5 Thrifty and eco-friendly paper crafts for kids

Crafting is a wonderful way to engage your child’s creativity, foster their imagination, and develop their fine motor skills. When it comes to crafting with kids, recycled paper crafts are versatile, affordable, and offer endless possibilities.

With just a few basic supplies, you can create a plethora of exciting, eco-friendly projects that will keep your child entertained for hours.

Origami fun

Origami, the traditional Japanese art of paper folding, offers an enchanting and economical way to create intricate shapes and animals using nothing but paper. All you need is a stack of square sheets of paper and some folding instructions (which can be easily found online or in craft books).

Start with simple designs like cranes, boats, and butterflies, gradually progressing to more challenging creations. Origami helps children develop patience, precision, and concentration while fostering their problem-solving abilities. Encourage them to experiment with different paper sizes and colours to add a personal touch to their creations.

Paper collages

Paper collages are an exciting way for kids to express their artistic flair and explore different textures and colours. Gather old magazines, newspapers, wrapping paper scraps, and even tissue paper. Also, you’ll need glue, scissors, and a sturdy piece of paper as the base.

Encourage your child to cut out shapes and images they find appealing, and then arrange and glue them onto the base paper. The possibilities are limitless, as they can create abstract designs, animals, landscapes, or even tell a story through their collage.

Paper puppets

Puppet-making is a fantastic way to combine crafting with storytelling and imaginative play. Help kids create their puppet characters using paper, wooden sticks or straws, and other recyclable materials like buttons, yarn, or fabric scraps.

Children can let their imagination run wild by designing different characters, such as animals, superheroes, or fantasy creatures. After the puppets are assembled, they can stage their mini puppet shows and share their stories with friends and family, thereby enhancing their communication and storytelling skills.

Paper flowers

Bringing the beauty of nature indoors, kids can craft paper flowers using tissue paper, coloured construction paper, and pipe cleaners. This craft not only introduces children to the concept of symmetry but also offers an opportunity to discuss the different parts of a flower and their functions.

To make a tissue paper flower, stack several layers of tissue paper, alternating colours, and then fold them accordion-style. Secure the folded tissue paper with a pipe cleaner in the centre, and gently separate the layers to create a blooming effect.

Paper masks

Using basic craft supplies such as paper plates, markers, coloured paper, and elastic strings, children can create masks of their favourite animals, characters, or even their alter egos.

They can use their imagination to add various elements like feathers, glitter, or yarn to make their masks more vibrant and expressive.