A child’s small project deserves materials they are allowed to use without fear of wasting them.

Fear of ruining the good paper stops more work than lack of ability does. When the materials are precious, every mark carries a risk, and children respond sensibly by being careful, timid, and unwilling to try the thing that might not work. Experimentation requires permission to spoil something, which means the supplies have to be ordinary enough to spend. Cheap and plentiful beats good and rationed for anyone still learning.

Give a child a stack of paper they can use up, and say plainly that it is theirs to waste. Keep the expensive materials out of the project entirely. Notice whether the work gets braver within a week.