Forming Clay

(Flower made with this clay recipe.)

What You Will Need

2 1/3 cup flour
1 1/3 cup salt
4 teaspoons powdered alum
2 cups boiling water
4 teaspoons vegetable oil
mixing bowl and spoon



Instructions

1. Combine the flour, salt and alum in a mixing bowl. Mix well.



2. Very carefully add the boiling water and vegetable oil.



3. Blend well.



4. Knead until smooth.





Additional Details

The wet-clay should have a consistency similar to bread dough.



Alum can be found in the spice isle of better stocked grocers. It is a pickling spice and not always readily available. (Kid Buckaroo Craft Tip:You may substitute alum with cream of tartar, if necessary.)

This clay will last for weeks in the refrigerator, if stored in an airtight container or freezer bag.



Projects will take 48 hours to dry well.

An unpainted sample project made with this clay recipe and air dried:

Tin Foil Card

(card by Thomas, 2 years old)

What You Will Need

glue
handful of uncooked rice
tin foil
scissors
string, about 20 inches long
heavy paper, card stock if possible, about 12" x 7"
construction paper, about 6" x 6"



Instructions

1. Cut a piece of tin foil and the construction paper to be the exact same size. In this example they are 6"x6".



2. Fold the heavy paper in half. Crease the fold well.



3. Draw a simple pattern on the construction paper. In this example we made a square.



4. Smear glue over the entire surface of the construction paper. (Kid Buckaroo Craft Tip: Tape the construction paper to the table. This will stop the paper from moving about as your child is working with it. A loop of tape, or two, on the back of the paper works perfectly.)



5. Place the string over the lines of the object that you have drawn. Trim string as necessary.



6. Pour the rice inside the string lines of the object.



7. Spread the rice out evenly and remove any rice grains that may have fell outside of the stringed lines.



8. Carefully place the tin foil over the construction paper and press down. Smooth over the tinfoil pressing and rubbing the tin foil into the shape below. Gently run your fingernail along the outside edge of the string, to give more emphases to the shape.







9. Glue the tin foil art onto the centre-front of your card.



10. Sign the inside and give this card to someone you care about.

Additional Details

If the tinfoil gets ruptured by a piece of rice, during step 8, simply cut another piece of tin foil and glue it over the ruptured piece.

Simple shapes are the best to work with in this project - circles, hearts, triangles, etc.