As November and December roll around and Christmas gifts are being purchased for family and friends, I always love to add special touches to their gifts that really personalise them. If you have followed us over on Instagram you may remember me sharing this lovely activity in my stories as we've made it.
My children are forever asking to draw so over the course of these months I whip out lengths of brown paper for them to freely decorate at the table. Our family and friends are always so touched to receive the gifts so thoughtfully wrapped and it really is a joy for us to hand them over to show them how much the memories we've made with them mean so much to us.
Something that we don't forget during the festive season are the lovely memories we make during this time with people who are special to us.
Particularly over the last couple of years where we have experienced Christmas time where traditions have had to be broken and we've not been able to gather as we always have. We will all be so much more appreciative of these times moving forward.
I wanted to share with you something that we have loved doing for the last few years now. I always make sure that I have large rolls of the brown wrapping paper in the house. I love it for a few reasons....
- It's a lot more friendly for the environment
- You get a lot more for your money
- It's incredibly versatile
- I love the rustic look
Over recent years the brown paper packages tied up with string look has been on trend. In the UK alone we send 5 million tonnes of paper to landfill every year! The fibres used in wrapping paper are not usually strong enough to be recycled and some even leak out the chemicals into the ground once they read landfill. We can do so much better than this!
Today I want to share with you how the children put their spin on the wrapping paper because I just know that you will love creating it with your children too!
What is really important with this activity is that you use the right art materials. If you use certain paints and products once they dry the paint will flake off. Not only that but we also want to be mindful of the materials we use to make it as eco friendly as possible so I will also be sharing with you at the end of this post the best art resource for the job!
Using a large flat surface such as a table or the floor (hard flooring is best, it would not work well on carpet) roll out your brow paper in as larger lengths as you can accommodate. I always use my dining table for this activity so usually do around 3/4 meters at a time.
I always buy my brown paper in bulk online. I buy around 600mm x 100 meters rolls from Amazon. It is usually around £14 for this amount.
I secure it down on the table with little bits of tape. This prevents it from moving around whilst the children create. It peels away easily so doesn't spoil the paper at all.
I pop out the art resources and usually just leave them out on the table for the children to come back and forth to as they please. I don't tell them what to do or how to anything - its their paper so it includes all sorts - some text, bits of Christmas, usually some space themed drawings, animals, nature - it can be rather random at times and that's what really adds to the charm of it all.
The children create and make over the course of the weeks and I bind the paper together by rolling it back up and securing it together with an elastic band. Before I know it I have a huge batch of wonderful brown paper that is decorated with love and colour from my children and I just adore it all.
As we create it long lengths I can cut the paper down as needed to wrap the gifts.
Another finishing touch I add is printing off lots of photos that feature the people who the gifts are for. We don't usually write tags as the pictures will show us who the gifts are for. Once the gifts I wrapped I use a glue stick to secure the pictures down and just like that we have a lovely, personalised gift wrapped gift ready to dish out to our family and friends.
Now a little secret I have to share with you is the art materials that are a MUST have for this activity. Paint Sticks! We stock them in our shop and we would be so appreciative if you shop through us for these excellent art resources. We stock a huge range! My personal favourite is the Metallic Ranges but honestly you can't go wrong with any set.
Let me share with you just a few reasons why they are so good....
- They're a clever, fun, clean and convenient way to paint
- The paint is not toxic and is water soluble
- Mess (if any) is minimal!
- They're child friendly
- The vibrant, super silky paint glides on the surface and dries within seconds!
- Paint can be used on pretty much any surface
- They last for ages!
- Lovely range of colours
So there are so many positives to adding these brand of paint sticks to your art stash! They are easy to use, incredibly convenient and most importantly fun to use!
We have used them on many surfaces from nature items, glass, ice, paper, cardboard - you name it. They have been well and truly tried and tested and come highly recommended!
Simply use the paint sticks to draw our your lovely creations and make your very own wrapping paper. You can write a message on or do what we do and add a photo to the parcel. It's a lovely way to showcase the adventures you've had together with the person you are giving the gift too.
Be sure not to miss anything from us by:
I always share things there first, and quite often some ideas don't always make the blog. So come and follow us.
We quite possibly have the best community group on Facebook. Looking for inspiration, advice? Want a place to share your ideas and activity set ups with like minded people?
See all our activities in action via our channel. We throw in a little family life too so you may just find out a little more about the family behind Learning an Exploring Through Play.
Do you live in the UK? Are you always on the look out for new, fun places to visit? We would love you to be apart of our outdoor exploring group. Come and share your own ideas or be inspired to get outdoors by others.
No comments:
Post a Comment