Crafting With Kids: Baker’s Clay
By TwistieAh baker’s clay! How I have loved thee all my days!
via (Not me, but this captures the vibe pretty well)
Okay, maybe not all my days. There were a few days before I could be trusted not to put everything I touched into my mouth and when my fine motor skills were insufficiently co-ordinated to make playing with baker’s clay a good idea.
But certainly before I hit kindergarten I was making fun things out of baker’s clay. Most of them got hooks and were placed with loving care each year on the Christmas tree. A few were given to friends and relatives as gifts for special occasions. Some got dropped and smashed when I tried to take them off the cooling racks before they were cool enough. Hey, I’ve always been a bit impatient, but I did learn to respect the warning of: don’t pick that up; it’s hot.
Anyway. If you’re looking for a craft to get kids involved with making their own art, you could go a long way before you find a better one than baker’s clay. Kids love molding things. playing with dough, squishing it through their fingers. Not only is it fun, it’s easy and made of things pretty much everyone already has in their kitchens. If you don’t already have flour and salt, they don’t cost much to buy, either.
For three cups of baker’s clay, mix:
2 Cups flour
1/2 Cup salt
3/4 Cup water
If you like, you can also add a few drops of food coloring. Mix the ingredients together, knead for about five minutes. Mold into desired shape(s). Place sculptures on a baking sheet and bake at 300F for 1/2 hour to an hour, depending on size. Finished pieces may be painted and/or shellacked.
It’s that simple.
But what to make out of that lovely dough? I’ve been looking around the web and have found a few fun projects easy enough for kids, but challenging enough for adults to enjoy, too. How about these adorable Humpty Dumpty ornaments made with baker’s clay and walnut shells by Cali Wild Violet?
Or maybe you’re looking for the perfect Thanksgiving centerpiece, in which case you could do a lot worse than this rather spectacular cornucopia from Oodlekadoodle Primatives:
Or just let your kids experiment and find their own artistic voices. Trust me, they’ll find something to say.
November 11th, 2010 at 5:54 pm
First of all….these are copyrighted designs by me and while I love the attention, you should ask before putting my work on your site…..
If you are posting MY art work, you need to give credit.
Thanks
November 11th, 2010 at 5:59 pm
with regard to Humpty Dumpty…..my oranments…not the other things….It is just common courtesy to acknowledge where ideas come from and not offer them as your own….
November 11th, 2010 at 7:05 pm
My apologies, Jennifer. It was never my intention to give the impression that these were projects I had created, but I can certainly see that my attribution was utterly inadequate. The post has now been edited to give the names of the blogs where the projects were found in addition to the link that had already been provided next to the photos.
November 12th, 2010 at 1:44 pm
thanks very very much…I never seem to get any attention and then I logged on and was kind of mortified…over reacted and do appreciate the support….Starving no, but selling no…as well….Hope to have these at an art show…new ones…November 27th….
thanks again!!!!
I would certainly do the same for you or anyone else to support your hard work and designs…
Jen
November 15th, 2010 at 5:51 am
I have some kind of mental barrior or inhibition threshold or something when it comes to baker’s clay – it uses flour, and flour could feed somebody. Taking somebody’s food for playing around? I just can’t do it, even if my internal lover of various traditions would like to have a crack at making Czech Easter decorations such as these: http://www.vitejte.cz/objekt.php?oid=5010&j=en….
November 21st, 2010 at 2:32 am
I adore the Humpty Dumpty walnut shells. Do you know where I can purchase these?
My grand kids collect all things story book. Old school is a favorite. I just have no brain for coming up with these things and really enjoy seeing what others can create. How long does it take to make the walnut shell ornaments? Do you have other story book characters that you have created?
Thanks for your time. What an excellent idea!
Maisie
November 21st, 2010 at 11:04 am
Oh I didn’t make those, Lily Maze. Follow the link in the article for more information about them and their creator, Jennifer.