DIY Paper Mâché Rocket
This past year has been an especially challenging time for everyone to say the least. As a working mom, I’ve had my share of crazy days playing the role of an employee, mom, homemaker, and wife. If you’ve had the blessing of being able to work from home like me, then you know that it also brought on a unique set of challenges including playing a whole new role: The role of being a teacher! That means constantly finding ways to engage our kids in the home. One of the ways we’ve been able to engage our 4 year old is through art and fun projects. It definitely sparks his interest, and also allows us to take a break from our routine schedule and spend some quality time together.
One of the most recent projects we made is a paper mâché rocket that we have now hung on the ceiling of my son’s space themed bedroom (I will have a separate post on this soon). It was super fun and engaging for my son. And guess what? It was not that messy (this is a big bonus for me)! We worked solely on the kitchen counter so the clean up was super easy.
What you will need:
- 8 paint sticks
- Painter’s tape
- Duct tape (silver or grey)
- 2 card stock printer sheets
- Thin tracing paper (ripped up in long shreds)
- Elmer’s glue (large bottle, at least 32 Ounces)
- Paint/brushes and markers (your choice of colors)
Here’s what to do:
- To build the base structure, line up the 8 painter sticks lengthwise and duct tape them together.
2. Once they are taped together, bring the end sticks together and tape them together to form a long hollow cylindrical structure.
3. Cut a card stock printer sheet in half lengthwise. Take one of the cut sheets, and bring the two ends together, forming a cone. Check to see when the cone shape fits snuggly around the top of the rocket base. Once a cone shape is formed and is the correct size in diameter, tape the ends securely using the painter’s tape and cut off any excess overlapping parts of the cone shape. Secure the cone over the top of the rocket base using the painter’s tape.
4. Using the remaining card stock printer sheet, trace out a circular shape to fit on the bottom of the rocket base, and secure it with painter’s tape.
At this point it will look something like this:
5. Next step is to make the 4 fins of the rocket. Using another card stock printer sheet, cut out 4 parallelogram shapes about 2.5 to 3 inches in length. Using duct and painter’s tape, secure each fin onto the side of the rocket base, about an inch from the bottom making sure they are equally spaced apart.
6. Use the remaining card stock printer sheet to cut out 3 long rectangle shapes, approximately 1 inch wide and 3 inches length. Place silver/grey duct tape over the 3 shapes on both front and back sides to ensure the shape is completely covered with the tape, trimming off any excess tape. Fold in the ends of each of the rectangles to form a cylinder and secure the ends with more duct tape. The result will be 3 rocket boosters, each about 1 inch long and 1 inch in diameter. Save these for the end steps.
7. Now the fun part begins! Mix 1 part Elmer’s glue and 1 part water and mix the solution together in a large bowl until the mixture is homogeneous. Dip a strip of the tracing paper into the mixture and stick it on the rocket ensure it is as smooth and flat as possible. Work your way from one end to the other ensuring all the areas are well covered. Work carefully on and around the fins to ensure the sheets are smooth and flat. Once the rocket is fully covered, set it aside overnight to let it dry completely.
This is what it will look like at this point:
8. The next day, it’s time to bedazzle your rocket! Paint it based on your liking using your paints of choice. Note, a couple of coats of paint will be needed to give the rocket a clean look.
9 Once the paint is completely dry, glue or tape the rocket boosters to the bottom of the rocket spacing them equally apart. You can further personalize your rocket using a marker to draw a name along the sides. And you’re all done!
