playdough with natural elements

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 For our week of The Listening Walk I whipped up a batch of cornstarch clay to mix things up at our play dough table. To go along with the simple beauty of the cay I added a tray of natural elements such as rosemary, lavender, small pebbles, and shells.

Small squares of cardboard were also set out to use as place settings for the clay and to keep the area looking neutral and natural. Our wooden rolling pins got a lot of use as did our small mortar and pestle.

 

The children especially loved using this cookie stamp (we used it without the device, just the stamps) to make their own natural cookies to share and to sell. We had a very productive bake shop going on!

diy paint splattered bowls

 

We made these super cool bowls for our Mother's Day gifts. Thy turned out so ridiculously happy and cool that I think I am going to do them again next year. It may be our classroom thing.

First we had to shape our bowls. Our bowls are made of sculpey clay. Each kiddo used half of a small sculpey block to create their bowl. To begin, they were given the clay and encouraged to play with it to soften it up. Then they placed their piece of clay between two layers of wax paper and used a rolling pin to squish it as flat as they could get it. Some of the children asked for help when it came to flattening their clay. The sculpey is a bit hard compared to play dough. After they flattened their clay they then used their hands and fingers to shape it into a bowl. The idea was to create a small catch-all for mama's keys, coins, or jewelry. The bowls were places on a cookie sheet with a piece of parchment paper underneath. I wrote their names below their bowls and attached a small piece of masking tape with their names as well. The tape would come off before baking and was placed just in case the bowls got mixed up in transit. I took the bowls home to bake according to the instructions on the package and they came out gorgeous! Sculpey, while the not the most price-friendly option made for a really pretty and modern looking bowl. The clay bakes to a matte finish. It's really cool!

We painted the bowls and our gift wrap two days later. This was done two weeks before Mother's Day as one never knows what they day may bring in preschool. To paint our bowls I set up a splatter paint station in our room, using a large vinyl tablecloth as a backdrop. As a group we discussed what colors were were going to use (keeping it to three) and decided on gold, pink, and black. The kiddo in my class love the gold paint! As the children played about the room, I would ask them if they were ready to paint their bowls. We would place their bowl onto our large sheet of white paper and they would get to splattering away. This was a first for all of my kiddos and they had a blast. Before each would have a turn we would look at our paper and decide what section needed paint and the kiddo would place their bowl in that section. Doing this one at a time created a special activity for each child, yet knowing that the happy paint splattered paper was a result of all of their efforts created a feeling of group effort and community. The next day the children flipped their bowls over and got to more splattering.

We wrapped our bowls the last day of class before Mother's Day. Before we cut the paper, the children had to measure to see if they could fit their bodies on it. We used photos to document their scientific discovery and they may have had more fun lying on the paper than painting it. For wrapping their bowls, we used tissue paper (they chose their tissue color) to wrap the bowl first. I explained to the children that their bowls were very precious and delicate like glass. They took me very seriously and wrapped them up oh-so-carefully. I added pre-torn pieces of hot pink scotch tape to the table edges for the children to tape up their packages. The tape did not have a dispenser and the children have a trying time getting the tape off themselves. Those that can and wish to do their own tape tearing and/or cutting.

 

 

 

So there you have it! Our paint splattered bowls that we made back in May for Mother's Day. Happy splatters, pretty bowls, lovely wrapping, and joyful kiddos. This can totally be an anytime project!

more fun with cornstarch clay

If you are a regular reader, you will have maybe, just maybe hopped on over to Craftzine to see my recipe for cornstarch clay and maybe, just maybe, you have checked out my most recent for the do post on clay rubbings. Here's a nifty take on continuing the fun, you know, just in case those boredom blues are still going on.

You will need:
*batch of cornstarch clay or other clay suitable for baking
*fun objects from around the house (beware of possible choking hazards)
*watercolor, food color or other thinned paint
*scratch paper or soft white paper. printer paper is fine
*cookie cutters
*cookie sheet
*string, yarn, or other length of lacing

scrumdilly-do it:

This is what you do after you have already finished with the clay and crayon rubbings. Remove the objects from the clay.Mix up a batch of liquid watercolor or add some water to food color and have your wee one paint up their imprinted clay.Place a sheet of paper over the painted clay to lift a print. Wipe down with a damp sponge for another color combo, etc.Once your tot is finished with the painting and printing, pass out the cookie cutters and have him or her cut out some shapes. Preheat your oven to 250F. Use a straw or pipecleaner to make holes near the tops of each shape. Place on a cookie sheet and bake until hard (at least thirty minutes). The paint will have set and the holes will have shrunk up a little but they should still be large enough to string.Make pendants, keychains, bead chains, etc. Make small clay shapes and adhere to plain cuff-links or tie clip for Father's Day gifts. Most of all, have fun and be safe. Children under three should be supervised and only an adult should take care of the baking.