Activity: Seed Saver Pocket Book (courtesy of SCRAP)
Ages 5-11, Time Needed: 45 minutes - 1 hour
Reuse envelopes and stickers to create a "pocket book" that can be used to store seed packets, coupons, cash, collage snippets, stickers and more.
Note: Adults should be present to supervise this activity.
Materials
- 5 envelopes
- 2 pieces of mat board or cereal boxes — cut just a bit larger than the envelopes
- warning label stickers, other sticker paper, or masking or duct tape
- ribbon or string
- items to decorate the covers with
- scissors
- glue
Procedure:
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Stack 5 envelopes on top of each other, making sure that they are all oriented in the same direction. Cut a piece of sticker paper as long as the envelope and about an inch wide. This sticker is going to wrap around the bottom of the stack of envelopes to bind all the envelopes together. -
Stick half of the sticker along the bottom edge of the envelope that is on top of the stack. Wrap the remaining sticker around the stack of envelopes. (Make sure you bind the bottom edge so that the envelope flap is free to open.) You now have a mini-book of envelopes. Be careful — the envelopes are not completely secured. -
Imagine that each envelope is a page in a book. Open the first page, place a sticker along the crease between the envelopes, overlapping onto each envelope. Continue in this manner until there are stickers between each envelope. Now all the envelopes are connected and won’t fall out. -
Place two pieces of mat board around your stack of envelopes (like a sandwich). Line the bound edge of the stack with the edges of the mat board. Place a sticker around the edge of the mat board in the same manner that you bound the envelopes initially. You don’t want to bind this too tight because you want to leave room for the book to expand when the seeds are in there. -
Open the mat board cover. Make sure the envelopes are lined up where you want them, then place a sticker in the crease between the mat board cover and the first envelope. Do the same in back. - Optional step: If you want to decorate your covers, now’s the time to do it.
- Optional step: Cut a piece of ribbon or string 5 times the width of your book. Place the midpoint of your ribbon on the spine of your book. Place another strip of sticker along the spine and over your ribbon, to hold it in place.
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Your book is complete. Now go save some seeds!