We finally got the first set of the Young Scientist Club kits (thanks Gammy) and the kids were gnawing at the bit to get started on the projects inside. So today we pulled it out and started with the Recycling Kit. We did experiment #2 – recycling a paper bag into paper. The kits aren’t amazing but we had a lot of fun and it was nice having the ‘not normal household’ stuff right there. In this case, two pieces of screen and a sponge. We had to supply a paper bag and a blender (although the directions did say you could skip the blender if you really cut the pieces up small and soaked the paper well).
You can easily do this at home without the kit. First tear up the paper into tiny pieces. Then soak 1 cup of paper in 4 cups warm water (they recommend a 1 cup paper to 1 cup warm water for lighter papers like newspaper) for five minutes.
If you have a blender, blend until it is a fine pulp. (Ear plugs are optional 😉 )
Place a piece of screen over a bowl or cup and pour or spoon out some of the paper pulp into an even layer. Press the back of the spoon on the pulp to squeeze out excess water.
Place a second piece of screen over the pulp, flip the paper over onto a towel and use the sponge to flatten the paper more between the screens (you can use a rolling pin for a smoother paper). We set ours to dry on a cookie sheet.
I wasn’t sure if we were going to squeeze in the Unplugged ‘Thin’ Challenge this week but I managed to come up with something super quick and easy. We made collages by cutting old magazines and catalogs into thin strips. The older two kiddos enjoyed the cutting process and the youngest the gluing. They were only willing to spend about 10-15 minutes on the project though… wanting to get back to playing cards with Grandma and Grandpa.
