush. After ensuring all the pieces of paper were small enough, we added water, stirred it all up, and then put batches of the water and paper mixture into the blender. This made a smooth pulp, which was fascinating. The kids really enjoyed the sensory experience of squeezing the paper pulp, running their hands through it, and transferring it from container to container. This also inspired some sculpting with the paper pulp, and an experiment to see if we could make other things besides new paper from it. We have a few items drying, and will see next week how they turn out!