A Very Hungry Caterpillar Pinata

With Cinco de Mayo fast approaching, we whipped up a pinata in anticipation of the big day. Well, maybe whipped up is not the best word since it is quite a process from start to finish. Not completely sure why I decided to make our pinata a Very Hungry Caterpillar pinata, but I did and here it is…

Materials:

balloons
newspaper
flour
water
bowl and spoon
brown pipe cleaners
brown tissue paper
red, green, yellow and orange paints
paintbrushes
a lot of patience!

Preparation:

Blow up 4 balloons about the size of a small melon.

Mix flour and water until it is the consistency of pancake mix. Feel free to add more water or more flour as needed.

Tear (don’t cut) newspaper into strips.

Directions:

Dip the newspaper strips into the flour and water paste one at a time. Use two fingers to wipe off excess paste.

Place the moistened newspaper on the balloon. Repeat over and over until all 4 balloons are completely covered and set them aside to dry. Drying takes over 24 hours and up to 2 days depending on your climate and how much paste was used.

Once the balloons are dry, repeat the steps above to cover each balloon with another layer of newspaper/paste. While doing this, also attached each balloon to one another by draping strips of moistened newspaper from one balloon to the next. Be patient! This take time and some juggling, but it will stay eventually stay together. Allow to dry.

Decorating:

Before painting, cut open each segment (or as many as you like) with an exacto-knife. Keep the holes as small as possible. Fill with candy or treats and then add some more paper mache over the holes and allow to dry. Don’t be alarmed when the balloon pops! If the outside is strong, it will stay in shape.

Paint two yellow ovals on the balloon that will be the face of the caterpillar. Once the yellow is dry, paint two smaller green ovals inside each yellow oval.

Paint the rest of the face and head red being careful around the eyes. Once the red is dry, add a green nose.

Paint the other body segments green.

For the antennae, bend two brown pipe cleaners in half as shown in the photo below and attach them to the caterpillar’s head with a hot glue gun.

For the feet, cut strips of brown paper about one inch thick and hot glue them onto the bottom of the caterpillar in clusters.

Place two hooks into the pinata- one behind the head and one further back towards the rear end fo the caterpillar. Hot glue around the hooks to keep them in place. Thread a string through the two hooks for hanging.

Now your pinata is ready for the party!

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Other Eric Carle Posts from BMTM:

Very Hungry Caterpillar: A Puzzle

Eric Carle Letters

Eric Carle’s Art-Art in the Classroom

Eric Carle Inspired Seahorses

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