Materials Needed:
newspaper (discard glossy advertising sections)
wallpaper paste or wheat paste (purchased at hardware store)
container for paste
masking tape
foil
plastic or paper containers, paper towel tubes, NO GLASS

Dimensions: The body should be made from a container about the size of a gallon milk jug or two liter soda bottle. With this size in mind, choose smaller containers to tape to the body for the head and appendages. This size makes the creature big enough to be interesting and easy for children to handle when applying the paper strips.

Part I - Understanding Balance

 When planning the design of the creature the children must consider balance. Here is a simple lesson to get the idea across. Hand each child a sheet of paper. "Paper by itself has little strength. It does not stand." Hold the paper's edge on the table surface, let go and let gravity pull it down. Instruct the children as follows. "In one minute do something to the paper to make it stand up. Then sit your paper form on the table." Once they have put their folded creations on the table, quickly wad up a piece and throw it onto the table too. Find out which ones are more stable by blowing on them to see if some tumble over. Remove the pieces that fall over. Begin a discussion about what the remaining pieces have in common. Let the children discover that they have folds. Folds strengthen the paper. Another way to strengthen the paper is to build an armature, a framework serving as a support for the paper shell. The second point to discover is that each standing piece of paper is resting on three or more points that touch the surface or a wide flat plane. Explain that to balance well, their creature must have three or more points that touch the surface. If creating a bird or a T-Rex with a heavy upper body and two feet, they will have to bring a tail down to the surface for the third point. This is balance.

Part II -
Cut the Containers and Build the Armature

Children cut the plastic and paper containers with scissors. Pieces are taped together with masking tape to make it sturdy. Small pieces can be made from foil. Fold the foil loosely, then shape into the appendage needed. Tape the part to the creature.



The tape should hold the parts together. For this eagle, the student used plastic bottles, paper tubes, foil for the beak and claws, and wire to form the shape of the wings and tail.















Part III -
Tear the Paper and Apply it to the Armature

Tear a section of the newspaper in half at the fold. Next, tear it from top to bottom. It should rip straight. Then rip that group in half so that you have a stack of strips roughly one and a half inches wide and five inches long. If it tears oddly, then you have torn it from the wrong edge.



Mix the paste by following the directions on the package. Dip three fingers in the paste and swipe them across the paper strip so that the entire strip is coated in paste. Pick up the strip and apply it to the armature. Overlap the pieces as you go. This is much faster and less messy than the method of dipping the paper in the paste.

A paper strip will not stick to foil or wire, but it does stick to itself. This student formed the wings and tail of her eagle from wire and now covers it in larger pieces of paper, wrapping the paper around the wire and sticking it to itself. The armatures should be covered with at least three layers of paper and probably more around the joints for extra strength. While wet, we sometimes need to prop up certain parts with containers so that it dries in the position we desire it to be in.  Let it air-dry.

While working at home, you can plan several sessions per week and work on it until it is finished. If limited to a one hour class period, it usually takes two periods to complete the taping and two more periods to apply the glue strips. Next month steps for finishing the fantastic creature will be shown and some of the final results from children in my classes. Have fun with your project. Art should be fun!