Classroom Decorations Made Easy with Butcher Paper

Elementary school teachers have known for years that butcher paper is a great tool for creating classroom decorations. It can be used along walls to show numbers and letters as wells as classroom events and important information for the students. Butcher paper can also be used for art projects that help the kids learn to cooperate and work together to make interesting ideas come to life. The following are a couple of projects that would be great for early year students.

Cartoon People - A fun and great way to put butcher paper to use is to create life-sized figures of yourself or people you know. Roll the paper out on the floor then lay down on the paper while someone else traces your body outline with a pencil. Color the picture using paints, crayons or markers. After the piece has been colored, cut it out and hang it on a door, or line a classroom wall with the "students."

History Lessons - Create a timeline for the period your classroom is studying in history. Tape the butcher paper along an entire wall of the room. Divide the students into sections, whether that is by decade, event or year and have them create events that are important in history. Another way to involve all of the students is to put a couple in charge of making the line and dates along the paper then assigning individual students to particular time frames. The students can then draw pictures of memorable events or write a short paragraph about them above each date.

Cool Butcher Paper Art Projects

A roll of butcher paper can be an enormous benefit to classrooms or homes looking for ways to create cool art projects. Butcher paper is a great way to get creative and construct designs that come straight from the imagination instead of through electronics like TV and video games. The following are some general ideas to help get started on some creative projects that use butcher paper.

Custom Wrapping - Butcher paper can be made into new useful material with just a few simple touches. Cut a few potatoes or sponges in half then carve a simple shape like a star or moon into them. Pour small amounts of paint into shallow dishes so that you can dip stamping tools, i.e., the sponge or potato, into the paint then transfer the image onto the paper. Cover as much or as little of the paper as you desire. When it dries, the personalized butcher paper is ready to use as wrapping paper for birthdays, Christmas or as general decoration.

Seascapes - This project will require several days of work, but is a great way to occupy a large chunk of time. Roll out a 6-foot piece of butcher paper and cut. Secure the ends of the paper to a long craft table with tape. Lightly color the bottom half of the paper (length wise) dark blue. Then color the top half a very light blue. When finished, color in sea animals along the bottom half, applying a lot of pressure with the oil pastels in order to make thick figures. Repeat this along the top half by coloring the sun, birds and clouds. Once the drawing is complete, use light-colored paint to color over the entire piece of butcher paper. After it dries, take toothpicks and Popsicle sticks to reveal many of the pictures underneath.