Create a bowl for your very own ancient Egyptian feast! Based on Egyptian Faience ceramics, which date back to 3500 B.C., your child will be able to create her own beautiful bowl out of papier mache! Once it's finished, your child’s beautifully decorated bowl will be lavish enough for any king’s feast!
What You Need:
- Aluminum bowl
- Newspaper strips
- Wallpaper paste
- Mixing bowl with a lid for paste
- Water
- Turquoise and blue tissue paper cut into 2” squares
- White tempera or acrylic paint
- 2 Paintbrushes
- Gold tempera paint
- Print out of Egyptian Symbols (from the internet)
What You Do:
- Make a mixture of wallpaper paste and water in a container that has a resealable lid. The mixture is usually half water/half paste, but be sure to read the package. An alternative mixture is listed below.
- Turn the aluminum bowl upside down.
- Have your child dip strips of newspaper into the paste and run them through his fingers to take off any excess. He should set them on top of the bowl and smooth them down. Create 3 layers of newspaper layers for a substantial bowl.
- Allow the bowl to completely dry overnight.
- Help your child remove the aluminum bowl from the dried paper bowl.
- He can now paint the bowl white on both sides using tempera paint or acrylic. Allow this to dry.
- To create a “turquoise” bowl, he can dip a brush into leftover wallpaper paste and, working in small areas at a time, brush the paste on the bowl, and press one piece of tissue paper down at a time making sure they are completely glued down and flat. Make sure he covers the entire bowl, inside and out. Allow to dry.
- Now, get out the gold paint and encourage your child to decorate the inside and outside of the bowl with Egyptian symbols.
- Your child is now ready for an Egyptian feast! He can fill his bowl to the brim with yummy fruits or breads!
Helpful Hints: An alternative recipe for papier mache paste is to combine white glue into white or rice flour (half and half), mix it well into a very thick ball, then add a small amount of water at a time to create the consistency of pea soup.
A great website for looking at Egyptian Symbols can be found here: http://www.egyptartsite.com/symlst.html
By Ellen Dean
Ellen Dean has worked as an art educator in Thailand since 2005, working with both children and adults. She has also been a professional artist working in painting, sculpture and photography since 1996.
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