One of my goals in teaching my kids to do crafts is to help them discover hobbies they can do for life.  To that end, we don’t do a lot of “kid crafts.”  I try to find simple versions of adult crafts for them to practice, and eventually grow into.  My oldest daughter discovered this form of clay crafting on her own; it has since become a family favorite.

The Idea

Create dollhouse (or fairy-house) sized miniature objects from clay.  These objects can then be used in play or other learning activities.

A selection of mini clay projects from my oldest daughter’s collection.

The Execution

Supplies:

• Sculpey Clay (oven-drying)
  • We usually stock up when Michael’s puts the individual color blocks on sale.
• Pasta Machine
  • Optional, but lots of fun and very useful; my oldest daughter received the Atlas machine as a Christmas gift one year.
• Rolling pin if you don’t have a pasta machine
• Basic clay tools
  • We like plastic ones like these, and these are good for older or more advanced crafters

One fun and simple project to start with is clay “canes.”

• First “condition” the clay by passing it through the pasta machine (or rolling flat with a rolling pin) several times.  This softens the clay and makes it more pliable.  My kids could spend hours passing clay through the pasta machine.
• Next, create a cane using one of these Simple Polymer Clay Canes tutorials.  Allow imperfections in the canes for younger kids; they turn out very artsy looking!
• Slice the canes as described in the above tutorial.  You can make “cookie” slices for dolls, or thicker slices for “beads.”  (If beads, poke a hole through each one with a thick needle before baking.)  Thick slices can also be used as counters for games or math manipulatives.
• Bake and cool as directed on the package.

We created a garland out of Jellyroll Cane Beads, perler (hama) beads, and homemade pom-poms.

The Extension

A more complicated cane to make can be found on this Flower Clay Canes tutorial.  Some beautiful and highly complex canes can be found on Polymer Clay Workshop.

Tutorials for making an endless variety of miniature clay food can be found on the internet.  Many of these require additional supplies such as pastels, glazes, and resins. Some of our favorites:

Miniature Clay Food Tutorials (Pinterest)
Simply Stella
Dollhouse Bread and Snow-cones

Another fun project my daughter enjoyed was creating miniature clay koi ponds.  The stones are aquarium gravel, and the “water” is clear resin.  Tutorials for this project can be found on Small Creations and My Tiny World.

Bits and pieces of clay projects can be reassembled into dioramas, such as this mermaid cavern.

Our landlord is doing major renovations when we move out this summer, so many days we have workers measuring, quoting, and digging into parts of my house I really don’t want exposed!  Not a lot of school work gets done.   This morning was one of those days, and a perfect time to corral the kids around the kitchen table and work on our Doodles.

“Real” Zentangles aren’t supposed to have color.  But we like color.  Keep in mind that these are only 2.5 x 3.5 inches (trading card size).

I also created a Master Doodle Template so my littlest ones can practice just filling in patterns. (For best results, print on cardstock paper.  Cut into 2.5 x 3.5 rectangles.)  They like to refer to a page of patterns like our Master Doodle Patterns.

Age 8

Age 6

Age 6

Age 14

The Idea

If you have a student who enjoys doodling, don’t view it as a waste of time.  Doodling is a gateway to developing fine motor skills.  While letter formation is an important part of handwriting, letters won’t happen until the child develops hand muscle strength, precision, and endurance.   Some children might enjoy writing endless strings of letters to build up hand strength, but if you have a creative little person they will most likely balk at such a waste of time.

Many adults enjoy a meditative type of doodling called Zentangle.  If you search for “zentangle patterns” on the internet, many of the patterns will be too complicated for children.  However, there are plenty of patterns that kids can learn and enjoy.  I have enjoyed a book called One Zentangle a Day.  As I worked through the book, I taught my kids patterns I thought they would like, and made a notebook of favorite patterns for future reference.

Some of our favorite patterns for kids.

The Execution

Start with a small square of paper.  Zentangle uses 3.5″x3.5″.  Personally, I cut cardstock into trading-card sized pieces so that I can store them in trading-card albums.  (Some doodlers prefer a larger piece of paper, but the small size is less intimidating.)  Use a pencil to draw a shape on the paper.  Fill it in with doodles and patterns.  The best pen to use is a black Micron pen, size 01.  However, we often resort to fine Sharpie pens as well, or any other fine tip marker.

See some of our Doodles here.

For very little ones, it might be easier to start with a pre-drawn template (print on cardstock and cut into 2.5 x 3.5in rectangles).

The Extension

Many graphic designers use zentangle-like patterns in their work.  We often find an artist we like and copy their ideas.