Fun with
Paper-Mâché
What You’ll Need:
• Lots of Old Newspaper (ask parents to donate)
• Tissue Paper
• White Glue
• Water
• Plastic Containers with Lids
• Balloons
• Wire
• Masking or Duct Tape
• Paint
• Paint Brushes
• Markers
First, Decide What To Make:
Planet Earth
We created the globe using a
balloon. We covered it with
four layers of newspaper
and let that dry. To save
time, instead of painting
the globe, we used
colored tissue
paper for the
water and
continents.
1. Paper-mâché is an extremely versatile medium and
can be used for many items from art and school
projects to party decorations and classroom décor.
• Use inflated balloons as your base to create
cool piñatas for your next classroom party. Or, maybe you’d rather create a model of the planet to reinforce a science/geography lesson.
• Use crumpled paper and tape to create a base for adorable sculptures, masks, or jewelry for art class.
• Use wire around crumpled newspaper to create
a form for larger sculptures that can be used
as cool decorations for your classroom or the
base for parade float pieces.
Paper-mâché is a little messy and a whole lot of fun,
so kids will love it no matter what you choose to make!
Maracas
For the maraca, we added dried beans to a small
balloon, blew it up, and tied it off. Then, we attached
a pencil (for the handle) to the balloon using duct
tape. We covered everything in about four layers of
newspaper, then finished it with colored tissue paper.
We added the decorations using markers.
Paper Mâché Ideas
Prepare Your Paper:
2. Have the kids tear up the donated newspaper into 2"-wide strips. You’ll need LOTS of
strips, so give this part of the process a little
time. You could also use strips of construction
paper, printer paper, and more.
3. Your last few layers of paper should be white
printer paper. This will require less effort when
it comes to painting as newspaper really soaks
in the paint and will require more layers of
paint to completely cover.
Prepare Your Paste:
4. Mix 3⁄4 parts white glue to 1⁄4 parts water in a
plastic container. Stir ingredients together until
you have a really creamy consistency. If it’s
too runny, add a little more glue. Too thick?
Add a touch more water. Now you are ready to get started with the fun!
Now It’s Time
to Get Messy!
Day One: Two Layers of
Paper Mâché
5. Have kids dip a strip of newspaper into the
glue mixture to completely cover the paper.
Using their fingers, they will need to push off
any excess glue (you will probably want to
demonstrate how this is done). They should
then apply the strip of paper to their project
(balloon, wire form, etc.).
6. Have kids repeat step 5 until they have covered their project in 2 layers of paper. Set the projects aside to dry overnight. Put the lids on the containers of paste so the paste doesn’t dry out overnight.
Continued...
Day Two: Two More
Layers of Paper Mâché
7. Have kids continue to cover their projects with
paper strips for an additional two layers. If
your class is painting their final projects, you
may want to switch to white paper at this step.
8. Again, set the projects aside to dry overnight. If your class is painting their projects, you can
dispose of any extra paste at this time. If you
will use colored tissue paper instead of paint,
put the lids on the containers of paste so they
don’t dry out overnight.
Day Three: Painting
9. Using acrylic paints and sponge paint brushes,
set the kids free to be creative and paint their projects.
10. Again, set the projects aside to dry overnight. — OR —
Day Three: Colored Tissue
9. Using colored tissue paper, have kids cover
their projects with tissue paper strips for an
additional two to four layers (use more as tissue paper is thinner).
10. Again, set the projects aside to dry overnight.
Day Four: Finishing Details
11. Have the kids finish off any detail work on
their projects using markers.