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Play clay is so versatile — it can be molded, cut, painted, colored, glittered, and glued.  Instead of using food coloring, let’s experiment with our scented tutti-fruity watercolor recipe and one of my favorite tools — animal cookie-cutters! It’s Dino Day! We’re making a T-Rex, Stegosaurus, Dino Foot & Ball! Scented play clay is a great sensory experience and rip-RAWR-n fun!! Watch out for the rolling Dino Ball — it sparkles — we added blue moon sand for fun!

Materials Needed:

PLAY CLAY {recipe from Funroom}

• 1 cup Salt
• 1/3 cup Water
• 1/2 cup Cornstarch
• 1/4 cup Cold Water

SCENTED WATERCOLORS

• Tutti-Fruity Watercolor Recipe
• Kool Aid Variety Packs
• Paint Brushes
• Containers for watercolors

CONSTRUCTING MATERIALS

• Animal Pals Cookie Cutters
• Wax Paper
• Wire Rack/Cookie Sheet

What’s Next:

1.  Combine 1 cup salt and 1/3 cup water in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally {about 4-6 minutes}. Ours just started to bubble, then we took it off.

2.  Remove from heat and add 1/2 cup cornstarch and 1/4 cup cold water.  Stir until thickens. It happens really fast and it will resemble mashed potatoes.

3.  Let cool briefly, then knead. If it’s too sticky, add a little more cornstarch. Don’t wait too long or it gets crusty. If so, just add a little water on hands when kneading.

4.  Knead clay into balls, flatten on wax paper, then stamp with cookie cutters and pull excess from cutter edges.  {Tip} Too thin will crack — ours measured the height/thickness of the cookie cutter.

5.  To air dry:  Lay clay overnight on wire racks, turning occasionally for faster and more even drying.

6.  To oven dry:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees, then turn oven OFF.  Place undecorated items on a wire rack on a cookie sheet and place in oven until oven is cold. Repeat as necessary.  We did 3 x, taking out in-between to pre-heat, flipping 1 x with no rack, just cookie sheet — did stick a little — gently wiggled a plastic spatula to separate.

7.  Once hardened and cooled {its best to wait — not so easy for the little ones, but the color will absorb better}, it’s time to paint! To add to the sensory experience, follow directions to make our Tutti-Fruity Watercolors — it packs a super-fruity punch! Kool-Aid can temporarily stains hands and can permanently stain some surfaces! Protect work surface, paint, and allow to dry. Commercial non-scented watercolors work well too.

8.  Store un-molded play clay in an airtight sealed container with piece of damp sponge up to two weeks. Knead stored clay until smooth before using.

We made a butterfly fish with the extra clay! C wanted to color one with markers too.  Here’s some other fun ways to paint using sponges, bubble wrap, and paper plates and pom-poms.

{notes}

• If clay get too dry, add a few drops of water.
• If clay gets too sticky, knead in more corn starch.
• Cover clay with a damp cloth while working with it to prevent drying.
• Clay can be decorated with watercolors, acrylic paints, markers, colored glue, glitter glue, or crayons. Let dry completely. Coat decorated items with clear acrylic to seal.

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