DLTK's Crafts for Kids
Paper Strip Earth Globe Craft

This craft of the planet earth makes a cute decoration for Earth Day. You can tie a piece of ribbon to the brass fastener and hang it up or you can use it as part of a table centerpiece.

I have provided a map of earth template for you to print out, but you can also use an old map that you happen to have laying around -- Kaitlyn is talking about doing a neat project where she makes globes using recycled tourist maps from different places she's visited and hangs them around her bedroom! The one warning I have with this is that "folds" in the map will interfere with the craft so pick one without any folds.

I'm not a big fan of shopping for craft time ... I just like to use what we have laying around the house. Darren is an accountant with a pile of 1 inch brass fasteners in his office so we used those. 1/2 inch fasteners would work a bit better as they're lighter and won't squish the globe as much. Heavier paper stock would also stand up better - he usually has some for the printer, but today he didn't so we just used ordinary cheap printer paper. Slightly flatter planet earth, no big deal!

Materials:

• brass fastener ("brass brad")
• hole punch,
• printer,
• paper (heavier paper stock works a bit better but we just used ordinary printer paper),
• scissors,
• glue.

Craft Instructions:

• Print out the template of choice (preferably on slightly heavier paper). I normally prefer to let the kids color in their own black and white templates but for this particular craft I like to use the color template. You could also use a real map if you happen to have an old one laying around (sometimes you can get books full of old ones at used book stores).
• Before we start cutting, decide whether you're going to try to keep your strips in the right order. If you do, your globe will look a bit more like the actual planet. If you don't you may end up with pieces of Europe sitting in the middle of North America. It looks cute either way so don't get too stressed out about it!
• Cut out about 12 identical strips from the map paper (as close to identical as you're able - it's not that big a deal if they're a bit different).  If you're using the template, you can use the longitude lines on the map to act as a guide for cutting.
• Punch a hole in each end of all the paper strips.
• Stack them all one on top of the other.
• Put a brass brad through all of the holes on one end and put another brass brad through all of the holes on the other end.
• Make a "U" shape with all of the paper strips and fan them out to make a globe.

Craft Templates:

• Close template window when done printing to return to this screen.
• Set page margins to zero if you have trouble fitting the template on one page (FILE, PAGE SETUP or FILE, PRINTER SETUP in most browsers).

Template    (color)  or   (B&W)

Print friendly version of these instructions