Mini-man and baby girl and I had fun with clay this week. The fun didn't, ahem, last as long as I thought it might keep their little hands and minds occupied, but it was a hit. We like to be creative and I've grown to accept over the years that along with creativity and children comes, well, mess. Of varying degrees and intensity depending who is at the table and how closely Mumma is supervising.
Our clay recipe required double and a bit more than the published amount of flour. Once we got the amounts sorted out, the clay was lovely to shape and play with.
I got busy tidying up the kitchen as they worked and baby girl said she was hungry. When I heard the cupboard door I assumed (silly me) she was grabbing a cracker. And completely engrossed in trying to clean the veggie bins of my fridge, I neglected to actually check what she was doing. Turns out she liked adding more flour to the clay mixture so much that she helped herself to some more flour and happily worked on her clay with extra flour sprinkled liberally all over the table, her (black) chair, the floor, the dog.... Oh, my. So the activity I thought would keep the terrific two busy for at least an hour kept them completely entranced for a total of maybe 20 minutes. The flour fallout due to my lack of attention kept me busy for ages and two chairs at the table still need more scrubbing to rid them of pasty flour residue.
If you want to try this modeling clay, the recipe (with modified flour amount) makes a nice plain white/grey clay that the little ones can shape into items to then bake and paint. We haven't made it as far as baking and painting yet because twice now my little sculpturing dynamos have breezed through making beads, snakes, and gee-gaws only to decide it was as delightful to then smoosh them all into a giant pancake. So our clay is safely in a tupperware at the moment, awaiting a third incarnation into whatever strikes the fancy of the little people hereabouts.
Plain Salt Clay
Ingredients:
1 cup salt
4-5 cups flour
1 1/2 cups water
1 tbsp oil
What to do:
1. Mix the salt, flour, water, and oil. Knead until it forms nice, smooth clay. If it seems too sticky, keep adding flour until it is soft and doughy.
2. Take your shaped clay creations and put them on a baking tray. Bake in the oven at 200 degrees Farenheit (90 degrees Celcius) for one hour or until hardened. Cool.
3. Paint and decorate your creations.
Our clay recipe required double and a bit more than the published amount of flour. Once we got the amounts sorted out, the clay was lovely to shape and play with.
I got busy tidying up the kitchen as they worked and baby girl said she was hungry. When I heard the cupboard door I assumed (silly me) she was grabbing a cracker. And completely engrossed in trying to clean the veggie bins of my fridge, I neglected to actually check what she was doing. Turns out she liked adding more flour to the clay mixture so much that she helped herself to some more flour and happily worked on her clay with extra flour sprinkled liberally all over the table, her (black) chair, the floor, the dog.... Oh, my. So the activity I thought would keep the terrific two busy for at least an hour kept them completely entranced for a total of maybe 20 minutes. The flour fallout due to my lack of attention kept me busy for ages and two chairs at the table still need more scrubbing to rid them of pasty flour residue.
If you want to try this modeling clay, the recipe (with modified flour amount) makes a nice plain white/grey clay that the little ones can shape into items to then bake and paint. We haven't made it as far as baking and painting yet because twice now my little sculpturing dynamos have breezed through making beads, snakes, and gee-gaws only to decide it was as delightful to then smoosh them all into a giant pancake. So our clay is safely in a tupperware at the moment, awaiting a third incarnation into whatever strikes the fancy of the little people hereabouts.
Plain Salt Clay
Ingredients:
1 cup salt
4-5 cups flour
1 1/2 cups water
1 tbsp oil
What to do:
1. Mix the salt, flour, water, and oil. Knead until it forms nice, smooth clay. If it seems too sticky, keep adding flour until it is soft and doughy.
2. Take your shaped clay creations and put them on a baking tray. Bake in the oven at 200 degrees Farenheit (90 degrees Celcius) for one hour or until hardened. Cool.
3. Paint and decorate your creations.
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1 comment:
Hi Karen,
Just wanted to say that I've missed your blogging. Hope you are well!
Martina
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