Paper Mâché Cactus

I made these little potted cactus with over 20 4-6 yr. old children during our afternoon summer camp program.  I won't lie, the paper mâché part was mostly one on one.  Sometimes, I could do two kids at once.  But it really helped if you could hold the ballon while they apply the goopy newspaper. This made it time consuming.  

But worth it!  

I mean look how cute they are!!!

I use liquid starch for my adhesive.  I find it easiest and it dries hard.  

Water balloons are the perfect size for these.

After covering the balloon with newspaper, we covered it in green tissue paper.  Dark green covered the best, while the light green needed a lot more layers.

It also help if you could hold the balloon while the kids applied the tissue.  You didn't need to soak the tissue in starch.  If you just apply it to the balloon it will be fine.  Add starch on top, if needed, to smooth it down.

Let dry overnight, then poke toothpicks though.

We made a small tissue paper flower for the top.  

I also went and added a dab of glue around each toothpick to hold them in place.  They had a tendency to go right through and fall inside.

I took a lot of pictures, because they were just so adorable!

Bobcat piñata

At the end of every year we create a piñata of our classroom animal.  The kids are encouraged to use recycled products and really think about the features that animal has.  We often write a list and talk about what we can use to represent those features as we work paper maching our animal.  Some years our animals come out amazing and some years barely recognizable. But it's the collaborative effort that make them all unique and special. 

We then cover the animal with tissue and work on the makings and smaller features, like whiskers and spots.

I really liked how one of the children insisted on fuzzy cheeks!

Whiskers and a nose!

Purple eyebrows?  Why not!

I especially loved the tongue idea.

Because he is hot and we live in the desert, so therefore he must be panting.

Then we hang it up and beat it with a stick.