Kid Territory: Crafts: Make a Piñata for Your Pet!
Be sure to spread out a sheet of newspaper to protect your work area from the mess you’ll make!
Use an artist’s paintbrush to "paint" the newspaper strips with the flour and water paste you made. Cover the entire balloon this way. It’s okay to overlap the newspaper pieces.
Click here to see video of this step.
Once the balloon is totally covered with the newspaper strips, let it dry overnight in a safe place.
After you’ve popped the balloon, carefully pull it out of your piñata.
Click here to see video of this step.
After you’ve removed the balloon from the dried newspaper, use scissors to carefully cut some holes in your piñata. Make them big enough to fit some treats in, but not too big or all the treats will fall out!
Put some tasty treats in your piñata for your pet. Then watch as your pet tries to get the goodies out!
Click here to see video of this step.
Click here to watch one of the San Diego Zoo’s animals enjoy a "treat ball."
Zoo keepers have many responsibilities in taking care of the animals, and one is to provide enrichment. Enrichment is giving animals activities to do and to think about, things like puzzles, challenges, and experiences for their senses. You can provide enrichment for your pets at home, too! Here’s one idea that’s fun for you to make and fun for your pet to play with: a piñata!
What you need
• 1balloon
• White flour
• Water
• Newspaper
• 1 bowl
• Paintbrush
• Scissors
• A treat for your pet: catnip or a cat food treat, dog kibble or broken biscuits, nuts or seeds for a bird, etc.
What you do
1. Blow up the balloon and tie a knot in the end. When it’s blown up, your balloon should be the right size for your pet to play with: a big one for a big dog, a small one for a cat, etc. You could also use a long, skinny balloon.
2. Tear sheets of newspaper into long strips about an inch wide (again, depending on how big your balloon is).
3. Mix the flour with enough water in a bowl to make a thin, wet paste.
4. Lay a large sheet of newspaper over your workspace to protect it. Place a strip of newspaper over the balloon. Dip the paintbrush into the paste and "paint" over the newspaper strip. Cover the whole balloon this way, leaving a hole around the knot, then let the piñata dry.
5. Cut a small hole in the balloon near the knot. Pull or shake out the balloon pieces through the hole. Make sure you get all the pieces out, because they could hurt your pet if swallowed.
6. Use the scissors (get an adult to help you) to poke or cut some holes around the sides of your piñata. Big holes will make this an easy puzzle for your pet, small ones will make it more challenging.
7. Put some catnip, kibble, nuts, or whatever treat you chose into the piñata. When your pet rolls it around or picks it up and shakes it, the treats will fall out of the holes. Now give the piñata to your pet and see what happens! (Make sure to take the piñata away when you’re done, so your pet doesn’t eat the whole thing.)
You might want to record some observations here: what does your pet do? What responses and behaviors do you see? That’s the type of information zoo keepers and behavioral observers record at the San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park to learn more about the animals in our collection!
More
Do
You Know?: What is
Enrichment?
For Kids: Practice
Being an Animal Keeper
