Paper to Paper

We have a lot of paper waste. What shall we do with it all? Let’s make paper!

Paper is one of the most versatile products of modern mankind.  In the very old days, paper was made from rags and vegetable fibers, extracted from hemp, bamboo, willow etc.  Today paper is primarily produced from wood.  We use hundreds of  millions of tonnes of paper each year, resulting in  billions of trees cut down and tonnes of paper waste in landfills. 

As an Enviroschool, at both our preschools we “nurture Nature and People and the whole school environment is a learning resource”.  In practice that means that our programme focuses on giving children access to activities that reflect an ecological approach and a positive belief in the future. We aim to practice sustainable practices where possible.  With all that paper waste it means we have to act! 

At both Tawa Montessori Preschool and at Little Earth we have a system where we collect paper waste and use it to make new paper.  The paper waste we collect is soaked in water and every week we make a batch of pulp.  This way we can make our own paper every day.

The paper making activity is set up so that the children at our preschool can do this independently, at any time of the day.  The only time an adult is needed is when we make the pulp as it involves the use of a blender. The pulp is stored in a sealed container in the fridge for daily use throughout the week. We made the frames ourselves, using fly screen from the diy shop, and the tray is an enamel oven dish.

Here are the steps we use to make our own paper:

Materials: tray, jug for water, pulp, frame, frame with mesh, towel



To make the pulp:
- Rip paper into tiny pieces.
- Add water and soak for a few days.
- Put soaked paper into a blender with a little extra water and blend to a pulp.
- Tip pulp into a container and store in fridge.



To make the paper:
- Tip some pulp in the tray, if needed, ad some water
- Submerge frame into the tray.  Gently get an even coverage of pulp over the mesh in the frame.
- Lift frame out of the water.



- Gently dry with a towel.
- Remove top frame to reveal paper!



- Carefully turn paper out on to another dry towel.
- Wait to dry!

We have been making paper daily for nearly two years now. We use this paper for cutting, glueing, wrapping, drawing, and lots of other activities in the classroom. We have even used it to make our own seedling pots.

- Anja

Join the Christmas Box Challenge!

 - Play is the only way the highest intelligence of humankind can unfold -

- Joseph Chilton Pearce

After you have opened all the presents and eaten the food, give in to the universal urge to Play.  Children the world over, and adults alike, need to play whenever they can.  Play is in all animals, including us.  We are biologically driven to play.  So don’t throw out those boxes.  Join The Grass Stain Guru in The Christmas Box Challenge!

Have a playful Christmas!

- Anja

Coffee grounds Christmas decorations

Who doesn’t like coming home to the smell of coffee? Especially after a day of Christmas shopping. We wrote earlier how at our preschools we use coffee grounds in our garden. We also use them to make fossils. Now here is another idea how to use coffee grounds in the lead up to Christmas. Make Christmas decorations!

Use 1 cup of used coffee grounds, 1/2 cup of water, 1 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of salt. Mix the ingredients together and roll out the dough. Use Christmas cookie cutters to make the shape. Make a hole for the ribbon or string before you let them dry. Once dried, decorate them the way you want, we decorated them with glitter.

Once finished, you can put your feet up with a cuppa while the children decorate the tree, with coffee grounds!

Now that will fill up your room with aroma!

- Anja

Coffee grounds fossils

Yesterday I wrote about the Ground to Ground initiative and the reuse of coffee grounds for compost and gardening. Tonnes of used coffee grounds are discarded each day, filling up our landfills. Coffee grounds are a good source of nitrogen for the compost, garden or worm farm and a natural deterrent for snails and slugs. But coffee grounds can also be used as a natural component to make “play dough” at preschool. 

At Little Earth the children are enjoying making their own fossil imprints. We use coffee grounds, collected from BURST Drive-Thru-Cafe.

We mix 1 cup of used coffee grounds, 1/2 cup of water, 1 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of salt together in a large bow.

We roll the mixture out onto a flat surface, over some wax paper. We use a big wooden chopping board.

