Students apply wet papier-smâché to a relief sculpture.

Clyde Gaw

After years of making salt-dough and papier-mâché glue solutions, my students and I began to mash and pulverize wet paper to create an inexpensive and versatile sculpting material they call “papier-smâché.”

We observed that the initial phase of this process is physically intensive. I have always understood that elementary-aged schoolchildren have an abundance of energy. From a physiological and developmental standpoint, it is critical for educators to put that energy to constructive use.

Transforming scrap paper into a compelling three-dimensional sculpture can be an incredibly meaningful experience for young artists.

Utilizing a variation on the mortarand-pestle processing method, children will enthusiastically smash wet paper with pounding sticks into fivegallon buckets. After a five-minute mashing session, combinations of wheat paste, white glue, or flour were mixed in. There is a “sweet spot” in the consistency of the mixture, so we had to add or subtract water if it was too wet or dry.

The Basic Recipe

1. Soak torn scrap paper in water for at least five to ten minutes in a durable container. (Avoid using plastic-coated paper.)
2. Drain the water from the container.
3. Use two to three 2 x 2' or 2 x 4' pounding sticks to pulverize the wet paper. Continue pounding until the paper starts to break down. Add or subtract water as needed.
4. Add glue in a one-to-twenty ratio to the mixture. This ratio may need to be adjusted throughout the mixing process.
5. Continue to pulverize the paper and glue with pounding sticks until material is thoroughly incorporated.
6. After a consistency is achieved, sculpt away!
7. Dry the finished sculptures in warm sunlight. Depending on the moisture content and drying environment, the sculptures will dry in three to seven days.

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