Proud to Be Pig

Pigs are big in children’s literature! Choose a favorite porker, maybe from Charlotte’s Web, and make a colorful paper maché model.

1.

Read Charlotte's Web by E.B. White or other books in which pigs are characters. Research information about these animals. How are your ideas about pigs changing as you learn more? How realistic are the fictional portrayals?
2.

Cover a table with recycled newspaper. Tear additional newspaper into short, thin strips. Mix two parts of Crayola® School Glue with one part water to create a thin mixture for paper maché.
3.

Crumple up recycled newspaper into a ball. Dip strips of newspaper into the glue mixture. Apply damp strips to the ball, overlapping them as you go. Cover the ball with at least two layers of newspaper. Dry completely, which may take several days, depending upon temperature and humidity.
4.

Glue additional body parts to the ball, such as a snout, legs, and tail. Use corks, recycled plastic bottle lids, or recycled film canisters for the snout and legs. Cover them with more paper maché if you wish. A curled chenille stem works well as a tail. Push it slightly into the firm paper, then apply glue to the entry point. Cut ears from felt, construction paper, or scraps of fabric. To stiffen fabric, apply a coating of the glue and water mixture used for the paper maché. Dry.
5.

Paint your pig with Crayola Tempera Paints and Brushes. Dry.
6.

Finish your pig sculpture by making eyes with Crayola Markers or gluing on small black buttons.

Benefits

Students read fictional literature that includes pigs as characters, such as Charlotte's Web.
Children research information about pigs, including their habits and anatomy.
Children create an imaginative or realistic paper maché pig.

Create other animals depicted in the fiction you read. Write a short play, using your figures as the main characters.
Build a barnyard for your animal creations by using recycled objects, such as cardboard boxes for stalls and barns. Place your paper-maché creations in the barnyard.
Get to know some pigs. Visit a farm, petting zoo, or other animal facility. How does their hair feel? How do they smell? How do pigs spend their days? Why are so many pigs raised on farms?

Find everything imaginable at Crayola.com

Relish William Blake's immortal poem The Tiger! Choose a favorite tiger species to illustrate in realistic detail

Capture amazing rain forest birds with a scratch-out crayon technique.

Camouflage your favorite rainforest animals!

How do you use water, every day or for fun? With your classmates, create a book about why water is important to each of

Remember the compliments you’ve heard from others—and get to know your friends better—with this 3-D self-portrait.

Send a postcard from space to show what you know about the other planets.

Create a crayon resist of your favorite kind of whale.

If you could shrink yourself to the size of a bug, what would you see? Imagine how HUGE your shoes look to a tiny creatu