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DIY Recycled Paper Seed Bombs

Making recycled paper is a great way to use up all your paper scraps from previous craft activities, and if you add seeds, it makes a wonderful gift to give friends! We made the ones in the photos below as Valentine's Day gifts for the kids in our forest school co-op this year. It was a really fun project that all 3 of my kids enjoyed working on, and they turned out gorgeous! Keep reading for step by step instructions.



For this activity you need:
-Construction paper and tissue paper scraps
-Flower seeds
-Cookie cutters or candy molds
-A large bowl
-A couple towels
-Parchment paper
-Flower petals (optional)

Grab your old construction paper and tissue paper scraps and tear them up into tiny pieces into a bowl.



Add a small amount of warm water and work it into the paper shreds with your fingers, making a pulp. If you have a blender or food processor you can put your pulp through it to shred it even finer. This makes the paper pulp easier to work, but you can skip this step if you don't have a blender.

Squeeze the extra water from your pulp. Stir in the flower seeds and flower petals. Use your fingers or a spoon to mix in the seeds (the blender might damage them so skip it for this step).

Set your cookie cutter or candy mold over a piece of parchment paper. Scoop a small amount of paper pulp into the cookie cutter or mold and press down firmly. Dab with a towel to remove excess water, then carefully pop it out of the cookie cutter or mold. Set it aside to dry (this may take up to 2 days). Repeat with the rest of the paper pulp.



Once they are completely dry, add a tag with planting instructions and then they are ready to give as gifts. 



We made ours as Valentine's Day gifts, but they would also make great Easter gifts or a fun Earth Day activity!

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