Dragon’s are a big thing in our house right now. Between dressing up as a dragon and playing with dragon toys. We now need dragon eggs for the kids. So, let’s learn how to make paper mache dragon eggs!
Things Needed to Make Simple paper mache Dragon Eggs
Every project has a list of materials needed. This one should be things lying around the house or in the kitchen.
- water
- flour
- newspaper
- balloons
- paint
- time
How to make paper mache
Paper Mache is pretty simple to make. All you need is:
- 1 part flour
- 2 parts water
Mix until it is smooth, meaning all of the flour has been mixed in, and there are no lumps.
How to Store Paper Mache
If you have leftover, you can store it in the fridge to use the following day.
How to Dispose of Paper Mache
If you are throwing it away, keep in mind this dries solid.
I recommend throwing it in a green bin (municipal compost program), composter, or garbage.
If you are pouring it down the sink, which I do not recommend, make sure you use lots of water to ensure the entire mixture goes down and does not clog your pipes.
Prepare your work station
This is a messy activity, so make sure you have a safe place to do this craft. I recommend using a plastic table cloth (from your local dollar store) and not new paper, as the paste will stick to the newspaper and create more mess.
Also, make sure your kids are wearing old clothes. Paper mache paste washes out off clothes, but there is no point messing up nice outfits because kids always manage to ruin things.
And finally, pull back long hair because dried-up paper mache in hair looks like bird poop.
Let the making of dragon eggs begin!
Ok, firstly, you need to prepare your paper mache paste, as detailed above. Then cut up a bunch of newspaper into strips, about 1 inch wide and 4-5 inches long. You want these to be manageable sizes for kids. Too long or too wide are hard to manage
Blow up your balloon. Depending on how many eggs you are making, it will determine how many balloons. We wanted 5 eggs, so 5 balloons. Something to keep in mind about balloons, not all balloons are created equal. Some have a pear shape, others are more oval, some are big or small.
We have an abundance of different balloons at our house. We chose a small-medium oval to give a better representation of an egg.
Dunk the newspaper, one piece at a time, into the paper mache paste and pull off the excess paste. An easy way is to pull it through closed fingers and apply it to the balloon.
Keep applying the wet paper pieces to the balloon until completely covered. Continue onto the next balloon until they are done.
Find a safe place for the dragon eggs to dry. They should dry within 1 day. We used old egg cartons to stand them upon, and it worked great. But the less contact they can have with anything, the better, as the paper will stick to everything it touches.
Paint The dragon eggs
Once the eggs are dried, paint them!
Just some pointers – darker colors work best at coving the newsprint. If you use light colors like yellow, you may be stuck doing 2-3 coats of paint.
Let the eggs dry.
And that’s it! Your Dragon Egg are complete!
Optional Activity for the Dragon Eggs
Like with all eggs, dragon eggs are meant to hatch. So, using scissors, you can cut the egg into two halves. They can have straight edges or jagged edges. Then the eggs can be used as homes for the dragons. We filled them with some polyester stuffing to give the dragon a nice bed to sleep in.
Tip for making Dragon Eggs with Paper Mache
- Paper mache is messy. Be prepared for a mess and to clean it up.
- This activity was supposed to take one day. However, as we needed more layers of paper and more layers of paint, it took 4 days to complete. So if possible, you should try to apply 2 layers of newspaper during your paper mache exercise to save time. And use dark colors of paint or fast-drying paint.
- Balloons are round and will start to slide from side to side when applying the wet paper to them. Be prepared for some runaway balloons.
- Remember that kids can get bored quickly. Remember that when selecting the number of balloons and sizes. For example, 6-year-olds can do 1-2 small-medium balloons. If you want to make lots of eggs, be prepared to do the bulk of the work.
- We cut the balloon stem off after we finished painting the eggs, as my kids kept dropping them. With the balloon intact, it keeps the eggshell from smashing into pieces every time it was dropped.
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Did you find this tutorial on how to Make Paper Mache Dragon Eggs helpful?
Did you find this tutorial on how to make paper mache dragon eggs helpful? Be sure to leave a comment below and let me know how it went!
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