How to make a skateboard pinata? Would a balloon safe for pinata when burst?

[naturallyspeaking]

Hi,
I've read some instruction for making pinata and all I've read said use a balloon. Would this be safe when it burst though? I don't want little balloon pieces flying all over the kids and the goodies that kids might accidently put them in their mouth. My son will be 5 on his birthday but we invited younger and older children of his age. Do you know how to make pinata other than using balloons? I would like to make one for skateboarding theme but looking for something easy. Also if you make pinata out of a balloon, do you pull it to burst or whack it?

Thanks in advance.

[eepster]

The balloon is just some thing to form the paper mache around, you can use anything you want. You could still use a balloon as your form and just remove it when you put the candy in. I'll explain.

1. Inflate a balloons and tape together with card board pieces till you have the shape you want.
2. Tear up strips of paper (newspapers or grocerybags work well) and soak in a water/flour paste.
3. Cover balloon/cardboard form compleatly except for the knot in the balloon.
4. Add any relief details sculpted from paste soaked paper
5. allow to dry and repeat steps 2 & 3 and allow to dry again.
6. untie knot in balloon and pull out balloon.
7. decorate (paint then crepe paper are most common.)
8. fill with candy cover hole with decorative paper or sticker.
9. hang from a tree or stick and let kids whack it till it breaks.

You may want to take a picture before the final step

[naturallyspeaking]

Wow, that makes sense. Thank you.
Now how would I form skateboard shape using balloons? I'm thinking either long balloon or several of round balloons lined up together but don't know how to form the wheels...
Any ideas, ladies?
Thanks in advance.

[~Nikki~]

You could use a few of the long skinny balloons set side by side, with the middle ones inflated a bit longer to make the curved ends, if that makes sense. Use some masking tape to hold them together (4 or 5 lined up side by side should be plenty). Cover the balloons in paper mache (I always use strips of newspaper, and run them through a glue/water paste.) Do a few layers, leaving a hole at one end, and then wait for the form to dry completely. I always pop the balloons with a pin and pull them out after the form is dry. At this point, you can fill it with candy and then patch the hole with a little more paper mache. For the wheels, you could cut little circles of cardboard and glue them or paper mache them underneath. Let the whole thing dry, then paint it or tissue paper it to decorate.

[Kari_mom]

You can make pinatas without balloons or paper mache, most of the ones in the stores are corrugated cardboard held together with tape. I've made several for my kids with posterboard. I just create the shape I want, tape it together with duct tape, fill it with treats and small toys, then decorate it with tissue paper and construction paper.

Here is a rocket I made for my son's birthday party last weekend:

Rocket Pinata

Just adding another idea for you to think about. Hope this helps!

[eepster]

Originally Posted by Kari_mom

You can make pinatas without balloons or paper mache, most of the ones in the stores are corrugated cardboard held together with tape. I've made several for my kids with posterboard. I just create the shape I want, tape it together with duct tape, fill it with treats and small toys, then decorate it with tissue paper and construction paper.

Here is a rocket I made for my son's birthday party last weekend:

Rocket Pinata

Just adding another idea for you to think about. Hope this helps!

How well do they break apart? Do you get that single moment when all the candy comes pouring down?

I went to a party where it kept dribbling out a little with each whack and it was hard to keep the kids from running up with each whack while the whacking kid kept going.

[naturallyspeaking]

THanks ladies for great ideas. Now would you let the kids keep what they picked after the pinata break or would you let them bring into one basket and the adult redistribute evenly? I see both way have pros and cons...

[~Nikki~]

We had pinatas for every birthday party growing up, and the best method my mother found was to package the candy up into goodie bags and pack them into the pinata. That way, they were already evenly distributed. She'd toss a few extra goodie bags in (in case any broke on the way down, or in case a few extra kids showed up), and all was well. This seemed to be the best way to avoid mad dash fights for the candy.

[Kari_mom]

Originally Posted by eepster

How well do they break apart? Do you get that single moment when all the candy comes pouring down?

I went to a party where it kept dribbling out a little with each whack and it was hard to keep the kids from running up with each whack while the whacking kid kept going.

When it goes, it goes. The store ones are too hard to break and the candy dribbles out as you say.

We do the gather up and share method of candy distribution, but I like the goodie bag idea.

[eepster]

Originally Posted by Kari_mom

When it goes, it goes. The store ones are too hard to break and the candy dribbles out as you say.

Yes the one in question was a store bought (I wasn't hosting the party. BTW)

I also like the goody bag idea.

[naturallyspeaking]

I also like this idea but have questions. How big were your pinatas growing up ? I'm thinking since you need to put multiple goodie bags in there, the pinata needs to be big enough to hold?? Or were the goodie bags small (like in a cellophane bag vs. lunch bag size)?
Thanks IA,

Originally Posted by ~Nikki~

We had pinatas for every birthday party growing up, and the best method my mother found was to package the candy up into goodie bags and pack them into the pinata. That way, they were already evenly distributed. She'd toss a few extra goodie bags in (in case any broke on the way down, or in case a few extra kids showed up), and all was well. This seemed to be the best way to avoid mad dash fights for the candy.

[Flor]

Originally Posted by naturallyspeaking

THanks ladies for great ideas. Now would you let the kids keep what they picked after the pinata break or would you let them bring into one basket and the adult redistribute evenly? I see both way have pros and cons...

Let them whack it and go for it, but then have a bunch of extras for those who don't want to dive in.

I think the scary moment with pinatas is when the kid breaks it, but is still blindfolded and doesn't realize it yet, but all the other kids are diving for the candy. The blindfolded one always seems to give it one more swing.

Another issue I've had is that some of the pinatas are shaped like humans or animals. It seems really weird to hit Dora with a bat! I've seen some now that have strings to pull instead of being hit, but I haven't seen those in action.

[~Nikki~]

They were small baggies, like the kind that people often use to give out bundles of Halloween candy. If she was putting small toys in the pinata, she'd sometimes put them in seperately and just explain that there was one for each person. It was hilarious the year she put bouncy balls in, and they bounced all over the driveway and all over the yard. We were finding bouncy balls YEARS later. Yeah....didn't think that one through very well.

She would usually use very large round balloons, and then decorate them appropriatly. But she also did a few themed ones by blowing up various balloons, taping them together with masking tape, covering the large shape with a paper mache mixture, and then popping the balloons once the structure had dried.

[eepster]

Originally Posted by ~Nikki~

It was hilarious the year she put bouncy balls in, and they bounced all over the driveway and all over the yard. We were finding bouncy balls YEARS later. Yeah....didn't think that one through very well.

laughup : Ok, now my day is complete.