The question we are asked the most often is, how do we make the giant Thomas and Friends surprise eggs that we feature in our videos. The quick answer is, we don’t. But we do hire local piñata makers to create them for us.
Unfortunately recently we haven’t had anyone who would like to undertake this big project, but we were lucky enough to have a brave parent of one of our viewers take it on and share their photos with us! A special thanks to Beth from @watchmummy on Instagram for sending us these photos!
Firstly you will need a large base to use for your egg. Most people have success using very large balloons, usually at least 4 foot or larger. Sometimes two balloons may be required, and adding some baby powder in between them helps reduce friction.
One of our piñata makers used a cardboard base, we unfortunately do not have photos of it, but if you can make it big and oval it’s worth a try!
Then you will need a lot of newspapers and papier-mâché mixture. Adding corn starch to your mixture will give it extra firmness. Beth said she used wallpaper paste, which did the trick but took longer to dry.
You will need to do several layers of newspaper with the papier-mâché mixture to ensure the egg doesn’t collapse.
Be sure to add a few extra layers to the bottom portion of the egg so that it can support the weight of the toys inside, but the top part of the egg needs to be slightly thinner so that kids can break through it.
This is definitely a labour of love!
Once you’ve finished off all the layers and the egg is sturdy and dry, you then need to cut a flap into the egg so that you can add the toys. Once you’ve added the toys you can repair the flap with more papier-mâché and then you’re ready to paint!
Now your artistic abilities can shine through!
Beth did an amazing job drawing out James, but we have also had other viewers who just printed off a large picture of the trains face and pasted it onto the egg. Do what works for you because at the end of it all the egg does get smashed!
You can get as creative as you want with your trains! And there are so many engines to choose from! Some have a ton of details while others are much simpler.
Beth did such a fabulous job!
After many long nights your Giant Surprise Egg will be ready to go, and your child with destroy all your work in a manner of minutes!
Be sure to film the process because your little engineer will love watching a video of themself opening their own egg just like their friends at Kids Toys Play!
Below is a compilation of some of our Giant Surprise Egg videos to help inspire you to take this project on! And be sure to share your photos and videos with us!