Elephant Poo Paper

While at Inokashira Park Zoo, they were having a special event.  All the zoo guests were invited to make paper out of elephant poop.  The zoo no longer has an elephant.  (It used to and there is a shrine in the old elephant enclosure.)  But, they could still coordinate this fun activity for the kids.  They still secured local elephant poo from Ueno Zoo.

The woman leading the activity is an activist sharing her love of the giant animals and deter people from purchasing ivory products, like traditional Japanese hair pins and hankos (name stamp).  My husband said hairpins made from ivory are less common these days, but the ivory hanko is still easy to find.

Photo courtesy of: creative-museum.com

We walked into the classroom and found a seat.  My son was super excited for the craft project and I was appreciative of the air-conditioned break.  We then began the process of making the paper.

***Please note - before we ever touched the poo, it was sterilized in boiling water for 6 hours.***

The tray with the poo and a small amount of water.

The guys broke it up into little pieces.

They made sure there weren't any clumps and

it covered the whole tray.

After using fun punches, my son decorated the paper.

The masterpiece in process.

We put a sheet of clear plastic and

squeezed the water out.

Lots of squeezing.

We pounded the paper in a towel to remove

even more water.

Since we didn't have time to let it air dry, they

put it under an iron to steam it.

The finished product!

It was a fun project.  My son loved making the paper and bringing it home.  Unfortunately, it wasn't fully dry when we picked it up and the decorations didn't stay on.  But it was still a fun activity and it reminded us to be mindful of our purchases.