How to make a PINATA!

The first pinata I made was in 1st grade.  I was lucky enough to have my mom as my 1st grade teacher.  She was always the most creative of all of the teachers in my school, and I am not just saying that because she is my mom.  Most of the things that I create now that make people say, "WOW, that is really cool!", came from things that my mom taught me.   Pinatas are one of those things. 

A pinata makes every party just that much more fun, I mean who doesn't like to beat something apart for the reward of candy and/or toys.  Be creative, you really can make just about anything you want.  All you need is a stack of old newspaper, flour, and water.

To make the paste for the paper mache (papier-mâché)  mix flour with water to form a runny paste, if you use a hand mixer you will be assured to have a lump free paste.  You then tear newspaper into strips which tear easily in one direction.  Then dip the strips in the paste, using your pointer and middle fingers to "squeegee" the excess flour mixture off the paper.  If you have too much of the mixture of the paper it will take forever to dry and will be very messy.  

Once you reach an even 1st coat allow the pinata to dry completely (in the sun works really fast!).   

As you can see, as the pinata dries and shrinks,
the balloon will start to squeeze out the opening. 
Once you get a few good layers you can pop
the balloon so it doesn't warp the pinata any more.

After popping the balloon you are ready to create whatever
shape you want.  This pinata is about to become an OCTOPUS!
You can make any shape you want and really don't have to use a
balloon as a mold to build around, I just like the round shape
which works well to hold candy and prizes!

I attached 8 smaller balloons which will be the base for the tentacles.

After covering the smaller balloons in paper mache, I started to
lengthen the tentacles.  As they got longer I curled them upward.

Eventually I flipped my octopus over and attached a rope out the top. 
I reinforced the rope with a circle of cardboard (an old ribbon spool)
so it wouldn't pull through the hole and would distribute the load
of the filled pinata more evenly.

I use tempera paints since they are non-toxic and might chip off during the beating.
I made the octopus look angry and gave the kids a back story.  It was at a pirate
themed birthday, so the story was about an octopus who ate all of the kids pirate buddies. 
The kids had to free their pirate friends (pirate toys stuffed in the pinata) by killing
the evil octopus.  I even tied one of the little guys to the octopus tentacle.  I then told
the kids that once they save the pirate friends they will get gold coins, and CANDY!
The back story worked like a charm and the kids got really into "saving" their pirate buddies.

Once they finally broke through the pinata (each kid got at least 4 turns) they got a shower of
candy, gold pirate coins, and even pirate jewelry.  Best of all they saved all 12 of the little pirate
friends that were inside the octopus and that made them very happy. 

Have fun making your own pinata and remember to be as creative as possible.  Paper mache is very strong and very durable if done right.  This pinata was for a group of three and four year olds.  The pinata was only about 4 or 5 layers thick but proved to be very hard for kids that age to break.  One of the daddies at the party had to take the final swing.  So, for little little kids maybe make your pinata a little thinner.  For middle, or high school kids feel free to make it impossible thick and hard to break, it can be very amusing to watch them try their hardest to break it!  :)