I'm not really sure how it happened but for the last two weeks I've been helping a 5 year old make a giraffe. Well actually, I know exactly what led me to me be knee deep in paint, glue and paper! Let me explain...
It all started when I saw what I thought was an odd image of Bahrain on the front cover of the GulfWeekly, it was part of the new marketing campaign of the BTEA designed to encourage visitors from Saudi Arabia, which is a great initiative for boosting tourism after Covid-19.
As the Principal Author of the book "101 Things to See and Do in Bahrain" (part of a series by the www.Explore101.com Team), I thought that I should investigate because giraffes don't feature in my recommendations - perhaps I'd missed something?
So I was delighted to find on a recent essential trip to the vet with one of my dogs - I don't get out much these days due to COVID 19 restrictions - a model giraffe on the approach to Adhari Park. Sadly, on a return visit to the vet a week later, I discovered she had disappeared due to roadworks in the area...
And then I got to thinking that perhaps Bahrain needed a giraffe mascot for the BTEA compaign and set to work to create one with a little friend of mine, 5 year old Scarlett, one of Baloo's Best Buddies.
It has been such fun! What started out as a "bit of papiermache" became quite the construction project - thankfully my engineering training has finally come in useful! Scarlett and I got stuck in and all sticky making the papiermache base with ALL the design ideas hers. She chose which bits from my recycling box would work for each of the giraffe's features, cut them out and stuck them on. There were some fabulous innovations; cut-up egg box became the animal's hair and a plastic bottle top, paper and a star became gorgeous eyes, with egg boxes shaping the ears and horns.
Scarlett insisted the giraffe - now named Flopsy - had to have a handbag and sunglasses. These she made out of odds and ends we found in my "keep for a rainy day" project box.
Perhaps the best bit for Scarlett was the painting. We abandoned brushes and sponges to use fingers to make a perfect two-coloured coat - and why shouldn't it be yellow and bright orange?!
We spent two mornings on this project plus a bit of extra construction in between by me to make sure the giraffe was durable and didn't fall over - so glad I paid attention in my mechanics classes all those years ago!
And I'm sure you'll agree that Flopsy is FABULOUS!
Flopsy is available for tourism photoshoots. Bookings can be made via me. Flopsy is a much loved toy kept safely out of the way of Scarlett's cat, with strict restrictions on who is allowed to touch her!
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For parents looking for ideas about what to do with their children over the long hot summer ahead, I recommend a papiermache project. It's a fun and frivolous thing to do that your children can let their imagination run wild on.
Made out of nothing but throw away items, this papiermache giraffe cost me next to nothing except time. It was very relaxing and if truth be told I enjoyed it just as much as Scarlett did!
You will need:
- old fashioned absorbant newspaper (that's the stuff that the ink comes off on),
- flour and water paste (or white glue watered down),
- a balloon for the body (or use a metal coat hanger to build the structure base
- cardboard tubing (e.g. toilet roll or kitchn roll inserts)
- water-based paints plus a brush and sponge
- throwaway bits and bobs from your recycling box to finish off the project
There are lots of youtube videos to show you how to make papiermache if you're a first timer.
Have fun and post your creations on www.GDNLife.com for a great summer of papiermache projects!
