Benefits of Paper Bag and How to Make it? Activity for Kids
Mother Earth gives us everything. Instead of being grateful, we often practice non-eco-friendly activities as well as man-made hazards that are snatching the gifts of Mother Earth from us. One of the most infamous of these non-eco-friendly activities is the use of plastic bags. Plastic is extremely harmful to the environment since it is non-biodegradable in nature. To discourage citizens from buying groceries and other items in plastic bags, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has introduced a hashtag - #BYOB i.e “Bring Your Own Bag”. Today, umpteen shops and shopping malls have put up this hashtag on their premises.
In order to enlighten your children about the same, you can tell them about the benefits of a paper bag. At Medhaam
childcare and kindergarten, we teach the kids how to make paper bags so that they carry their own paper bags whenever they go out shopping. You can also do this fun activity with your kid at home. Wondering how? Our
daycare preschool kindergarten will tell you.
Benefits of carrying a paper bag
Before you dive straight into a creative activity with your kid, it’s important to tell him or her why paper bags are better than commonly-used plastic bags so that your kid takes this activity seriously and grows into an enlightened citizen of the country. You can tell your kids the following benefits of a paper bag:
Paper bags are biodegradable.
You and your kid can bury polythene and a piece of paper in your garden. After 10 days, dig out the remains with your kid. The piece of paper will vanish, however, the plastic bag will continue to exist. In this way, you can teach your kid the word “biodegradable”. Tell him or her that plastic is non-biodegradable and hence, is harmful to Mother Earth. On the other hand, paper is biodegradable.
Paper bags can be recycled and can be reused.
Paper bags are almost 100% recyclable and can decompose within just a month. They can be dealt with and consistently reused. They are both recyclable and reusable. Paper bags can be reused at home and can even be used to make compost.
Paper bags are safe for everybody.
Children, pregnant women, and animals are under constant threat from plastic bags. On the other hand, paper bags are safe in nature.
So, these were some benefits of carrying a paper bag around. Now, once you discuss them with your child, it’s time to give a creative edge to this conversation. Let’s make a paper bag at home.
How to make a paper bag at home?
At Medhaam
daycare and kindergarten, we have a fun activity in which the children make paper bags. They enjoy this activity like anything. It’s blissful to see small fingers folding paper and making a beautiful paper bag. Wish to try it? Well, you can make a paper bag very easily at home in the following manner:
- Take a piece of paper. Ask your child to measure it with the help of a ruler. Cut that paper to 24 x 38 cm.
- Rotate the paper till you achieve a landscape orientation. Fold the long edge up to 5 cm. Make a sharp crease and unfold it.
- Fold the paper in half to find the center points and make two markings (up and down).
- Make two extra points at the crease after folding the short side to the centerline. Repeat for both short sides. You should now have a total of 6 points.
- Fold the right and left sides of the paper to the center line. Glue them together where they overlap.
- Turn the bag over so that the glued side is on the bottom and the open side is facing you.
- Fold the creases on the long sides inwards to give the appearance of the bag’s sides. Try folding them in half.
- Find the crease and fold it up around 10 cm.
- When you open the bottom, the two inward-facing wrinkles will pop open. Fold these down so that they appear like two triangles with a rectangle in the center.
- Fold and attach the top and bottom of this rectangle to the center of the triangles. It should now appear to be at the bottom of your bag.
- You are now free to open your bag. Make four holes on the top of your bag with a punch and thread the rope or ribbon through them to produce your handles.
Ta-da! Your paper bag is ready! Decorate it with crystals or stickers.
