Craft

Paper Mache Masjid (mosque)

It is time for some craft work for my children.

My boys wanted to know what paper mache is and how it is done.
To show them what it exactly is we decided to make a paper mache masjid.

While working on this project, we at the same time discussed the etiquettes of a mosque and what you find in it.

What you will need:
Recycled Box - we used the milk carton
Cut out strips of newspaper,
Plastic bowl as a mould for the dome,
Paint (colour as you desire). We used off white and blue
Glue. (I made the glue using 2 cups flour and 1 cup water, added a bit of salt. Salt prevents the build up mildew).

STEPS

We first cut out a shape from a milk carton as below, and decided the position of the minaret.

The boys then started sticking the paper strips. This was the fun part for them. We used 3 layers of strips to make it sturdy.

For the dome. we used a plastic bowl as the mould. I covered the bowl with cellophene for easy removal. We left this to dry for 24 hours.

Our masjid started showing shape, Alhamdulillah.

The next step was painting, which they loved a lot. We painted the masjid off white and the dome blue.

This is how it looked after the paint. Alhamdulillah, being our first attempt on paper mache, we were really proud of our project.

With all this, the boys also learnt about recycling the items.

We also made the wudhu section, we cut out a simple box and left it plain to give it the feel.

We made the wudhu stools out of toothpaste caps and covered it with white masking tape.

I assisted the boys in working on the mimbar,  and printed out some patterns of tiles, clocks, and shelves from google. We also used a chopstick as our pillar. Our final product Alhamdulillah as below (smile).

Though not so perfect, but being the first time on paper mache we were very proud of the outcome.

We also learnt the dua of entering and leaving the mosque.

Coming soon - lap book on inside a mosque for the boys to pen down what they have learnt.