It has been so long since I last played with paper hockey that I almost forgot how much I loved it when I was a kid. All the tension of trying to score a point while avoiding getting hit by a puck was perfectly balanced by the challenge of creative strategy, making this game more exciting than any typical contact sport.
Since then I have found myself continually drawn back to this wonderful game. Not only do I enjoy watching people play it, but I feel it is the perfect winter pastime. The snow makes for the perfect surface and the quiet nature of the game helps you to relax and concentrate. Plus, who doesn’t love a good slapshot when the air is crisp and the snow is sparkling?
As you may have guessed, making a paper hockey helmet is a lot harder than it looks. It takes a lot of trial and error to get the right shape and feel of the thing. Luckily, I have discovered a method that allows you to perfectly simulate the excitement of a puck-packed hockey game without risking bodily harm!
Table of Contents
The Basics
This game is all about making the right shape with your hands so that the puck will travel smoothly through the air when you throw it. You can use any type of paper as long as it is lightweight and has an even texture. The smoother the paper, the better, so that the puck travels easily and doesn’t spend too much time in the air. Anything that is too flimsy won’t work because the puck will just bounce off of it.
In addition, you need to consider how you’re going to store the paper once you’re done with it. You don’t want to be trying to find a place to put a huge, heavy helmet every night after work, so you need to store it somewhere when you’re not using it. This is also why I prefer to make the helmet out of newspaper, as it can be folded up and easily stored in a small container. You would not want to use thick, hardbound books or cardboard because they would weight too much and it would be harder to store it when you’re not using it.
The Materials
On the subject of materials, I used a mixture of newspaper and cardboard for my replica helmet with some plastic toy stuffing thrown in for good measure. In case you are wondering, stuffing is exactly what it sounds like—the material that spongy, rubbery materials are often made of. You can choose to use actual newspaper or just a simple sheet of cardboard, the thickness of which you will need to determine depending on how accurate you want your replica to be. The more expensive the paper, the thinner the sheet you can get away with.
In terms of how much of each material you will need, that depends on how big you want your final product to be. For example, if you’re making a small, portable helmet for yourself, you may only need a small amount of newspaper. If you’re making a larger, more detailed helmet, you may need a thicker layer of newspaper so that the puck will travel farther. In a nutshell, the more you put in it, the better it will look. I would not recommend using actual newspapers from a printed newspaper—the ink on these things is very expensive and it’s illegal to destroy printed articles. In addition, the feel and look of the thing will be completely different and it will not match the original article at all.
Funny Looking Puck
I used a Sharpie marker to make the puck look more realistic. Try out different colors to see which ones work best for you.
When it comes to replicating the actual look of a puck, the best way to do it is to use a sharpie marker on cardstock or paper. For some reason, these things don’t smear easily when you go over them with a brush, as you might expect. The reason for this is that the tip of the marker glides easily over the surface, applying a thin coating that blends into the paper or cardstock, rather than leaving a solid line as you would expect with a brush.
Throwing The Puck
To simulate the smooth flight of a real hockey puck, I used a combination of the elbow and wrist. When you throw the puck, start with your arm straight out in front of you, with the elbow locked. As you throw it, rotate the wrist so that the back of the hand is facing the target, while the front of the hand is facing back towards you. Once you have completed this circular motion, the puck should travel smoothly in the air.
Elbow locking and wrist rotation are the two most important tips to achieving this goal. If you have trouble figuring out which part is the hardest, just practice; you’ll figure it out eventually. Once you get the hang of it, it will become second nature to you.
The Finishing Touches
Once you have mastered the art of throwing a hockey puck, it’s time to shine it up a little bit. The best way to do this is by giving it a leather strap with a clamp on it so that it can be worn on the head easily. I also added some fake stitches around the edge of the helmet, using a hot glue gun. This is a very simple yet effective way to give it that extra charm for yourself or as a gift.
These are the basic steps to making a paper hockey helmet. As you can see, it’s not as easy as it looks and it takes a lot of patience to get it right. But once you do, I promise you that you will enjoy the feeling of pure, unadulterated joy that comes with throwing a puck! Congratulations! You have made a paper hockey helmet.
As I mentioned previously, this game is all about having the right shape with your hands so that the puck will travel smoothly through the air when you throw it. To make matters more difficult, you need to use your hands to stop the puck from going directly into the net or hitting the player that is trying to catch it. This is why I strongly recommend using a mixture of paper and cardboard for your replica helmet because, as I have already explained, the thinner the better when it comes to the puck’s flight. In addition to that, you need to use your hands to stop the puck from going directly into the net or hitting the player that is trying to catch it. Make sure that you have both hands on the wheel at all times during gameplay so that you can prevent the puck from going where it shouldn’t go. This is all part of the fun!
As you can see, making a paper hockey helmet is a lot more difficult than it seems. It requires a lot of practice and patience to get it right, but you will feel confident knowing that you have finally created something that is as close as it can get to the real deal. Just remember to store it somewhere safe when you’re not using it so that you don’t have to worry about anyone getting hurt by a ricocheting puck! Have fun!