Quesbo Make & Discover · Paper crafts
A golden bun. A cheeky smile. A rainbow of pretend fillings. Turn two sheets of paper into a brilliant burger squishy you can decorate, gently squeeze and proudly say, “I made that!”
This is a paper squishy: a lightly padded, crinkly craft made with paper, clear tape and soft tissue. It will crease and may need gentle reshaping after a squeeze. It does not spring back like a shop-bought slow-rise foam squishy.
First, set up your making station
A little kit. A big imagination.
- 2 sheets of ordinary A4 white paper — printer paper around 80–100 gsm works well; avoid stiff card.
- A pencil, rubber and ruler.
- Coloured pencils or child-intended, unscented water-based markers in golden yellow or orange, green, red, yellow, brown and black.
- Clear adhesive tape — ordinary stationery tape is fine.
- Round-tip scissors suitable for the child, with adult help for the curves and tape.
- 2–4 clean, dry facial tissues — start with two and add only what your burger needs.
No glue, cooking or drying overnight needed. If you use markers, let the ink dry before covering the picture with tape.
Part 01 · Design your burger
Give your burger a little character.
Draw a big, simple shape
Lightly mark a box about 14 cm wide and 11 cm high on your first sheet. Inside it, draw a wide domed top, gently curved sides and a rounded bottom. This outer line is your cutting line. Rub out the box.
Keep the outline smooth, without thin points. Leave about 5 mm of plain paper inside the cutting line; draw your burger picture inside that border.
Ready? You have one easy-to-cut silhouette with a narrow border for the taped edge.
Draw the tasty-looking layers
Give the upper bun roughly the top third of the picture. Below it, draw a wavy lettuce band, a tomato stripe, a cheese stripe with two little triangular dips, a thick patty and a rounded bottom bun. Keep every line inside your border.
Before colouring, sketch small oval sesame seeds on the bun. Colour the bun golden yellow, lettuce green, tomato red, cheese yellow and patty brown, leaving the seeds white. Add two eyes and a smile to the upper bun. Shade the edges of the bun a little darker for a golden, toasted look.
Remember: these are coloured bands on one picture. You do not need separate paper ingredients.
Make a matching back
With adult help, cut out the front along the outer cutting line, keeping the plain border. Place it picture-side down on your second sheet and trace around it. Lift it away and cut out the traced shape. This mirrored back will fit behind your front.
Leave the back plain for the simplest version. If you want to decorate it, draw on the side you traced on; that side will face outwards. Let any marker ink dry.
Ready? Put the undecorated inner sides together. The two shapes should match around the edge.
Part 02 · Protect and join
Turn your drawing into a pocket.
Add a smooth tape covering
Lay the front face-up. With adult help, place strips of clear tape across the picture, overlapping each strip by a few millimetres. Smooth each strip from its centre towards its ends to push out wrinkles. Cover the whole outward-facing surface, including the plain border.
Turn it over and fold any small overhanging tape ends onto the inner side. Do the same to the outward-facing side of the back piece. Keep this covering thin; lots of extra tape makes the paper stiffer.
Line up the two pieces
Place the two pieces together with their untaped inner sides touching and the covered sides facing out. Match the edges. Add one short piece of tape over the top edge to hold them together: half on the front, half folded over onto the back.
Point to a 3 cm section at the centre of the bottom edge. This is your filling opening. Keep it untaped for now.
Tape around the curved edges
Work around the top and both sides using short pieces of tape, about 2–3 cm long. Fold each piece from the front edge onto the back, overlapping the previous piece slightly. Shorter strips are easier to smooth around curves.
Continue along the bottom but leave your 3 cm filling opening. Press the taped seams together firmly without sticking the opening shut.
Ready? You have one empty paper pouch, securely joined everywhere except the small gap at the bottom.
Part 03 · Fill, finish, smile
The secret is a little softness.
Fluff up the filling
Take two clean, dry facial tissues and gently scrunch them, then loosen them again. Tear them into a few soft pieces if that makes them easier to insert. Avoid tight little balls: they make a lumpy burger.
Use dry tissue only. Do not add water, food, rice, beads, fragrances or slime.
Fill a little at a time
Gently open the bottom gap with your fingertips. Feed in small amounts of tissue. After adding each piece, gently massage the outside of the pouch to move the tissue towards the bun and sides. Do not use a pencil or other tool to push them in.
Stop when the burger is softly padded and still bends easily. Gently press it while the gap is open. If it feels hard or the seams pull tight, remove some tissue. You may not need all four tissues.
Close the opening neatly
Move the filling away from the gap so the front and back edges can meet. Pinch those edges together and fold a short piece of tape over them. Add another overlapping piece if needed so no tissue can escape.
Ask an adult to check the whole edge for gaps, sticky corners or tears. Smooth down loose tape ends. Repair any small seam gap before squeezing.
Give it a gentle first squeeze
Hold your burger between your palms and press lightly. Listen for the paper crinkle, then release. Gently reshape it with your hands if it stays a little flat.
This paper version is made for gentle handling. Do not crush, twist, pull or poke holes in it. Keep it dry, and stop using it if the paper tears or filling becomes loose.
You did it! One smiling burger, made from your own drawing.
Make it unmistakably yours
Meet your signature burger.
Before taping your next design, give it rosy cheeks, a wink or a tiny drawn chef’s hat. Try a veggie patty, add a drawn pickle stripe or create a rainbow bun. Keep the outside shape rounded and put all the details inside it.
Invent a name — The Big Smile, Pickle Pop or Captain Cheeseburger — and make a little paper café menu to display beside your creation.
Every maker makes adjustments
Little fixes for a happier squishy.
| What you notice | What to try |
|---|---|
| It feels too hard. | Before sealing, remove some filling. Use ordinary thin paper and a light tape covering. |
| The filling is lumpy. | Before sealing, loosen the tissue and spread it out. Avoid packing in tight balls. |
| The tape wrinkles on a curve. | Use shorter strips. Smooth each one before adding the next. |
| A seam starts to open. | Stop squeezing. Ask an adult to repair the seam with tape; discard the craft if it is torn or shedding pieces. |
| The colour smudges. | Let marker ink dry fully before taping, or use coloured pencils next time. |
| It stays slightly flat. | Gently reshape it. Tissue-filled paper does not recover like slow-rise foam. |
Try the technique again.
The same idea works for a cloud, a strawberry, a rounded dinosaur or a cheerful doughnut picture: draw one simple shape, make a matching back, cover, join and lightly fill. Keep it large enough to handle easily and leave out delicate points.
With every attempt, practise one small improvement: a smoother curve, a more even border or a neater taped seam. Handmade character is part of the fun.
