Overview
In this lesson, you will make a playhouse or playground from different types of paper.
Materials and Tools
- Thick and thin strips of paper
- Cardboard base
- Scissors (optional)
- Pencil or marker (optional)
Activities
Step 1
Collect and prepare strips of thin and thick paper. =
![](https://createart.studioinaschool.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/image-129-1024x608.jpg)
Step 2
Find a large sturdy cardboard for a base. (Cut a piece from a box or use a folder.)
![](https://createart.studioinaschool.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/image-130-1024x766.jpg)
Step 3
Roll a piece of paper. Look at your form. Imagine what it could be.
Fold a paper. Look at it, flip it over. Imagine what it could be. A tent? A roof? Walls?
Fold a zig zag and look at it. Imagine what it could be. Stairs? Flowing water?
![](https://createart.studioinaschool.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/image-131-1024x771.jpg)
Step 4
Stack the forms, look at them and imagine what it could be.
What do you want in your playhouse or playground?
![](https://createart.studioinaschool.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/image-133.jpg)
![](https://createart.studioinaschool.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/image-134-1024x946.jpg)
![](https://createart.studioinaschool.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/image-132-1024x768.jpg)
Step 5
Use your base and imagine it as ground.
Arrange your folded and curled forms. Stack and balance them.
Try standing a form and leaning it against another form.
it against another form.
- How can you make a wall?
- How can you make more floors?
- How can you make a tunnel?
- How can you make a see saw?
- How can you make stairs?
- How can you make a bridge?
Step 6
Take a photo of your finished artwork and share it on!
![](https://createart.studioinaschool.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/image-135-1024x565.jpg)
Pieces can also go around or inside.
![](https://createart.studioinaschool.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/image-127-1024x769.jpg)
Reflection
What parts did you make for your playhouse/playground?
How did you make them? (zig zag, curved, flat strip of paper, twisted, etc.)
I made a _________ see saw _________ with _________ a zigzag form on top of a curved tunnel form.
I made a _________ with _______________.
![](https://createart.studioinaschool.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/image-137-1024x704.jpg)
Resources
Isamu Noguchi, Playscapes, Piedmont Park, Atlanta, GA, 1976.
Isamu Noguchi, Playground equipment for Ala Moana Park, Hawaii, 1940.
Video
Credits
Written By:
Cynthia Chen, Artist Instructor
Copyright © 2023 Studio in a School NYC LLC