Fun With Paper Mache

My daughter especially loves crafts.  I have to keep coming up with ideas to harness her need for structured and creativity.  This time around I went outside my safety zone and decided to enter the world of paper mache.

First I looked around the house to see if I had the needed materials.  I came up with 3 round balloons left over from a birthday celebration.  Next I checked the flour, salt and water off the list.  Strangely, the hardest piece of the puzzle for me was newspaper.  I read news articles online and don't get a daily paper anymore.  Then the light bulb went on...packing paper! We had packing paper left over from our move.

The paper provides a great opportunity for your kids to strengthen their fine motor development.  Depending on the age group they can either tear the paper into small pieces or cut it into small pieces.  The beauty of it is that it doesn't matter what the paper looks like as long as the pieces are appropriately sized for the balloon you chose.  I had 10" balloons and 1-3" pieces.  I cut some and the twins did some just so we would have plenty before we were knee deep in paste.

I didn't have an exact recipe for the paste I simply added about 1 1/2 cups of flour to a bowl and slowly added a little water at a time till I got a consistency of thin pancake batter.  I added 1 tablespoon of salt to help dry out the paste and prevent mold.

We took our project outside so I wouldn't worry about the mess I knew we were about to create. I had the bottoms of two milk jugs that were left over from another project that I used to hold the paste and paper pieces, but any shallow bowls or pans will work.  Our original plan was to also cover the toilet paper rolls too but the kids tired out a little at the end.

 I found that it worked well for the twins to dip the paper in the paste and then smooth it onto the balloon with the paint brushes.  That helped to make sure that the paper got a more even coating of paste.

 I would suggest using smaller balloons then we did for the 3-4 year old set.  They loved this project but they did tire out a bit towards the end so I helped them push through so they would have a finished product.

 It is important to make sure the whole balloon is covered with multiple layers, but I would not do more than 4.

This was a great time for us just to spend being messing and working together.  I value these special opportunities with my kids.  They really couldn't do anything wrong.  When the wind kicked up a little I moved our paper pieces into a bucket I found in the garage to keep them from blowing away.

Finally after the final pieces were attached we left them to dry in the garage for 2 days (they were probably good after one day but I wanted to be sure so I waited an extra day.  They were so excited for the next step PAINTING!

Considering that the twins are almost 4 it made the most sense just to let them free paint.  Older children could paint them pink for pigs, black and white for cows, yellow for ducks, etc.  The paper rolls (TP or paper towel) could be sliced by a grown up to add on for feet, or a pigs snout.  I was going to make one that was going to be a hot air balloon with the paper towel roll cut to form the basket below.   

These were such a hit with my kids that they decided to hang them up and use them as decorations for their daddy' birthday.  We did not pop the balloon inside yet because my kids love to touch everything and I was afraid the might squish them before they made it to the display area.  Also the balloon know made them easier to hang.

This is a great project for children of all ages because the older they are the more creative and skilled they can be.

Please leave your comments and suggestions below.