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Tiger sculptures

These schoolchildren have recreated the famous tiger from 'Surprised!'

Moreland Primary School, London, ages 4–5 

Recycled plastic tiger 

After learning that recycling helps to protect the habitats where tigers live, Reception Class wanted to create an artwork out of recycled materials. They made a child-size tiger sculpture from papier mâché and used plastic bags and old paint pot lids for the tiger’s features. 

‘My tiger is so big. He has stripes and looks like a real tiger.’ 

The Sele First School, Northumberland, ages 7–9 

Giant tiger 

We wondered if we could make a life-size model of the tiger. We made our tiger by covering a wooden frame in Modroc, and added a basketball for the head, before painting it in shades of orange. 

‘When I walk past, I sometimes imagine it’s alive!’ 

Ramsgate Arts Primary School, Kent, ages 7–8 

The tiger 

The children wanted to make a showstopping papier mâché sculpture for the school. They worked with a local sculptural artist to build the tiger, mixed tones of yellows and oranges for the tiger’s fur and explored using card for details like the whiskers. 

‘I love the fact the tiger looks like an actual tiger, it makes me so impressed every time I walk past it.’ 

King William Street Church of England, Primary School, Wiltshire, ages 6–7 

‘Roar!’ 

We listened to the soundscape that the National Gallery created for Surprised! and wrote down lots of adjectives, which helped us to create poems about the tiger. We also learnt how to create tiger stripes using a range of materials and combined our skills in our final piece. 

‘We came up with words as a class and chose the best ones. I came up with “ferocious”.’ 

East Hunsbury Primary School, Northampton, ages 8–9 

Tiger sculpture 

We were inspired to make a sculpture from recycled materials so we could raise awareness about conserving tiger habitats. We added foliage decorated with poems written from the tiger’s perspective and raised money to ‘adopt’ a tiger through a conservation charity. 

‘You don’t need to be perfect at art, you just need to believe in yourself.’ 

Altmore Infant School, London, ages 4–7 

Papier mâché tiger 

In Science class, we learnt about where tigers live, what they eat and their physical features. Using this knowledge, we used wire mesh and papier mâché to make a realistic sculpture. We took turns to carefully paint our tiger and created trees for its habitat. 

‘I think the tiger is surprised because he’s chasing other animals to eat and he can’t catch them!’