With school budgets in trouble almost everywhere, the art classes are usually the first to go. To many people, arts and crafts seem like "extras" that are fun for kids, but don't really add to the child's knowledge. This is unfortunate, because craft projects can really bring a school subject to life.
Children as well as adults have an innate desire to make things with their hands. That's why hobby stores and art supply stores do so much business. Creating things makes people feel good, and this is certainly true for children.
The simple act of creating a paper mache piggy bank, for instance, will also involve the use of knowledge they get from other school subjects, even though the children may not know it. If you're helping your child make one of these perennial crafting favorites, you might suggest she use a standard salt container as the primary form, tape on toilet paper rolls for the legs, and then add a head made from crumpled paper held together with masking tape. You've just created a real-world example of geometry in action.
Younger children might like to help you create your own block puzzles out of cardboard covered with paper mache and then painted. You might copy the ideas from a wooden educational toy that looks like fun but costs too much to buy. Or make a new puzzle using shapes originally designed for a geometric quilt, or cut out cardboard in the shape of the 50 states.
If you glue two layers of cardboard together before cutting the shapes, and then cover the cardboard with one or two layers of paper mache, you will have pieces that are almost as indestructible as wood, but much more fun because your own child can help add the paper and paste and paint the pieces.
You can also do a simple science experiment with paper mache if you're in the mood for baking some bread. Allow your child to help mix up the bread, and make a point of letting her add the yeast. Watch the dough rise, and talk about the bubbles that the growing yeast creates inside the dough. Then mix up a batch of simple paper mache paste, using a bit of white flour mixed with water.
Note that you're using the same ingredients, except you're leaving out the yeast. Let your child make something with the paste and some strips of newspaper, and then discuss why the flour paste glues the paper together so well. You may even try making some paste using whole wheat flour, and talk about why it doesn't actually work very good to make paste, even though it makes delicious bread.
If your child is learning about animals at school, she can make a very nice paper mache animal sculpture at home. Just show her how to crumple up newspaper in the shape of an animal's body, legs, and head, and then tape them all together firmly with masking tape. Add two layers of paper strips and simple paper mache paste, and let the sculpture dry. It can then be painted.
Paper mache is just one of the art forms that can help children learn. It's messy, but both children and adults enjoy the process and the results - and a paper mache project can be a great way to make learning other academic subjects more fun.
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