09 May - Paper Mache Animals - 5th grade

This is a two part lesson. In this first part, students will construct their animals and apply the paper mache.

Materials

Liquid Starch

Newspaper

Masking tape

Scissors

Cardboard

Cardboard paper towel or tissue tubes

Empty cartons or boxes

colored tissue paper

paints and paintbrushes

Instructions

1.Have students decide on which animal they would like to make. You can provide pictures of various animals to help them decide.

2.Then have them shape their animals.

You could use newspaper to make the frame of the animal. Just scrunch bits of construction paper to create the main form of the animal. Masking tape can be used to hold the paper form together.

Empty cartons or boxes can also be used to make the body frame of the animal. Or a combination of all three techniques.

3. When your rough animal figure is ready, tear the old newspaper into long strips.

Dip the strips into the liquid starch, so that they are completely coated with the mixture.

Remove the excess starch and place it on the figure. Every time you put a strip, smoothen it down with your fingers, so that there are no air bubbles or wrinkles. Cover the entire figure with paper strips.

4. Then let it dry completely for about a day or two.

5. Paint the paper mache animal.Add extra features like eyes, nose, antennae, whiskers, tail using pipe cleaners and make the animal as fanciful as you like.

Making paper mache animals can get real messy and hence you should cover the entire workplace with newspapers or rags before you start.