How to make homemade clay with your own hands, moon or kinetic sand for modeling

How to make homemade plasticine, and most importantly – why? In stores for children today there is a huge selection of all kinds of goods and tools for creativity.

But who would refuse to make a sculpting mass for a child with his own hands, lunar or kinetic sand? This will not only save on the purchase of expensive children’s entertainment, but will also make it possible to prepare materials together with the child at home, and will also give confidence in the safety of children’s “masterpieces”.

So let’s go!

The content of the article:

1. Kinetic sand
2. Moon Sand – 2 Recipes
3. Homemade plasticine
4. “Artificial snow” for modeling

DIY kinetic sand

Very pleasant to the touch, “live” sand leaves no child indifferent! But what can I say – and adults for a long time “stick” in the games of children with this magnificent material for creativity. By the way, playing with sand is useful for developing fine motor skills of the hands.

Kinetic sand will be especially useful if it is a rainy summer, and the child spends most of the time on the veranda or in the room, as well as in winter.

Age – 2-7 years old.

What you need:

• 4 parts of fine sand, sifted and preferably calcined in a pan (it is better to take white quartz – it can be purchased at the store).
• 2 parts cornstarch
• 1 part water.

How to cook:

1. Mix all parts of the ingredients.
2. If you want to prepare colored kinetic sand, then take the sand itself in light shades, after mixing, divide it into parts – and add 2-3 drops of food coloring to each. Do not use intense colors to avoid the color of the child’s hands.
3. You can do it differently: for mixing, take already slightly tinted water. If you want to make several colors, you will have to prepare each one separately.

Usage tips:

• Small children (2-4 years old) should play with sand only in the presence of adults!
• Do not use water for playing with kinetic sand.
• The sand should be poured into a wide plastic container with sides. It is advisable to choose a container with a lid to protect the sand from drying out.
• If the sand is still dry, rub the lumps with your hands and add a little more water. Mix thoroughly.
• For the child’s play, buy small molds for sand, a scoop, a toy knife and spatula, and small cars. The sand is not free-flowing, so a sieve will be useless.

10 new fun sand games for a child 4-7 years old

Moon sand for sculpting and playing – 2 recipes

Moon sand is an excellent sculpting material. In terms of its properties, it is similar to the kinetic sand described above, but superior in environmental friendliness and safety for the baby.

The child’s age is from 1-2 years to 7 years.

Recipe 1 – what you need:

• Wheat flour – 9 parts.
• Any vegetable oil – 1-1.5 parts.
• Food colors are optional.

How to cook:

1. Pour flour into a fairly wide bowl.
2. Add vegetable oil to the flour in small portions – it will take just enough to make the mass look like “wet”, and it would be possible to mold snowballs out of it, for example – they should not fall apart.
3. If you want to color the sand, divide it into equal parts and mix each one with a few drops of food coloring.

Recipe 2 – what you need:

• Cornstarch – 5 parts
• Water – 1 part.
• Food colorings.
• A dash of apple cider or lemon vinegar to set the color.

How to cook:

1. Pour starch into a wide bowl.
2. Add water to the starch in small portions, kneading thoroughly with your hands, breaking the lumps. You may need a little more or less water, depending on the quality of the starch. When the mass is well molded and keeps the shape of a snowball cobbled together in the hands, the sand is ready.
3. For coloring, you need to add a few drops of food coloring to each portion of sand. To fix the color, add 1-2 teaspoons of apple or lemon vinegar (6%) to each serving.

Usage tips:

• Moon sand can be stored for a long time in a closed container. If the sand is still dry, I recommend kneading the lumps with your hands in recipe 1, drop a little oil and mix thoroughly, and add a little water to recipe 2.
• If you want to make the sand more free-flowing and textured, replace 1 part of starch with the same amount of fine iodized salt.
• If you make sand for very young children from 1 year old, you can add natural dyes instead of food colors (1-2 tablespoons) – spinach or nettle juice (green), carrot juice (orange), turmeric diluted in water (yellow), juice beets (pink), red cabbage juice (lilac).

