DIY Paper Mache Moon

Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the first lunar landing with this out-of-this-world moon craft. Pair it with spacecraft you decorate yourself with the Kid Made Modern Wooden Spaceship Kit! Keep reading for the full DIY and learn more about Apollo 11!

Supplies:

-Cardboard

-Hot glue gun (*always ask an adult for help when using a hot glue gun!)

-Bits and pieces from the Arts and Crafts Library (pom poms, wood discs and fuzzy sticks!)

-Newspaper

-Flour

-Water

-Black and white paint

-Paintbrushes

-Plastic shopping bags, bubble wrap, or a sponge

-Wooden Spaceship Kit

Steps: 

1. Cut a circle of cardboard the size you would like your moon to be! Ours was 12 inches in diameter. You can trace a large round object, like a bowl to make your circle. Use your hot glue gun to glue small bits and pieces from your Arts and Crafts Library onto your circle at random. We used different sized pom poms, wood discs and pipe cleaners bent into a “C” shape. We also glued a couple of recycled bottle caps onto the board.

2. Mix some paper mache paste. Paper mache is a paste made from flour and water. We used ¼ cup of flour and 1 cup of water. Stir the mixture together in a bowl (some lumps of flour may remain, you can stir more as you use it!) and set aside. Take your newspaper and cut or rip it into strips. Strips should be about 1 inch wide and around 3 - 6 inches long.

3. To paper mache your moon, dip strips of paper into the paste one at a time. Be sure you dip the entire strip in. Use your fingers to gently wipe excess paste off of the paper strip and then place the wet paper strips onto your moon shape so that they cover the cardboard and objects. Overlap strips as you go and layer as needed. If anywhere on your moon starts to look too wet, just place a dry strip of paper or two in the area to soak up the excess paste. Once the entire moon is covered, allow it to dry completely, at least overnight.

4. Once your paper mache is completely dry (feels hard to the touch!), you can prepare to paint! Use scissors to trim any excess newspaper from the sides of your moon. You can also cut some “C” shapes out of the sides of the circle in a few places to look like moon craters. Mix some black and white paint to create a gray color (you will want more white than black!). Use the gray paint to paint the entire surface of your moon and allow it to dry.

5. Next you will add a second layer of paint to give your moon some texture! Make another shade of gray paint using black and white. This should be darker or lighter than your original color (you choose!). Using either a piece of bubble wrap, a scrunched plastic shopping bag, or a dry sponge, sponge paint onto the entire moon to give it texture.

6. Once the paint dries your moon is complete! If you want to hang it on the wall, you can hot glue two ends of a pipe cleaner to the back to create a hanger. We used the Wooden Spaceship Kit and some items from our Arts and Crafts Library to create spacecraft to go with our moon! We also used felt from the Arts and Crafts Library to make an astronaut and flag to celebrate the first lunar landing!

Add a little STEAM!

On July 20th, we will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first people to land on the moon. Apollo 11 was the first space mission where people landed and walked on our moon. The first astronaut to walk on the moon was named Neil Armstrong. 

After creating your moon, do some research with a grown up to help you learn more about the Apollo 11 mission and other missions of the space race era! Here are some fun questions you can research the answer to as you learn:

- Do you know the name of the first person to ever travel into outer space?

- Did you know there have been animals that have flown in outer space? How many different animals have been on space ships?

- Who was the first woman astronaut to travel into space?

- What is the longest amount of time an astronaut has traveled in space?

Also, be sure to look and see if there are any events in your local area celebrating the anniversary of Apollo 11! Check out a local science museum and see what other things you can discover about space or the moon!

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Shop Our Wooden Spaceship Craft Here!