DIY piñata stick. How to make a piñata with your own hands: several simple ways. How to make a piñata with your own hands - step-by-step instructions

Surely the unfamiliar word “piñata” does not evoke any emotions in you. But I'm sure you've already seen this piece of entertainment. Most likely more than once. In Mexican and/or American films. Or perhaps at someone’s birthday or other holiday.

Piñata(Spanish) Piñata) - a hollow toy of Mexican origin, quite large in size, made of papier-mâché or light wrapping paper with ornaments and decorations. With its shape, the piñata reproduces the figures of animals (usually horses) or geometric shapes, which are filled with various treats or surprises for children (candies, firecrackers, etc.).

And if it’s clear, then:

It’s quite possible, it’s not difficult and it doesn’t take very long to make a piñata on your own. The time and effort spent will pay off in spades! This fun is relevant for both children and adults. Checked!

To make a piñata you will need:

• balloon ik. It serves as the basis. Accordingly, the larger the ball, the larger the pinata will be. A large piñata is easier to hit, but it is also heavier and requires more filling (sweets).
• newspaper/paper and cardboard
• water and flour - in equal proportions
• filling (sweets, chocolates, chocolate eggs, etc.)
• thin crepe paper (“corrugated”) for decoration, it is better to use several colors
• twine/rope/tape
• scissors
• PVA glue

I would like to draw your attention to the fact that although the piñata is easy to make, it will not be possible to make it in 1 day, because... It takes time for several layers of paper with paste to dry.

Manufacturing technology:

1.First of all, inflate the balloon. The shape and size of the piñata depends on its size and shape. Fantasy is limitless, but let's start with the most ordinary balloon. Tie the ball and leave the thread stronger and longer, so that you can hang it later, and so that the threads can withstand the weight of the heavier ball.

2. Prepare the newspaper: tear/cut into strips measuring 20-25 cm x 5-7 cm.

3.Prepare the “paste”: mix flour and water in equal proportions (about 2 tbsp of each ingredient). You can cook it from real paste, or you can just mix it well. It's enough.

4. By analogy with the papier-mâché technique, begin to cover the balls with strips of newspaper dipped in a mixture of flour and water. Glue the first layer (!) by moistening the newspaper only in water so that the newspaper does not stick to the ball. Do not apply more than 2 layers at one time. It is best to glue strips of newspaper crosswise. Do not seal the tip of the ball. From practice I will say that even just 2-3 layers, for example, are enough strength for a 3-5 year old child to make an effort when breaking a piñata.

5. Once 2 coats are applied, hang the piñata to dry. The next day, repeat step 4. And so on until you reach the required number of layers.

6. While the layers of paper are drying, start preparing the cones for decoration. Draw a cone on cardboard/paper and cut it out. The number and size of cones is at your discretion. The main thing is that they fit on the ball. Roll the cones and secure the edges.

7. Gently pop the ball inside the piñata and pull it out, making a round hole (cutting it with scissors) slightly smaller in diameter than the diameter of the cone.Interesting moment! Fill the piñata with all sorts of goodies.

8. Now you need to “hang” the pinnata well. To do this, make 4 small holes in the ball on the side where the tip of the ball was. thread the rope/ribbon/twine through the holes. Cover the top of the holes with newspaper dipped in the same mixture of flour and water. Let it dry.

9. Meanwhile, glue the cones to the piñata. Let's start decorating the piñata. Cut the crepe paper into small strips and make a “fringe” on them. Cover the cones with strips of crepe paper. Like this:

Then cut the strips wider and make the fringe longer and cover the piñata ball itself. Of course, it is advisable to take paper of several colors, then the piñata will be more colorful!

Hang the piñata on a stick/tree and invite the hero of the occasion/other participants to break it!

For starters, here are examples of piñatas from the Internet:

P.s. A piñata can have more than just a round base!

At various children's parties, celebrations and weddings, such entertainment as piñata is becoming increasingly popular. What it is? Where can I buy it? How to do it yourself? Lots of questions...

A piñata is a ball made of papier-mâché, multi-colored paper and bright ribbons, located in and filled with sweets. To release such attractive and tempting contents, it needs to be broken with a stick.

