Piñatas for Kids

Howdy! It is a blustering, rainy day in the middle of January and I am hiding away, pretending it is the season I love... winter. Admittedly, it is hard to do when the rain is pouring down. Sigh. However, I am bound and determined to enjoy my plus 5 winter day, so let's talk about something fun.

In the past, I developed the tradition of making piñatas for each of the kid's birthdays, Christmas', year end class parties and moving away parties. Recently I have revived this tradition for my husband's three little nieces. I am enjoying the process of making a shape of their choosing, filling it with chocolate and getting everyone at the party to decorate loot bags for the fun things I bought and the chocolate from the pinata. It has been fun watching the older ones get into it and the youngest one trying to understand why she gets a toothbrush from her unicorn instead of riding it like she was doing after she unwrapped it. For the kids who have everything, this is a blast on both ends of the giving and receiving.

I used to make the piñatas using wallpaper paste powder that I could buy in bulk and use when needed. In this new day and age (lol.. makes me sound very old) I have been unable to find wall paper paste except in an already made paste that is too small of an amount and much too expensive. So... I have started using flour and water which works wonders to hold the shape together but not so wonderful at being strong enough to be whacked with a stick more than a few times. I have been playing with the amount of water and white glue ratios and will hopefully come across a mix that is strong enough to withstand the strength of the girls as they get older and stronger.

In any case, here are the ones I have made in the last year and a half except for the clown. I can't find pictures of it : (

 
 
 

Part of the fun for me is getting the kids to pick their shape. Yes, the oldest of the three wanted a pineapple. I made up the grab bags for this one, as I was not going to be in the province to attend the party and do crafts with the kids.

As you can see, the youngest one's unicorn was big enough to ride and I had fun braiding the tail and painting it her requested purple. I am amazed at how I can go from hating it (it never looks good at the wet paper or dried paper shape stage) to OK... it'll do, after the painting and decorating stage.

I will have to wait until fall for the next request. We shall see what they want this year. It should be interesting though, as what the youngest wanted for Christmas was a pickle and to be a pickle and her middle sister wanted a real live donkey. I can't wait!