The most common homemade pinata design is the basic decorated bag. Take a heavy paper grocery bag, fold down the top about two inches all around. Paint or draw animals all over it with poster paint or markers. Punch holes around the top edge.Tie colorful paper, yarn, or ribbons through each hole. Fill the bag with candy. Use twine to hang it up high for the simplest pinata of them all.
A step-up in terms of construction time is a balloon egg design. Blow up a large balloon and tie it tight. Add layers of newspaper and flour paste until the balloon is completely covered. Let it dry at least overnight. Add extra layers and dry after each one. Decorate with paint and rows of tissue paper. Pop the balloon in the morning and fill with candy.
Create animals using cardboard tubes for legs and clean paper food cartons for body, neck, head and snout. The key is to collect a variety of different sizes. Assemble the paper goods on a table and practice arranging them until the proportion looks okay for each animal part. Fill each part with candy. Tape all parts together using masking tape. Cover with paper mache, let dry and glue on colored tissue paper.
Many children will want to have their favorite animal featured at the party. Bears, cats and dogs are equally liked as popular television or movie characters. For the adventurous, directions for many of these are available online. The only key thing to remember when making more complex animals is to allow plenty of construction time in advance. Extra drying time for each layer is your key to success.