If you’re hosting a children’s Christmas party (or even one for adults!) a piñata can provide a fun focal point. As well as a cost-effective way to ensure that every guest has a little something to take home with them. But while piñata are easy enough to find in the shops these days, they come with a couple of problems. Firstly, the designs aren’t usually festive. Secondly, the sweets are usually unwrapped, which can make for grubby goodies and difficult sharing in the final free-for-all. The simple solution is to make your own. But how do you do just that?

Four Easy Steps for Making Your Own Christmas Party Piñata

1. Choose your method

There are two main ways to make a kid’s pinata.

The first is the cardboard and tissue paper method. Where you create your basic shape out of card – doughnuts are the standard – then cover top and bottom or sides with tissue paper. And then build up your design.

The second is the papier mache method. With this approach, you will typically inflate a balloon and cover it in strips of flour pasted newspaper. Leaving a hole in the top large enough to later pop the balloon and fill the piñata with sweets. Once the flour paste is dry, you can set about creating your design.

2. Choose your design

Once you’ve got your basic shape, you can have some fun with the decorations. This can be a really lovely thing for children to get involved with. And there are a whole range of festive themes to work with. One of our favourites for papier mache is the Christmas pudding. But if you’re feeling inventive, a snowman can work really well. And if you’re going with the cardboard doughnut method, you might be able to try your hand at a star or even a Christmas tree. One design it’s probably best to avoid for younger children though, is Father Christmas. It might look great, but if there’s one thing sure to get you on the naughty list, it’s hitting Santa with a stick!

3. Choose your filling

Sweets are the go-to for any piñata worth its salt. But while almost anything goes, wrapped sweets are usually cleaner and safer. If you’ve just got a few littlies coming over,  a bag of Swizzels Scrumptious Sweets should do the job nicely.  If you’re working on a larger scale, grab a Party Pack of Mini Me. While you’re unlikely to fit the whole bag in the piñata – it would have to be of truly epic proportion to hold 3kg! – it gives you plenty of extras for party game prizes, a treasure hunt, or party bag fillers. And as an added bonus, all the sweets are vegan-friendly and gluten-free, appealing to the widest possible audience.

4. Select your sticks

Piñata have the potential to be dangerous if you don’t take care over your choice of ‘weapon’. So, avoid anything too hard or too pointy. If you have any wrapping paper tubes, you can cut these in half and decorate them with tissue paper to match your design. You can make ‘sticks’ out of rolled up newspaper, hardened with masking tape. Or you can search online retailers for ‘child safe piñata sticks’.

Find a safe place to hang your piñata

Very few UK Christmas parties are held outdoors. So, try to select a space where kids have the most room to move – as far away from the Christmas tree as you can manage! Door frames can provide a great place to support the piñata. As can stairwells. Alternatively, you can rig up a simple tripod. If you’re brave enough to venture outside, hang the piñata on a tree branch.

If you’re looking for a fun and simple way to entertain children at a Christmas party, a piñata makes a wonderful option. And by making it yourself, you can not only make it really perfect and personal, but you can potentially save yourself a bit of money.