Paper Mache Cats, 5th Grade

These paper mache cats took us almost 3 months to complete.  With almost 120 fifth graders, I felt like the cats were beginning to take over the art room.  Paper mache is always a fun project, but it takes a lot of coordination and time.

 I began by having students use wadded up newspaper and foil to created the body, head, legs, and tail.  Students then added 3 layers of paper mache to their sculpture.

 After the paper mache was dry, we used tempera paint to add details.  I found that the kids had trouble painting the eyes on, so the eyes were drawn on a piece of white paper and glued to their cat.

These are wonderful!