Introduction: Make an Egg With a Mystery Inside

By Science City at Union Station
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Make an Easter Egg with a surprise hidden inside. You can create your own Mystery Egg using a technique called paper mache. With the help of an adult, follow along with our tutorial to make a one-of-a-kind Easter surprise!

Supplies

1 cup of Elmer's School Glue

1 cup of water

Strips of newspaper or strips of colorful construction paper (cut to the dimensions of 2 inches by 3 inches )

1 balloon

1 large mixing bowl

1 measuring cup

1 scissors

(Optional) Your favorite color book creations or pictures you like

(Optional) Child safe school paints

Step 1: Mix 1 Cup of Water With 1 Cup of Elmer's School Glue in a Large Bowl.

To create the glue solution for your paper mache project, you will need to dilute liquid glue. A solution is a mixture of liquids, in this case water and glue. To dilute something, you add water to it. This means you will add water to the glue and mix them together. We suggest mixing equal parts glue and water, or a 1:1 ratio of water to glue.

Step 2: Prepare a Balloon That Is the Size You Want the Mystery Egg to Be. One Bottom of the Balloon Mark at Place That Will Not Be Cover by Paper Mache.

Blow up the balloon, tie off the end and use a marker to trace out a circle large enough to fit your mystery object inside (you may need to ask your adult to help you with this).

Step 3: One at a Time, Dip the Paper Strips in the Glue/water Mixture Then Place Them on the Balloon.

Make sure to have the paper stick to the balloon at all angles. This will add strength to your egg's shell. For help holding the balloon in place, tape the "no cover" spot on the balloon to a paper plate. Make sure you cover

the entire surface of the balloon except for the circle you marked off for the hole.

Step 4: Cover the Balloon With a Second Layer.

Apply a second layer of paper to your balloon to make the egg's shell stronger. At this time you can use a different more decorative paper or use the news paper and paint it later. Add a second layer of paper, this time using your colored paper scraps. Dip them in your glue solution and completely cover the egg so that no newspaper is showing.

Step 5: Allow 1 Day for Glue to Dry Then Deflate Balloon (PARENTS ONLY FOR SURPRISE EFFECT)

At this you can what you would like to put inside as the surprise. Once your egg dries, you can pop the balloon, remove it, and hide your surprise inside!

Step 6: Place a Plastic Layer of Other Barrier to Insure Surprise Items Do Not Get Glue on Them.

This can be temporary or permanent. Just remember , you want kids to be able to peek in and guess what they see.

Step 7: Cover Remaining Area With a Peep Hole for Viewing.

This needs to be big enough for kids to view in and use a flashlight.

Step 8: (Optional)- Decoupage Your Egg

Pick out some of your favorite pictures and coloring book creations and Decoupage them to your egg. If you have some extra glue left over and would like to add some extra personality to your egg, you can cut out an image and decoupage it onto your egg. Decoupage is a technique that uses glue to seal an image onto something. To decoupage your image, use a paint brush to add glue to the area of the egg you want to add the image to, place the image on top of the glue and then brush over the image with more glue to seal it in.

Step 9: (Optional Discovery)Using Your Senses to Figure Out What Is Inside the Egg

Invest-EGG-ate - Using Your Five Senses!

Touch the item inside the egg. What do you feel?

Smell the item inside the egg. What do you smell?

Listen to the item inside the egg. What do you hear?

Taste the item inside of the egg (if your adult says its safe). What do you taste?

Look into the egg using a flashlight. What can you see?