Veronika has been making big works of art lately, with full sheets of craft paper from our giant roll laid down on the floor. Unfortunately I have no place to store such big masterpieces, so usually I just crumple up the paper when the fun is done. Today we came up with this way to “recycle” the art as decoration instead.

First up was making art, and Veronika loved painting all over a big piece of paper just before bed. We used a mix of watercolors, regular tempera paint, and sponge brushes with shapes on them.

“Lots of black stars!” she said proudly as she worked.

I left it to dry overnight. The next morning, we covered a second sheet of craft paper with lots marker scribbles and drawings.

Now, I simply cut each masterpiece into long strips. If you’re doing this activity with a preschooler, consider drawing lines for your child to cut along and practice their cutting skills. For Veronika, I simply handed her a pair of safety scissors so she could “cut” alongside me.

My original plan was to hang these like streamers from an archway in our home, thinking it would be a blast for the kids to run under them and through them.

I quickly realized this wouldn’t work because the streamers needed to be much longer. I held Veronika in my arms for her to feel the streamers, which made her giggle, but it wouldn’t make for solo play.

Thinking quickly, I taped the streamers all around the kids’ craft table. Now it was a secret fort and hideout for her!

She loved to crawl inside.

And play peek-a-boo through the streamers with me.

And then find her way out again.

These streamers would also look really pretty over a window as makeshift “curtains” in a kids bedroom.