This is a project that I’ve done myself in the past and it’s such a fun one to do with kids – decorating a cardboard figure. You can buy low-cost cardboard animals, masks, shapes and even letters from craft shops, such as Hobbycraft or online, although I think the cheapest places to get them are from The Range or The Works.
Then you can gather the kids together with some craft supplies and get creative. Decorating the papier-mache objects lets little ones try out different art techniques, such as painting, mark-making and decoupage.
You will need:
- Papier mache objects
- PVA glue
- Paint, pens and pencils
- Brushes
- Scissors
- Patterned decoupage paper, tissue or fabric
- Any extra additions you want to include such as foil, acetate, ribbons, etc
This project doesn’t have to cost much – if the children already have paint, brushes, pens and crayons they can use these to decorate their objects, drawing their own patterns and designs straight onto the cardboard.
You can collect up offcuts of ribbon, decorations from old birthday cards, fabric scraps, broken toys, string etc throughout the year and bring out your box of crafting goodies whenever the little ones want to get creative.
When I had a go at this project, I used offcuts of recycled fabric in a variety of patterns to create a patchwork pig. The key to decoupaging with paper or fabric is to cut the materials into really small squares, as this makes it easier to work them around corners and into crevices.
For this project, all you need to do is brush on a layer of PVA glue and stick the squares of fabric or paper down. Go over the top of the fabric with more glue and add more squares until all the cardboard figure is covered. To seal the project, coat the whole object with a final top layer of PVA glue, which will dry clear and act as a varnish.
It’s really interesting to see how different children create vastly different designs on their papier-mache objects. This activity can be repeated time and again, with different results every time. You could build up a whole herd of pigs like we have here, or decorate one cardboard letter at a time to spell out a name.
Let me know if you have any other fun craft activities for kids that you plan to do during the school holidays. I’d love to hear your arty hacks! And please share if you have a go at making one of these decoupage or decorated objects, it would be fun to see your results so do tag me @cassiefairy on Instagram.
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