History of appearance

So, piñata: what is it? For the first time, such entertainment appeared in Mexico, although, according to some information, its appearance owes to the inhabitants of China. It was in this country that several centuries ago the New Year was celebrated with the obligatory presence of a large figure of a cow or bull, filled inside with flowers and five types of seeds. People smashed it, burned the remains, and took the ashes for themselves. It was believed that in this case the coming year would be pleasant in all respects. Mexico with so much fun being an integral attribute children's birthdays, met a couple of centuries later. European residents enjoyed diversifying their holidays with exciting entertainment.

Piñata: what is it?

The traditional shape of the piñata, considered a Christmas symbol, is represented by a large one showing the way for wanderers. In Spain, such a figurine is made from a clay pot, to which paper cones are attached to the top. Europe is characterized by a more simplified version - made of papier-mâché. How to make a piñata yourself?

Figures of various contents (houses, flowers, balls), cartoon characters or numbers corresponding to the age of the birthday person are becoming increasingly popular. In addition to sweets, the piñata can be filled with all sorts of pleasant little things: cute prizes, small balls, soft toys, stickers, toys, unexpected surprises. A piñata (photo can be seen in the article) is an excellent alternative to fireworks, giving in addition to visual pleasure a lot of positive energy and a great mood.

DIY Guide

How to make a piñata at home? In making such original fun with your own hands, the scope for imagination is enormous; The easiest way is to build it in the form of a ball. First you need to make a form from papier-mâché, for which you will need:

• ¼ cup wheat flour;
• 2 teaspoons starch;
• 1 glass of cool water;
• 0.5 liters of boiling water;
• old newspapers.

The first step is to cook the paste: combine flour with starch, dilute with cold water. Pour the resulting solution into boiling water, stir until smooth, and cool.

Cut strips from newspaper (about 10*30 cm); grease each one with paste and glue it to the base, for which it is most convenient to use an ordinary balloon (not too inflated) or a large gymnastic ball.

It is better to use ribbon rather than thread as ties so that the ball can be inflated during the drying process. It is recommended to paste newspapers in at least 4 layers, waiting until the previous one has completely dried (about 1-2 hours). If the piñata is intended for small children, applying 3 layers is enough; if something heavy is lying inside for an adult or inside, it is better to strengthen the ball with two or three additional layers. To weaken the piñata and make it easier to break, it is recommended to use a knife to make several neat holes in it.

The papier-mâché mass can be prepared using another method - using 8 rolls of toilet paper, 1 liter of PVA glue, 3 liters of water as the material.

In a spacious container in water you need to soak toilet paper, then squeeze it well. You can make this task easier by using a gauze cloth in which to place the soaked mass. Combine the remaining “cake” with glue and apply it to the base, leaving the area where the ball is tied uncovered.

After the base has dried (this usually takes about 3 days), you can check the readiness of the piñata by knocking on it. A characteristic sound will confirm the dryness of the product. Then you need to untie the tape and deflate the ball. WITH inside The papier-mâché base should be dry and smooth.

Making the task more difficult

For those who have learned to do simple shapes Piñatas, making them in the form of various figures will not be particularly difficult. For example, for a figure in the shape of an animal, you need to glue cardboard parts or several balls of other sizes to the balloon with double-sided tape, onto which you apply newspaper mass.

During the manufacturing process, you should decide on the place from which the piñata will be hung, and attach a hook with wide hangers made from a thin wire hanger. The hangers can be secured on the inside of the ball with adhesive tape, the hole can be masked with adhesive paper tape.

How to decorate a piñata

Of course, the resulting dirty gray ball at first bears little resemblance to the intended toy, so it requires further design and decoration. Most often, colored corrugated paper is used for decoration, which needs to be cut into strips 5-7 cm wide in the form of a fringe (across, not completely).

It is necessary to paste over the piñata from the bottom with the fringe down, all the way around; The strips should be applied so that one slightly overlaps the other. Leave it to dry for a day.

You can supplement the piñata with elements such as eyes, ears, and a tail (depending on what types of piñatas are invented). You can also decorate the finished form with satin ribbons, shaggy feathers, pieces of foil, artificial flowers and serpentine.

For example, by gluing a piñata in layers with honey-colored paper and decorating it with bees on Velcro, you can get a nice beehive. Piglet, eyes and ears will ultimately result in a cute pig.

