Things To Do

Make papier mache by cutting strips of newspaper and soak in the diluted PVA glue. Then paste a layer of papier mache over the bottle. This will form the dog's body.

Click here to watch a video of the make

Now, make the front legs: roll two pieces of newspaper into thin sausage shapes. Roll one end of each sausage up a little to form the foot, and then stick the legs to the front of the bottle using PVA glue.

To shape the back legs, scrunch up some newspaper into a ‘chicken drumstick’ shape, rolling the ends up for the feet. Using PVA glue, stick the back legs to both sides of the bottle, either side of the front legs. Paste strips of papier mache over each or the four legs to blend them in with the rest of the body.

Cover the whole bottle with a layer of kitchen paper and diluted PVA glue to give your dog a softer texture. Leave to dry.

To make the head: If you don’t have a plastic washing ball, you could ask an adult to cut out a section from a small plastic ball. Make a snout by rolling a piece of newspaper into a ball - glue this to the side of your ball, and then cover the ball and snout twice with papier mache to make a head like the picture above.

Cut two ear shapes out of thin card and stick them to the head. Blend in the edges with strips of paper and glue. Cover with kitchen paper, as with the body, and leave to dry.

Paint the body and head with white paint (emulsion that's used for decorating would do). When that's dry, paint your dog with beige, black, white or brown, or another doggy colour combination that you like.

Cut out a triangular shape from black felt for the nose and two oval brown felt pieces with black circles glued to the centre for the eyes. Add a pink felt tongue under the nose. If you want to add a collar, just cut a length of ribbon to fit around the neck of the bottle just under the screw part. In the centre of the ribbon sew a tiny circle cut from silver card (ask an adult to help). Glue around the neck.

If you do not have a spare bolt, and four nuts to use at home, they are available cheaply from hardware stores - the bolt needs to fit inside a drinking straw. The nuts add weight to the pendulum to enable the dog’s head to nod. Screw the nuts onto the bolt and then push it into the straw or secure with tape. Put the straw, with the weight at the bottom, into the body then lift it up from the base a little way. Keep holding it in that position while you make a hole with a pin level with the top of the bottle (ask an adult to help). Push a cocktail stick through the hole and cut both sides so that it just rests on the top of the bottle.

From a sheet of foam, cut out a circle about 4cm in diameter and four smaller ones. Ask an adult to help you.

Glue the small circles together into a stack and then glue them on top of the larger one. Then make a hole through the stack that's just big enough to push the straw into. Then glue the foam stack inside the head, at the top.

With the weighted straw inside the bottle, fit the other end of the straw into the hollow section of the foam inside the head. The head should nod gently.

Well done! Your nodding dog is now complete!