Autumn Paper Pulp Branch ~ Fall Kids Craft

Its Day 5 of our Fall Play Recipe Series.  If you missed any of our series, check out our edible Pumpkin Spiced Marshmallow Dough, Homemade Cranberry Fall Paint, Glowing Bread Clay and our Erupting Fall Playdough.  Today we are sharing a fun Nature Play Recipe.  Our adorable Fall Centerpiece Craft for Kids is so simple to make and will look great as part of your Thanksgiving display.

Making Paper Pulp is really simple…

• Have the kids sort paper scraps by colors into separate bowls and tear them into little pieces (we actually cheated and used the paper shredder).  Since we were making fall leaves, we used yellow, orange and red paper.
• Pour boiling water over the shredded paper and let it sit for a few hours.  This will help loosen the paper fibers and make it easier to blend it into pulp.
• Scoop small batches of softened paper and water mixture into a blender and pulse into a smooth pulp.
• Super easy!

The watery pulp is so fun to play with.  My kids described it as reaching into a squishy, spongy, mushy, cold material that totally rocks!  Ha!  They played in the pulp for quite a while, before we started to create our Fall Trees.

The kids collected tree branches and wood chips from our back yard and arranged them in a tin can (make sure your can does not have sharp edges).

Once the kids are ready to start creating, have them squish the wet paper pulp onto the branches.  This will create the look of brightly colored fall leaves.  How simple is that!  The paper will dry and have a wonderful texture.

Just to be clear, we are simply adding the wet paper directly onto the branch.  We did not adding anything to the pulp/water mixture.  I love how beautiful and textural the paper pulp looks when it is dry.

The less planned the leaves are, the better it looks.  Just sit back and let the kids create:) Our little branches supported thick leaves, small leaves, chunky leaves, skinny leaves and each one looked great!

Once the kids have deemed their branch finished, set it in the sun to dry.  Depending on how thick the pulp is, will depend on drying time.  Ours were completely dry by morning.

I can’t believe how beautiful our little Fall branches turned out!  They will make the perfect Thanksgiving centerpiece.

The dried paper pulp is stunning and the kids were so proud of their creations!  I think we may need to make a larger version for my front entry.

Just remember that we did not add anything to the paper, just water.  The dried pulp with turn back into a squishy pulp if it get wet.  You could coat your trees with a spray varnish if you are worried about them getting damaged with water.  This is an inside decoration for sure;)

This beautiful project ended up being totally free!

• Paper ~ My kids are always cutting and creating, so we started a little scrap paper bin.  It a bin where we collect all the little bits of paper that would normally end up in the recycle “just in case” we need them.  I love that we were able to find all the colors we needed.
• The branches and wood chips were found in our backyard
• Tin cans ~ recycle bin
• Burlap ~ We love creating with coffee bags.  I get them for free from my local coffee shop.  One of my favorite crafting secrets:)

For more fun inspiration follow my Art and Play Recipe board on Pinterest.

Be sure and visit these other fantastic sites to see their Nature play, and come back each day this week for more fall recipes for play!

 Kid-Made Fall Nature Wreath from Fun at Home with Kids

 Fall Sensory Jars from Blog Me Mom

Sparkly Clean Mud Recipe from Learn Play Imagine