30 Mar How to Create a Paper Sloyd Measure

Today we are creating a paper sloyd measure, or as we may call it, a ruler. This is project number eight from the third year from the book Paper Sloyd for Primary Grades by Ednah Anne Rich. Now my understanding of sloyd – and handicrafts in general – is that they are meant to be useful. Yet, honestly, we have not had great use for the projects in this book. The obvious reason is that the book was published in 1905, and school-aged children clearly had different needs than those in our current time. But looking deeper, I have found that each project is useful in that they teach us new skills. This project brought home the importance of accuracy, precision, and carefulness, as described in a previous post about sloyd, What is Sloyd? And Why is it a Valuable Tool in Home Education.

Materials Needed

• The book, Paper Sloyd for Primary Grades by Ednah Anne Rich
• A cutting mat
• An Exacto knife
• A pencil
• A ruler
• Bristol Board, or quality paper that is at least 1″ x 6″

Happy Handicrafts Video: How to Create a Paper Sloyd Measure

Did you find the measuring challenging? I thought we had had plenty of practice with measuring and drawing lines, and our measure still came out looking a little scraggly. I’m curious whether it was the use of our cutting mat as a ruler, or if we just need more practice.

I am including the image of what we would like it to look like – for our own inspiration. We have a ways to go.

As we mentioned in the video, we found it a little amusing that we were creating a measure, or ruler with a ruler. But maybe back in 1905, this would have made a thoughtful give to a new student.

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