Homemade plasticine, or modeling dough – 2 recipes

This material is good because children’s masterpieces can be saved as a keepsake by drying and varnishing.

The child’s age is 2-7 years.

Recipe 1 – what you need:

• 2 cups of flour.
• 1 cup fine salt
• 2 glasses of water.
• 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil and citric acid powder.
• Food or natural colors.

How to cook:

1. Combine flour, salt and citric acid in a wide bowl.
2. In another bowl, bring water with the addition of oil to a boil, remove from heat.
3. Pour water and oil into the center of the dry mixture, gently knead the dough with a spoon. Knead until it cools, then continue kneading the dough with your hands until a homogeneous plastic state.
4. You can leave the dough white, then you do not need to add dyes. White dough is good for making crafts, which, after drying, can be painted and varnished.
5. If you want to make colored plasticine, then divide the dough into parts, drop a few drops of food (or 1 tablespoon of natural) dye on each, mix well. For an intense color, use 4-5 drops of the dye, but remember to wear rubber gloves before kneading to avoid staining your nails and hands.

Recipe 2 – what you need:

• 1 cup wheat flour
• 0.5 cups of table fine salt.
• Juice from one large lemon (squeeze out in advance, about a quarter of a glass).
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• Food colorings.
• Water to the desired consistency.

How to cook:

1. Combine flour and salt in a bowl.
2. Pour lemon juice into a glass, add oil, add water to the glass to the brim.
3. Pour the liquid over the flour mixture, mix well. The mass should become homogeneous, in consistency, like a dough for pancakes.
4. Divide the mass into parts, add 1-2 drops of dye to each, knead well.
5. Heat a heavy-bottomed skillet. Each portion of plasticine must be prepared separately.
6. Pour a mass of the same color into a pan, heat and stir well with a spatula. When the mass thickens and looks like real plasticine, transfer from the pan to a porcelain bowl, let cool. Repeat with all portions of plasticine.

Usage tips:

• For sculpting, plasticine can be used immediately after preparation. You can store plasticine for an unlimited amount of time in an airtight bag in the refrigerator.
• Crafts from plasticine according to recipes 1 or 2 can be dried at room temperature in the shade (if put in the sun or a battery, there is a possibility of surface cracking). Figures dry 1-3 days, depending on the size.
• After drying, the crafts can be painted, but when the paint dries, salt crystals may form on the surface. To make the paints of the dried craft brighter and mask the salt that has come out, the crafts can be coated with any construction varnish (small ones – with transparent nail varnish). Do not trust children to work with varnish!

“Artificial snow” for modeling and New Year’s crafts

This material looks very similar to real snow. They can be used to decorate New Year’s tabletop “landscapes” and still lifes.

The age of children is 4-7 years old.

What you need:

• Baking soda – 1 pack (500 g).
• Shaving foam (not cream or gel).

How to cook:

1. Pour baking soda into a bowl.
2. Add the foam to the soda in portions, constantly kneading the mass. The mass is ready when it has become plastic and keeps the shape of the “snowball” well when sculpting.

Usage tips:

• This mass must be prepared immediately before the game, because over time it dries up and becomes loose, it no longer holds its shape. Figures made of artificial snow can be slightly dried at room temperature in order to further decorate winter compositions with them.
• The loose mass is similar to loose snow – it can be used for crafts, where it will act as loose snow.
• To compose the composition, prepare a cardboard box with low walls.
• I recommend putting already dried figurines, Christmas tree branches, a small house, animal figurines, etc. into the composition. If you sprinkle them with loose “artificial snow”, you get an amazing winter corner on the table.
• After playing, loose “snow” can be stored in a tightly closed glass jar for an unlimited period of time.

I also recommend painting with your baby using paints that you can make with your own hands at home, and mainly from natural ingredients!