How to fill a piñata

The final maneuver is to fill the finished piñata with chewing gum, candies, and finely chopped colored paper. This can be done through the hole left. When choosing sweets, it is better to give preference to toffees and lollipops, since chocolate ones can be significantly damaged in the process of hitting the toy. You should also ensure that there are no sharp objects inside that could injure others.

It is recommended to fill the piñata by a third or half, because in order for the toy to break, there must be some left inside. empty space. In addition, the piñata should be mobile, swinging and quirky enough so that children find it interesting to hit it. It is best to use a bat or stick for this. For ease of breaking, it is recommended to make the piñata not too bulky and sufficiently big size, on average from 50 centimeters to 1 meter.

Choosing a location

This game requires a certain amount of space so that the other participants can run away while the blindfolded player hits the piñata in different directions. Therefore, it is recommended to locate a bright toy outdoors, for example, on a branch of a spreading tree. If it is impossible to hold a party outside, the piñata can be hung in the largest room of the room. The figure must be firmly secured so that during the beating process it does not come off along with the long-awaited surprises inside.

Right of first strike

Most often, children are lined up according to height and the right to strike first is given to the youngest. After all, the baby is unlikely to break the piñata the first time, so there is a high probability that all participants will have time to play.

If the right of the first strikes is given to older children, then the piñata can be broken faster, which will ensure disappointment and tears for the players who did not have time to hit it. It should be remembered that when one person hits the piñata, the others should be at a safe distance.

So, we got the answer to the question: piñata - what is it? For a holiday, such fun is just a godsend. It unites guests and causes general fun. A piñata is a toy that is original decoration and entertainment for any celebration, capable of setting a positive tone for the event and bringing a lot of pleasure and joy to the guests.

Everyone loves piñatas! This is a very fun activity that will bring a lot of joy to your child and his guests!

Imagine first you hit with all your might, blindfolded, for children you can do without it, on a hanging funny figure, and then it rains coffee and sweets on you!

And if you organize a competition “Who will collect the most candies” while collecting the contents of the piñata, the event will turn into a fun competition.

Of course, to make your own piñata with your own hands, you need to work hard and you need to start doing this in advance. There are several options for making a piñata with your own hands. You can glue it from cardboard with tape and PVA glue, or make it from a ball covered with papier-mâché. We will consider both options.

But let's first decide what we will fill our piñata with.

Piñata filling

There is no need to fill the piñata completely; there should be empty space inside so that it can break. And the piñata should remain mobile enough so that children are interested in hitting it, and it dodges and swings. It is recommended to fill the piñata no more than 1/2-1/3 of the piñata.

Small toys can also serve as original filling for a piñata, the main thing is that they are new, or relatively new; even light and unbreakable Kinder Surprise toys will do. Ready-made sets of lightweight plastic toys and animals are also available for sale. Imagine the delight of children when, after breaking the piñata, not only candies, but also small toys mixed with confetti and paper cut-outs fall on them!

How big can a piñata be?

To make it easy to break the piñata, it must be quite large. But at the same time, not too bulky, because it will still need to be filled with filling and hung, and the larger it is, the heavier it will be. On average - from 50 cm to 1 meter.

Cardboard piñata

To make a cardboard piñata we will need:

1. Thin crepe paper or corrugated paper for flowers. Crepe paper is sold in a stationery store. Corrugated paper for flowers is thicker, sticks worse and stains your fingers.

The paper must be cut into strips.

2. Newspaper
3. Thick cardboard or corrugated box
4. PVA glue, glue gun (you can do without it, but it’s much faster and more convenient)
5. Scotch tape or adhesive tape or masking tape
6. Knife, scissors
7. Thick rope

Cardboard pinata "Heart"

Cardboard pinata "Star"

Cardboard piñatas figures, ponies

The work plan for cardboard piñatas is almost the same.

It is necessary to cut out the piñata diagram from cardboard and glue it with adhesive tape or glue gun all sections of cardboard together. Now is the time to place the sweets and not big toys inside. You can additionally glue identical dimensions of the cardboard on top for reliable fastening plain paper, as if wrapping a piñata, but the edges should remain just as sharp.

An important point is that the rope by which the toy will be suspended must be attached now, otherwise you will have to drill a new hole and suffer from pulling the cord through it.

