Make nativity figurines yourself out of paper mache

What you need:

• Newsprint
• Wallpaper paste
• cooking pot
• Hand mixer
• various filling materials
• Colours

Instructions for paper mache

If you are doing handicrafts with small children, you should prepare the paper mache for the nativity figurines yourself in advance. Bigger children can help.

1. You'll need to tear up some old newspapers first.
2. The paper is mixed with water in a large saucepan. For one or two double pages you will need about a liter of water.
3. Cook your paper soup for 20-25 minutes. Make sure that the snippets are always covered with water and add a little water if necessary.
4. Let the mixture cool down.


Tinker with wallpaper paste - this is how paper mache works

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5. Use an old blender to puree the paper to a pulp.
6. Pour off your paper pulp to separate the remaining water from it. You can also squeeze out some of the water with your hands.
7. Add several tablespoons of paste powder and mix them carefully with the paper pulp. Knead the mixture until it becomes a malleable mass.

Make nativity figurines with children

To make it easier for the children to shape the figures, you should make the body shapes from an inner frame before handling paper mache.

• Bodies can arise as small glasses. For example, a table tennis ball becomes a head. Or you can make the inner structure of a body out of newspaper with adhesive tape or use toilet or kitchen paper rolls as a base.
• A wire frame is also a good starting point for the individual crib figures.
• Help the children find simple body shapes and give them tips on how to implement them. At the same time, you should give children who want less help as much freedom as possible to develop their own ideas and implement them. This means that every nativity figure can be unique.

The painting is also important for the crib figures:

• This works best if the figures have been allowed to dry out for several days beforehand.
• Small details can help with the painting so that the individual figures can be identified as typical Christmas crib characters. If you are with the children Handcraft want to help, for example, images of those involved are a support.
• But you can also work out in a joint discussion which characteristics might fit the Shepherds or the Three Wise Men, Mary and Joseph or the Christ Child.