We use shells, leaves, and even own hands, to make imprints, and allow them to dry overnight.
 

Our coffee ground fossils look very realistic as they look like real rocks when finished!



We are only just starting to explore the many uses of coffee grounds! What ideas for reusing coffee grounds do you have?

- Anja

Messages from our children

"Within the child lies the fate of the future"

- Maria Montessori

Over at The Grass Stain Guru I wrote a guest post, The virtue of the Dandelion. The children of Tawa Montessori and Little Earth Montessori shared their thoughts and dreams for a more sustainable world to grow up in. Here are some of their messages written on the dandelion labels:

“Flowers grow with water and sunshine, and dotty rain” - M, 4 yrs
“We found a REAL insect in the sand” - D, 4 yrs
“My flower needs sun and water and rain to grow and the leaf needs all that too!” - E, 4 yrs
“I think the slugs are sleeping, they are tired from racing” - C, 3 yrs
“The sun makes the plants grow up, up, up” - G, 4 yrs
“I’m going to tip the water out. I ‘m going to tip it on the plants so they will grow” - C, 3 yrs
“Did you know ... if you scrunch a piece of paper, you waste a whole tree?” - C, 4 yrs
"We don't squish the butterflies. We let them go" - S, 4 yrs
"We leave insects where we find them" - S, 4 yrs
"Don't take the bugs. We put them back in their homes" - C, 3 yrs

Going Green part 1 - Recycling

As a member of Enviroschools, the New Zealand counterpart of Eco Schools, our preschool is committed to work towards becoming a sustainable community. Being an Enviroschool means we are committed to creating a sustainable physical environment that fosters greater understanding of the interrelatedness between all living things and a concern for the particular place we live in. It promotes and acknowledges our preschool's long-term action for the environment. We start environmental education at a young age with hands-0n experiences.

As an Enviroschool we raise our childrens' awareness of environmental issues through talking, sharing and doing. Young children learn what they are taught and it is important to teach them basic skills that will influence and shape habits. Habits, such as recycling, are then reinforced over their entire lives.

To recycle means to collect and remake an item into the same thing or into something else. The recycle symbol means that something can be recycled or that it has been made from recycled material. In order for something to be recycled, however, it needs to be saved and taken to a place called "recycling centre".



At our preschool, we collect our recyclable items in separate bins. Once they are full, the children put everything in bags, which can be tricky when your are only three years old! The bags are then put back in the recycling bin and taken to the kerbside, to be collected by the recyclers. The "trip" to the roadside letterbox, to put the recycle bin at the kerbside for collection, is a major highlight, as the children feel very responsible carrying out the lot.

Waste reduction and recycling is part of being a green school and our children are totally involved, as it is integrated into our curriculum and part of our whole school environment. Not only does recycling teach our children eco literacy, environmental awareness and social responsibility, it also teaches skills in classification, matching, sorting, sequencing and critical thinking.

Teaching young children about recycling doesn't have to be elaborate or complicated. Keeping it simple is key to making it successful. Young children easily learn to distinguish between glass, plastic and paper, the three main properties we separate from our garbage to be collected by the recycling people.

A good children's book to share with your child about recycling is "George Saves the World by Lunchtime" by Jo Readman and Ley Honor Roberts.

It is a story about a boy who is determined to save the world, but is not quite sure how. A trip to the recycling bank, charity shop and local farmers’ market show how recycling and re-using materials, and using less petrol and local produce can really help save the world.

At home you can take recycling a step further by talking to your child about waste reduction. You can teach your child about the use of trees to make paper products and looking at all the packaging in the supermarket when you are grocery shopping together. You may even want to start your own vegetable garden, pointing out to your child how you are saving trees by not having to buy the packaged products in the supermarket.

Children love to be involved and to be active and the feeling of helping out nurtures their self esteem and worthiness. Recycling is one action that teaches young children responsibility and respect for planet Earth. But remember, you are your child's greatest role-model!
- Anja

- Going Green part 1 - Recycling
- Going Green part 2 - An enviro care code
- Going Green part 3 - An edible garden