Cut long strips of equal width corrugated paper. We fold each strip several times and cut it into a “fence”.

Glue the strips of paper to the base using PVA or hot glue. You need to move from bottom to top so that the coating is uniform.

Pinata using papier-mâché technique

To make a papier-mâché piñata we will need:

1. Thin crepe paper or corrugated paper for flowers. Crepe paper comes from a stationery store. Corrugated paper for flowers is thicker, sticks worse and stains your fingers. Crepe paper must be cut into strips.
2. Newspaper
3. Thick cardboard
4. Durable balloon
5. PVA glue
6. Flour
7. Water
8. Scotch tape or adhesive tape or masking tape
9. Knife
10. Thick rope
11. Twine
12. Scissors

The work plan for papier-mâché piñatas is almost the same.

Inflate the balloon, tie it and secure all protruding parts of the balloon with tape, making it perfectly smooth.

Take about 3 cups of flour and 3 cups of water, the amount of flour is always equal to the amount of water used. If you have a smaller ball, you will need less flour and water. Mix thoroughly. You should end up with a fairly thick paste.

We glue the first layer using plain water - dip strips of paper in water and place them on the ball. If you make this layer with paste, it will stick to the ball. Leave the layer to dry completely. Don't be alarmed if the dry paper is uneven.

We will glue all other layers of the piñata using paste: mix 1/4 cup wheat flour with 1 water. Meanwhile, pour 5 glasses of water into a saucepan and put it on the fire to boil. When the flour is well mixed with water, pour this flour mixture into a saucepan with water and cook over low heat, stirring, for 3 minutes. The finished paste should be cooled completely.

Soak newspaper strips in papier-mâché paste and remove excess solution before attaching them to the balloon.

Hang the ball and continue covering it with newspaper strips. Let the first layer dry and then add the second and third layers. Leave the ball to dry completely overnight.

While our ball is drying, start making decor for the piñata.

Make a small hole in the dried ball and release the air. Using scissors, carefully cut out a circle slightly smaller than the diameter of the cone. Remove and discard the deflated rubber ball.

Take a knife and punch a small hole in the opposite edge. Tie the end of a thick rope into double knot and pass it through the small hole. Fill the piñata with candy. Close the hole and secure the entrance with tape.

Take strips of crepe paper and make a wide fringe on it. The easiest way to do this is when the paper is folded in several layers. Place a very thin line of glue along the top of the edge of the crepe paper. Wrap the fringe around the base of the piñata, with the fringe facing down. Cover each layer of paper with the next layer.

Depending on the birthday party theme, you can make a pint to match. If you have a pirate birthday, make the head of a Jolly Roger or an evil pirate, if it’s a knight’s birthday, make a dragon!

Piñata "Pirate"

Piñata "Dragon"

We attach decorative parts using masking tape or adhesive tape.

Disney Princess Pinata

The top part of the princess is an image or poster of your favorite Disney princess printed on a color printer and glued onto thick cardboard folded several times. The main thing here is to secure the top and bottom parts well with masking tape or tape and not to overload the piñata itself with filling.

Piñatas look funny with eyes and faces glued on them, creatively decorated in the shape of cartoon characters.

How and where to hang a piñata

The piñata can be hung on a tree branch, a basketball hoop, or a wall bars. You can ask two adults to hold the piñata on a string. One adult can do it if you tie the piñata to a long stick.

Remember that you cannot hang a piñata on a chandelier!

How and with what to break a piñata

It is important to follow safety rules. You cannot stand near a piñata while it is being hit. The easiest way to break a piñata is with a small stick or bat.

You can wear a blindfold, but if the children are small, then without a blindfold.

The rules for beating look like this: the first lucky one is selected from the crowd of guests according to a counting, then everyone lines up in a line according to the same counting, he is blindfolded and given a bat in his hands. Place it in front of the piñata and spin it. And they scatter to the sides, because with the next movement he must hit the piñata, hit it and break it. If it doesn’t work out the first time, it is promoted a second time. And so - as many attempts as you want to give to one participant. Usually this is three attempts. If all attempts fail, then the blindfold and bat go to the next lucky person, and everything is repeated again.
Happy Birthday!

