How to Make Woven Paper Placemats
Weaving paper placemats is a great way to introduce elementary students to this craft. Imagine how satisfying it will be to your children to produce the placemats that will decorate the supper table for a family meal. This even makes a great party craft.
Things You'll Need
- 8 x 10-inch sheets of colored construction paper
- Scissors
- Ruler
- Pencil
- Double-sided tape
- Clear contact paper or supplies needed to laminate the placemat
Instructions
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Cut out many different strips of colored construction paper that are 1/2-inch wide and 11 inches long. You will be able to get 16 strips from one piece of construction paper. Each placemat will require 16 strips, but you may want to weave in several different colors.
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Prepare the construction paper woof (the base into which you will weave the strips). You will need to measure, draw guidelines and cut along the guidelines. Leave a margin of 1/2 inch at the top and bottom of the paper that you are orienting in the land-scape position so that the longest side is the horizontal. Leave a 1-inch margin on the right and left side. Draw 18 lines from the top to the bottom of the paper. They each will be 7 1/2 inches long. Space the lines at 1/2-inch intervals. Cut along the lines being careful not to cut into the margins. These cuts will make a series of slits in the background of the construction paper placemat.
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Sit in front of the construction paper base. Weave strips from the left to the right and from the top to the bottom. Slide the first strip through the slit that is the furthest to the left. Pull the strip behind the base and then up to the front at the next slit. Now the strip is on the front of the construction paper base. Pull it across to the next slit and push it to the back. Alternate the strip so that it travels from the front of the placemat to the back of the placemat with each new slit. Secure the strip with double sided tape on both the left edges of the placemat.
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Start the next strip. You may decide to use a different color and to weave in a pattern. This time you will manipulate the construction paper strip in the opposite direction of the first one. When the first strip is positioned to the back side of the placemat, your second strip should be placed on the front side and vice versa. Each new strip will follow the opposite pattern from the last one so that you can create a geometric basket-weave pattern. Make sure to secure each strip on the left and the right with double sided tape to keep it in place. Continue weaving until the whole placemat is finished.
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Cover both sides of the finished placemat with clear contact paper or laminate them. This allows the placemats to be reused and wiped clean of any spills.
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Tips & Warnings
The width of the paper strips you weave into the placemats can be varied to form patterns once the children become skilled at the task of weaving in general.
Use red and green paper for Christmas placemats; red, white, and blue paper for the Fourth of July, etc.
Children can make matching sets of placemats to give away to favorite aunts, grand-parents and parents.
