For my 8-year-old son’s birthday this year, I pulled off a super fun Pokemon party, which featured tons of Pokemon games, a balloon arch, Pokeball party favours, and a cool homemade Pikachu pinata! I have to tell you; that pinata was a hit! It was such a simple and budget-friendly project, too. To make your own DIY Pokemon pinata, just follow the steps below and get ready to party!
In case you missed it, Pokemon seems to be making another comeback with the kids lately. My 8-year-old is especially obsessed and while Pokemon wasn’t something I was into at their age, I’m certainly learning my fair share about it now. Probably the only thing I did know is that everybody loves Pikachu – my kids certainly do. So I decided to make a cute pinata in the shape of this iconic character.
Materials you’ll need for your DIY Pokemon pinata
- A big box
- Packing tape
- Fun items to fill the pinata with (candies, small toys, Pokemon cards, etc.)
- String or ribbon for hanging
- Yellow streamers
- Construction paper
- Felt
- Scissors
- Glue
Step 1. Trace and cut out the shape of the pinata
Use a large cardboard box to create your pinata. If you’re like me and you order a lot from Amazon, you’re sure to have one lying around the house somewhere.
Firstly, make sure the box is clean and free of any packaging materials. You’ll want to use both sides of the box to make two copies of the same shape, and have some cardboard left to make strips for the sides.
Start by tracing the outline of your pinata shape using a pencil or marker. It shouldn’t be a complicated shape; just something simple that is easy to replicate and recognizable. You could make any other Pokemon, or even a Pokeball! I chose to draw the shape of Pikachu’s head.
Once you’re satisfied with your design, carefully cut out the Pikachu shape from the box using scissors or a utility knife.
Trace the shape and cut another shape to have a back and front of the pokemon character for your pinata.
Step 2. Attach the sides of the pinata
Once you’ve cut out your two pinata shapes, cut long strips from the remaining cardboard, each about 3 inches wide.
Tape these strips along the edges of the Pikachu cut-out shape using packing tape. This will create a 3D pinata structure.
*A note on tape: I used packing tape because I knew that anything stronger, like duct tape, would make it too difficult for the kids to break open the piñata. Packing tape is strong enough to hold the shape, but will still make it possible for the piñata to break and spill the goods.
Step 3. Create the hanging mechanism for your DIY Pokemon pinata
You’ll need to make small holes on the top edge of the Pikachu’s head using a hole punch or scissors.
Pass a string or ribbon through these holes to create a hanging loop. Make sure it’s long enough to hang your pinata.
Step 4. Fill the pinata with goodies
Before sealing the pinata, fill it with fun items such as candies, small toys, and surprises.
I found tons of fun treats to put inside at the DollarStore, like candies, pencils, and – of course – Pokemon cards!
Step 5. Seal the pinata
Finally, tape the top of the Pikachu pinata securely to enclose the goodies inside.
Step 6. Decorate the pinata with paper streamers
To achieve that classic pinata look, get some paper streamers to decorate the cardboard shape. This material is inexpensive and very easy to work with while still giving you the look you want for this project.
Since Pikachu is yellow, I got some yellow paper streamers but obviously, if you’re making a different Pokemon, choose the best colour for your design.
In fact, my daughter took one look at my design and said “Eevee!” And she was right; Pikachu’s features look just like another Pokemon’s. So, I also got some light brown streamers to make the back of Pikachu’s head into an Eevee head – way to go, Sabrina!
Cut the paper streamers into several strips, each long enough to cover your Pokemon’s face from one end to the other.
Make little cuts along the edges of the streamers to give them a fringed texture. You can also layer the streamers to cut more than one at a time; the streamers are thin enough to do this easily.
Starting from the bottom of the shape, use glue to attach the streamers horizontally, overlapping them slightly as you work your way up. It’s important to start from the bottom, otherwise the glue will by visible through the paper streamers. It’s also much easier to create the fun little layers this way.
Continue until the entire Pokemon is covered in streamers.
Once the whole surface is covered, trim the edges to clean up the shape.
Step 7. Add the details
Now it’s time to add the details. Using construction paper or felt, create your Pokemon’s facial features! For Pikachu, I used black and a bit of white construction paper for the eyes, mouth, and ears as well as red felt for the cheeks. And for the Eevee side, I just used black, red and, white construction paper.
It looks so cute!
Next, cut out the shapes and glue them onto the front of the Pikachu pinata to complete its little face.
Allow the glue to dry completely before hanging or using the pinata.
Step 8. Hang and enjoy your DIY Pokemon Pinata
Once everything is dry and secure, hang your Pikachu pinata using the string or ribbon you attached earlier.
It’s now ready for your party guests to enjoy breaking open and discovering the surprises inside!
Tips on breaking the Pinata
I recommend hanging the pinata outside. We hang it from our deck (we have 2nd floor deck with a walkout basement).
I only make this for my older son’s birthday as my other two have winter birthdays.
The kids need enough space to swing a bat. We used a plastic kids bat. But they get really excited so keeping them all back and away from the batter requires a lot of reminders.
The pinata takes some time to breakdown. I think that’s great. Each kid got 3-4 swings at it. When I stuffed the favors inside, I made sure there is 1 of each item so they divide up the items fairly.
My son loved his Pokemon birthday party! The Pikachu pinata made for a fun activity that the kids really enjoyed and it was also a great decoration throughout the day. I was also thrilled to achieve such high-end looking decor and games while keeping to a super-tight budget.
If you liked this project, check out how I made Pokeball party favours, and a Pokeball punch game!
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