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How to make a child’s birthday bright and unforgettable and how to captivate the children’s group, turning the raging energy within them into a peaceful channel so that children of any age do not get bored? I think these questions worry many parents on the eve of a children's party.

One way to do this is with a piñata, a traditional Mexican pastime.

A piñata is a large hollow toy filled with candies and small souvenirs. To get the contents out of the piñata, they hang it up and break it with a special bat, after blindfolding it.

To make a piñata with your own hands we will need:

• large size balloon,
• paste,
• newspaper (or I use drafts and fair copies plain paper Snow Maiden),
• corrugated paper of the desired color,
• PVA glue,
• rope (I use thin satin ribbon),
• scissors,
• awl.

Step 1: Prepare the paste.

We will need: 1 cup flour, 0.5 cup water, 1 teaspoon salt.

Step 2: Making the base of the piñata.

We tear paper or newspaper into strips. Inflate the balloon to the required size.

Glue the paper onto the ball using paste. For the first layers we use drafts or newspaper. The number of layers depends on the required strength. How older child, the stronger the Piñata.

If you use newspaper, then 5-6 layers, if drafts, then 3-4 layers of paper are enough.

After gluing each layer, you need to let the paper dry.

When gluing the last layer, you need to use white paper.

So that drafts or newspaper do not show through the corrugated paper, especially if the main color of the piñata is light.

Let the base dry well. It may take several days. We remove the ball. We pierce it with an awl and pull it out.

Step 3: Stitch the piñata with ribbon, leaving long ends.

We fix it well from the inside using tape.

If necessary, glue the necessary elements. I would like to note that sometimes additional elements, eyes, nose, mouth, etc., it is more convenient to stick on a ready-made Pinata.

Step 4: Cut the corrugated paper into strips. And then fringe.

Step 5: Glue the corrugated paper to the base.

To glue corrugated paper, I usually use PVA glue, but you can also use pencil glue. It will be more convenient for whom. We begin to peck at the Piñata from below with the fringe down. A little effort and the Piñata is ready.

Step 6: Fill the piñata with various sweets and small surprises.

You can cut different colored paper, scraps of corrugated paper are also great. The hole for filling can be cut in advance, or in a ready-made piñata. I usually mask the hole with different elements.

Glue on the face.

To break the Piñata, you can take a stick, a bat, a thin tube, a rolling pin, etc. It can be decorated with ribbons or hung with fringe.

Our piñata is ready!

This kind of entertainment is enjoyed not only by children, but also by adults.

The best thing is that you can fully express your imagination, here are some of my works:

Get creative and make your kids happy!

In Mexico, piñatas are made for children for any occasion. These are quite large toys, inside of which they put sweets, confetti, glitter, in general, holiday attributes. Such fun could be different shapes, but were mainly created in the form of animals or geometric shapes. Initially they were made from papier-mâché or colored paper. Now we will talk about how to make a piñata with your own hands.

These toys came from Mexico, then children began to play with them. Latin America, and this was several centuries ago. However, even now a wonderful game is played for children mainly on the occasion of a birthday or New Year.

A game

The piñata is hung at the level of the child’s head and given to him with a stick or bat, he hits the toy, and when it breaks, candies, glitter, in general, all the contents fly out of it. This brings children to indescribable delight. This was the original scenario, but you can easily come up with your own. The main thing is that the children find it interesting. It is not necessary to break the piñata; you can make it simply open, then the child will be able to play with it after the holiday.

Making a piñata

The simplest piñata is made with your own hands; its master class will now be described in detail for a better understanding of all the processes. Creating this wonderful toy will not require large investments of money, and perhaps everything you need can be found at home. So, we will need:

• balloon,
• PVA glue,
• flour,
• paper tape,
• colored paper.

Preparing to create a piñata

First you need to tear or cut the newspapers into pieces. From them the form will be created.

Now we prepare the glue. You can make it from flour by diluting one part of it in two parts of water, after which everything must be thoroughly mixed until smooth. Or use regular PVA from a tube. You also need a separate small vessel with water.

