A gift for someone special

Why is making a gift for someone special important?

You may often hear yourself saying to your child 'Say Thank you.' But is it a heartfelt thank you or a thank you out of habit and empty words?

It would be nice to teach them what a heartfelt thank you feels like. Point out, to your child, whenever you see thanks in action around you.

Making a 'Thank you' card or a little gift is sometimes a lovely start. This 'Paper Pulp Pendant' made from mashed up tissue paper and water could be a way.

What do we need?

  • Tissue paper or leftover crepe paper streamers in different colours
  • Scissors
  • Bowl
  • Ice cube mould – you could use a heart shaped mould, but the common cuboids look pretty too.
  • Water
  • White PVA craft glue
  • Paintbrush
  • String or ribbon to thread your paper pulp bead onto
  • Craft or gardening wire (an adult may need to do this part)

What do we do?

  1. Cut your crepe paper or tissue paper into large pieces.
  2. Soak the paper scraps in a bowl of warm water for several minutes.
  3. Remove a handful of wet paper. Squeeze some of the water out and begin pressing the paper pulp into one of the ice cube tray moulds. As you push the paper into the mould excess water will rise to the surface. Pour the water back into the bowl.
  4. Continue pushing the paper down into the mould to squeeze out as much water as possible.
  5. Add more paper pulp into the mould. Continue squeezing out the water as described above.
  6. When your paper pulp is the thickness you want, turn over the tray. Press on the outside of the mould to pop out the bead.
  7. Let your pulp bead dry out. This will take 1-2 days.
  8. Once the paper pulp is dry, clean up the edges as necessary with a pair of sharp scissors.
  9. Paint the entire paper pulp bead with white craft PVA glue. Let it dry.
  10. Adults will need to help for this. Cut 3cm length of wire. Bend it in half and twist the two ends together. Dip the twisted end in glue. Poke the twisted end into the heart, this will form the mini hoop to thread your ribbon through. Wait for the glue to dry.
  11. Thread your ribbon through the hoop and cut to the desired length and tie.
  12. Encourage your child to gift the necklace to the person they're saying thank you to. You'll need to chat to your child first, so that they can verbalise and understand why they're saying thank you.

Where and when?

At home on the kitchen table at any time.

What are we learning?

The social and emotional skills are important for you to teach your child. They don't just develop by themselves. These skills will help them to lead healthy and happy lives. They are fundamental to their cognitive development. They help them to form attachments with strong, warm, and supportive adults. This will help your child understand their own feelings and those of others.

Support your child to: 

  • manage their emotions
  • develop a positive sense of themselves
  • have confidence in their own abilities.

Parents can help to model and guide your child with tricky concepts.

Your child is developing their artist skills through this creative activity. The way that the paper changes form from paper, to pulp, to pendent will be a fascinating for your child. You can explain how form changes over time and give other examples such as baking biscuit's - from the separate ingredients, to the mouldable dough, to the baked brittle biscuit.