Once the mixture thickens, it's all ready to use!! Take out your newspaper strips, as wide or narrow as you like and now you can dip the newspaper strips into the mixture and place over a blown up balloon. Leave a small opening around the knot of the balloon. Once you have applied all the newspaper strips that you like to cover the balloon, you must let it dry for about 12 hours.

Now, go back and do it again, over what you have already let dry. Apply two or three more layers. Let dry. This might even take a day or two to completely dry. Now, insert a needle into the bottom where the knot is and pull the balloon out. Now it's ready to paint. When your child paints, use the thicker paint, like tempera paint.

If you want a glossy coat on the paper mache item, brush with a mixture of equal parts of white glue and water. This will add an extra sheen to the finished, painted product. You can even add a small dowel that you can buy at any home improvement store at the end, right where the knot of the balloon was. Just insert, tape and then cover with a couple strips of newspaper and paste. Now your child can hold his paper mache creation!