How to make a piñata

Inflate the balloon to the required size and tie it. Now you need to cover it with newspaper scraps. The first layer of paper will be attached to the ball with water, so that after the entire process is completed, it can be easily pulled out from the inside. To do this, we lower the newspaper scraps into the water and cover them with them. The ring of the balloon for inflation should not be sealed, because when everything is ready, we will remove it from the toy. When the entire surface is covered with the first layer, apply the next one, but using PVA glue or one made from flour. Now, instead of water, scraps of newspaper are dipped in glue, and the whole procedure is repeated exactly. You need to make 3-4 layers - this way the toy will be strong, but at the same time, upon impact, it can break in order to give away all its contents. After each applied layer, the piñata must dry completely, and only after that the next sheet of paper is applied.

Hanging mount

Let's move on to the next stage of how to make a piñata with your own hands. When the mold is completely dry, you can remove the ball by untying it and releasing the air from it. Now you need to think about how the entire structure will be suspended. To do this you should prepare beautiful ribbon, on which everything will hang, and tie a stick at the end. It needs to be inserted into this hole and placed across it. This is enough reliable way fasteners However, to be more sure that when struck, the piñata will not fall off prematurely, you need to cut a circle out of cardboard with a small hole into which to insert a ribbon and glue it to the body of the piñata. The additional seal will hold everything more securely.

The second option for hanging a piñata can be a wire hook. It is also inserted into the hole that remains from the ball, only the spacer is made of wire, and the ring comes out. And also everything needs to be carefully sealed so that the toy does not fall prematurely from impacts.

So, the piñata, the master class for creating which is described in detail here, is ready, now you need to fill it with sweet contents. To do this, we cut out a hole through which the candies and other holiday attributes will get inside. It’s better to do it at the bottom, so that when it hits, everything spills out at once and nothing gets stuck inside. In general, you can cut it from any side. You will need a sharp knife, with which cuts are made on the body, and then one or several parts are turned away, through which the sweets will get inside. After this, everything can be sealed with paper tape or strips of plain paper, spreading them with glue.

To make a piñata, the photo of which is presented here, you need to decorate it by covering it with colored paper. At the same time, you can add various elements to create the image of your loved one. cartoon character which the child likes. This will please the baby even more. An Angry Birds piñata could be an excellent option; it’s not at all difficult to make on the basis of a papier-mâché ball. All you have to do is cut out a beak with a tuft from cardboard - and the hero of the world famous cartoon is ready.

Complex piñata shapes

Now let's look at how to make a piñata with your own hands, but in a more complex shape. There are quite realistic objects in the form of people, for example. The more complex the shape, the smaller the paper needs to be torn for papier-mâché. This will allow you to make a more realistic object, showing all the protrusions, even the smallest ones, without folds. In complex layouts, toilet paper is used because it is very thin and does not wrinkle when dry.

For complex piñatas, you first need to make a mold; the most convenient and common material for this is plasticine. Firstly, it is greasy, making the paper form easy to come off after everything dries, and secondly, it is easy to work with.

How to remove a complex shape from papier-mâché

When creating complex images, the technique is slightly different. When everything is covered with paper and dry, you need to somehow pull out the plasticine blank from inside. To do this, the paper model is cut into two parts so that everything from the inside can be removed. After removing the plasticine object, the paper form is glued back together and at least one layer of papier-mâché is applied on top. This way everything will hold up much better. Once the model is dry, you can begin painting. Here's how to make a piñata with your own hands in a rather complex shape.

Creating a perfectly flat surface on the piñata

However, if a smooth surface is needed, then papier-mâché is sanded. Sandpaper is used for this. When everything is smoothed well, coat the surface with glue - it will give the paper form a finished look and remove any roughness left during sanding. When the glue has dried, the toy is completely inspected, and if there are any flaws anywhere, they are spot-fixed.

Only when the master is completely satisfied with the form is it painted. Any paint will do for this. If you take gouache or watercolor, then to make the surface shine, they are mixed with glue, which, firstly, will protect the surface from moisture, and secondly, the paint will shimmer in the sun. Sometimes glitter is added to it, in general, the main thing is to improvise and try to do it.

Some professionals varnish their products after painting, but such piñatas are not broken; they are stored as an original element of the interior.

The article described how to make a piñata with your own hands. The master class described in detail the entire process - from beginning to end. We started with a shape that was simple enough to make a piñata for kids to enjoy, and then moved on to how to make a real piece of art in any shape without relying on a ball.

Despite the fact that the tradition of putting gifts in piñatas is very old, in our time it has gained a new breath.