Papier Mache Planets

This post is about how to make some fairly simple, low cost, planet toys.

We'd recently been on a really good visit to The National Space Centre in Leicester which had inspired much of our play activities. We'd already made some rockets - these will appear in a later post I'm sure and there started a growing 'demand' for planets.

Equipment Needed:

3 large bowls
As many balloons as you'd want for planets (I used 3 so we had one each, on reflection (after a lot of clearing up) we probably should have just used one at a time)

A lot of newspaper
Coloured paper - could be pictures from magazines
Flour
Water

Optional
Brush (paint or pastry)
PVA glue

1. First job, before we got caked in paste, was to fill two of the bowls with strips of ripped up paper. One for newspaper, one for coloured paper. 

2. Next aprons on. 

3. Then really check that the aprons are on!

4. Pick up the bowl of paper thats been knocked over whilst checking the aprons. 

5. In the third bowl mix the flour and water 1:1. I just used a cup of each, add the glue if you're using it. I went wrong and probably made this paste too thick, I think the unnerving the better. 

6. Realise that you should have blown the balloons up before leaving an unguarded bowl of slime. 

7. Inflate the balloons to different sizes. (the smaller the rounder they'll be) 

8. We started by dipping the strips of newspaper into the bowl and putting them onto the balloons. Mine was perfect, the 2 year old refused, the 4 year old ended up with a perfectly coated pile of paper not attached to the balloon. 

9. Use a brush or your hands to cover the balloon with the paste and then covering it all with dry paper, smooth down with your hands, repaste over the top and repeat. 

10. Finish with 2 layers of coloured paper over the top and a final layer of paste. These can obviously be painted but we chose the 'cleaner' method of just using coloured paper. 

11. Attempt to clean floury paste from everywhere... Or failing that sell your house and move elsewhere. 

I'd read that these should dry within a few hours. Ours took 24 hours including a few hours of direct outdoor sunlight and air before they were dry and solid enough to use.