Activities | Art and Heritage | Graphic arts

I produce my own coloured paper

This activity consists in the production of coloured paper using the marbled paper technique used in old books from the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. Paper is viewed by children as the writing surface par excellence. It is designed to give them an overview of the various kinds of paper used in day-to-day activities and allow them to create their own personalised sheet of paper for varied applications:

• arts and crafts;
• simple, fully customized wrapping paper with the favourite colours of parents, grandparents, siblings, etc.
• origamis;
• office accessories such as pencil cases, storage boxes, desk covers, etc.

This activity also aims to:

• provide a historical overview of paper production;
• demonstrate the importance of marbled paper in bookbinding across time;
• demonstrate that, like a painting on canvas, paper can also be regarded as an artifact cenferring special colouring to old and modern books, both in endpapers and boards.
• sensitise kids to protect books as artifacts for their unique richness and character.

To carry out this activity kids should bring a gown or plastic apron and sleeve protectors. It would also be important that photos are taken to be used in future IPT activities.

Activity instructor: Paula Pinto Pereira (UDADC)