How to Make a Piggy Bank Out of Paper

Earning money can be a lot more fun when your child makes his very own piggy bank. While some traditional homemade piggy banks are made from tin and aluminum cans, this easy and fun project lets your child make one from paper and a few other common household items. Half the fun is making the bank, and the other half is saving for something he really wants. This project, designed for parents and kids to work on together, should result in many happy returns.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Lots of newspaper
• Oval or round-shaped balloon
• Empty toilet paper tube
• Tempera paints, pink and black
• Paintbrush
• String or yarn
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups tap water
• 3 tbsp. salt

1. Print a picture of a cartoon pig off the Internet. Having a picture guide will help your child visualize what the bank will look like when it is completed. You might also find a picture you like in a picture book or magazine. This step is optional, but can be very helpful.

2. Cover the table you will be working at with newspaper. This is a messy project, so this is an important step.

3. Tear strips of newspaper in 5-inch strips and place in a pile. Have at least 30 to 40 strips of paper ready to go. You may need more or less depending on the exact size of the balloon you will be using. Try turning a piece of newspaper sideways and tearing in this fashion. This will give you a nice clean tear, as opposed to a jagged tear, if you start from the top of the newspaper.

4. Blow up the balloon and tie a knot. Tie a piece of string from the end of the balloon, and secure the other end of the string to a place where the balloon can hang at a comfortable length for the child to reach easily. You can use a light fixture for this purpose or rig something up yourself. Suspending the balloon produces better results when the paste is drying.

5. Combine the water, flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. Stir until the paste is thick and there are no lumps remaining. You know the mixture is at the right consistency when you can cover a strip of newspaper and still be able to use your index finger and thumb to remove excess paste from the strip. If you need to add a little more water or flour to get to this consistency, this is the time to do it.

6. Dip strips of newspaper into the paste and remove the excess paste (using your index finger and thumb). Cover the entire balloon. Overlap strips as much as possible, and leave no holes. Let this dry for at least eight hours and then apply another layer in the same way. Two layers should work fine. After the last layer is completely dry, poke a hole in the balloon (from the top where the string is attached) and gently pull the deflated balloon out. Discard the balloon.

7. Cut a toilet paper tube into five equal parts to make five small cylinders. Use newspaper and paste to adhere four legs to the bank to create legs for the pig. Use the last cylinder to make a nose for the pig. You will need to do two layers for the legs and nose with a drying time of eight hours between the layers.

8. Make ears for the pig by constructing two small triangle shapes from newspaper and paste. Moistened strips are easy to bend and shape. Adhere the triangles where the ears should go with more paste. Let this dry at the same time the legs and nose are drying.

9. Cut a slit in the top of the piggy bank, just big enough for a quarter or half-dollar to fit through. This will definitely need to be done by an adult.

10. Paint the piggy bank with pink tempera paint for the body and black tempera paint for eyes, ears, and nose. From there, you can decorate the bank however you wish with all sorts of designs and colors.

Tips & Warnings

• Using the steps given above, you can make many animal shapes into a bank. Let your child choose his favorite animal.
• Only adults should use a knife to cut a slit in the piggy bank, especially if making this project with young children.