Paper Mache is a great craft form for children and adults alike. Kids from 5 to around 10 often have a great fascination for monsters and dinosaurs. Here are some simple ideas for them to make their own Paper Mache creatures.

What you will need:

Plastic bottle or container

Sand, soil, or gravel

Chicken wire (optional)

Scissors

Light cardboard

Cardboard tubing – e.g. bathroom tissue rolls or plastic wrap tubes are ideal

Masking tape; don’t use tapes that have a shiny surface as the Paper Mache won’t stick

Newspaper – lots of it!

White glue or wallpaper paste – at a pinch you can even use a flour and water glue

Large white plastic bags OR white paper and pasta pieces

Acrylic paints

Spray on varnish or polyurethane (optional)

Use your plastic bottle as a base for the body. Depending on the final shape you are after position the bottle either standing up or on its side. Partially fill this base with sand, soil or gravel. This is just to give it weight.

Cut cardboard tubing to the length you want and either cut small holes in the base or attach with masking tape. If you are after large muscled legs, such as for a T-Rex standing on its hind legs, you can either use chicken wire or tape on two smaller plastic bottles for the main legs and add cardboard tubing for the feet.

To develop your monster or dinosaurs shape even more you can scrunch up newspaper to the approximate shape you want and secure it with plenty of masking tape. This works great for adding tails as well.

Tear newspaper into small strips and using watered down white glue or wallpaper paste start to build up your layers of Paper Mache. You don’t want to get it soggy, so just enough glue to be able to lay each piece flat is all you need. Overlap each strip and work carefully around your body building up its shape as you go. You will probably need to use 5-10 layers of paper for this.

As your monster or dinosaur begins to take shape you can cut and bend more cardboard rolls or just cardboard to add on extra details such as ears, horns, noses and claws. Secure them with masking tape and just keep building your layers around them. Let your monster dry.

If you want to create a crinkly skinned dinosaur, such as a brontosaurus, cover it with a thin layer of white glue. Take your white plastic bag, (you may need more than one), split it up then and wrap it loosely over the whole figure. Now for the fun and messy bit! Spread lots of white glue over the plastic bags and the squelch it around the shape. You are after crinkly looks here so don’t worry about smoothing.

If you don’t want a crinkly look, just finish your monster or dinosaur with a layer of white paper, just as you would another newspaper layer.

When your creation is completely dry you can then paint it in whatever colors you choose. For texture it can be fun to glue on bits of pasta before painting over.

Finally, protect your monster or dinosaur with a coat of varnish or polyurethane and give it a name.

Jonathan Pitts

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