We did this little DIY clay creations project on Friday after I attempted a run around our neighborhood. Along the way we stopped and picked up a few things like we did the day of our scavenger hunt with our friends, read about that here. Gemma had fun pressing the different pieces of nature into the clay and I cut out little squares that I thought we could make pendants or magnets out of later. I am surprised at how good this cheap crayola clay was, a tub was only about $5 and we have gotten three projects out of it. I will definitely be buying more around the holidays.

To make these little clay creations we used:

• crayola air dry clay
• a rolling-pin
• a plastic knife
• parchment paper
• some found nature objects (leaves, flowers, pinecones, etc.)
• later after they were dry we painted them with acrylic colors

We simply rolled out the clay and pressed in the objects and then cut out squares around each object. When Gemma lost interest she had fun free-playing with the scraps of clay building clumps and sticking it together. I left these outside to dry overnight and then we painted them the next afternoon.

I love projects that can turn into two or three-day crafts that we can return to, the transformation is fun for Gemma to see. Plus this project encompasses both art and nature, fun relaxing stuff with no real agenda.

Happy Tuesday!