Paper Mache Whale Craft

Looking for a fun and easy craft to make with your kids with stuff you already (probably) have in your home? Then try this super fun Paper Mache Whale craft we made.

What You Need

Glue (Elmer's white glue)

Small kids paint brush

Paper (newspaper or any old paper will work)

Red construction paper (or a red marker)

Balloon

Tape

Blue paint (kids safe, water based)

Small bowl

Towel or wax paper

Pencil

Scissors

Step 1: Mache That Whale

Blow up the balloon and tie it off. Tear your paper in shreds that are 1 inch wide. Now tear those into 2 inch long pieces (roughly). In a small bowl, mix your white glue with water in a roughly 50/50 ratio.

Work on a towel or piece of wax paper. Take a piece of the paper you shredded and, using the brush, apply the glue mixture to one side. Cover it completely and stick it on the balloon. Keep doing this, overlapping each piece over the last. When overlapping, cover about half of the previous piece while place the new piece in a new and random direction.

When you've covered the entire balloon just repeat the process a second time. Letting the first layer dry in front of a fan makes the second layer less messy to apply. Once you've covered the balloon twice give it a final coating of the glue mixture. This will help create a final "shell" and help stick down any stubborn corners that are sticking up. Now let it dry in front of a fan if you have one.

Step 2: Add The Whale Tail

Using a piece of cardboard or a piece of paper folder in half, draw out a tail for your whale. Cut it out (two thicknesses of paper or one of cardboard). Using some tape, attach it to the end of the balloon (the end you filled it from). The tape is just temporary and holds the tail until you paper mache it on.

Using the same process as in Step 1 above, paper mache the tail. You'll want to build up 2 to 4 layers all around the tail and especially where it attaches to the whale body (balloon). Now let everything dry completely (again, a fan speeds things up).

Step 3: Paint

Depending on the paint you have, you'll need to apply a few coats to your whale. You can cover the entire whale in blue paint or leave the bottom white like we did. Leaving the bottom white creates a neat look for the whale but also makes it easier to paint without making a huge mess.

Once the whale is completely painted, let it dry completely.

Step 4: Make A Face

Now you need to add a face to your whale. The sky's the limit here so add whatever you like. Old buttons or bottle caps for eyes? Paint a mouth on? Whatever you like.

We used a piece of red construction paper to make a giant mouth but a red marker on white paper would work as well. For the eyes we just made simple circles out of white paper.

We then glued the face pieces on with the same glue mixture and gave the whale one last coat of glue mixture. This helps strengthen the outer shell as well as gives it a fun, shiny look.

To pop or not to pop? At this point, when everything is dry, it shouldn't matter if your balloon pops inside. You can pop it with a pin or let time slowly deflate it on its own. It is possible that the whale body will cave in slightly as the balloon deflates, but if that happens just poke a tiny hole in it and blow air into the body (not the deflated balloon) with your mouth and it will fill back up and should stay that way.