Craft Recipes: Non-Toxic Kid's Clay

Craft recipes and instructions for making non-toxic kid's clay, dough, putty, slime, and bubbles.

Keeping kids occupied can be a fulltime job, keeping them occupied on a budget even more so! A creative outlet that uses items already in the cupboards or around the house, can be one of the best ways to have fun with them and not go broke in doing so. Recipes for kid's clay, slime, bubbles, even putty, can be found all over the Internet and in numerous craft books, but assembling them all into a "˜craft kit for kids' to use whenever the creativity bug strikes them can save you from hearing for the millionth time, "˜There's nothing to do Mom!" Note: All the recipes included here are "˜no-cook', non-toxic recipes, so kids can do most of the mixing themselves. Some do require warm water, and depending on the age of the child, adult supervision is recommended.

Assembly

The containers for all the ingredients to be added together when the mood strikes is as important as the ingredients themselves. Gather a sturdy plastic container with a snap tight lid large enough to hold several smaller plastic containers with tight lids for the dry ingredients, along with several small plastic bottles with tight lids to hold liquids, for those recipes you wish to include in your individual kit. Also, add a plastic measuring cup, plastic mixing bowl, and a wooden handled spoon. A plastic spoon can be used, but from experience, a wooden spoon will hold up much better than a plastic one.

General Supplies

Flour (2 ¼ cups is enough to make one batch of each included recipe that requires flour)



Salt (1 ½ cups)

Cornstarch

Liquid Starch (found in the laundry aisle)

Dawn Dish Soap

Bottle of Elmer's Brand White Glue (Not the school glue)

Pack of food coloring

Zipper style plastic bags for storage of finished products

Plastic rings (Cut a plastic juice concentrate container into sections as thin as possible) or other pre-made bubble tools for blowing bubbles

Additional Supplies

One of the recipes included is for air-dry clay that works well for kids to make their own beads. Toothpicks to pierce the beads and paint supplies to decorate the beads once they are dry make great additions to this assortment of supplies. Toss in a spool of thread suitable for stringing beads to complete the kit.

RECIPES

Child's Dough

One and ½ cups flour

¾ cups salt

¾ cups water

Combine the two dry ingredients together in mixing bowl. Slowly add water, stirring and then as mixture comes together, kneading. Extra water may be added as needed. A few drops of food color may be added as desired. Store in zipper bags inside of plastic containers between uses.

Air Dry Clay

¾ cups flour

½-cup salt

½-cup cornstarch

Water (warm water works best)

Combine dry ingredients together. Add warm water to mixture until mixture is of a doughy consistency. If too much water is added, add in a bit more equal parts flour and cornstarch until desired mixture is attained. For making this dough into beads to be decorated later with paint, take small amounts of mix and roll between hands, forming small round shapes. Pierce each with a toothpick. Let dry. Paint as desired once they are completely dry. String and wear!

Fun Putty

Mix one part liquid starch to two parts white glue. Mix should be allowed to "˜work' for five to ten minutes to allow the glue and starch to react to each other. Knead the mixture together, and store in zipper bags inside of plastic containers between uses. Warning! If you help your child with this project, you may find yourself consuming a lot of time "˜kneading' this mixture, as it can be quite habit forming to play with.

Get Slimed

This is as easy as it gets! Mix cornstarch, any amount desired, with water until you get a slimy mix. Food color can be added, (green works great!) to add extra fun.

Bubbles, Bubbles, Bubbles

Dawn brand dish soap has always been a favorite when making bubbles at home and the "˜recipe' is as easy as it gets. Pour about half a bottle of liquid soap into a bucket, and add about a gallon of water, slowly stirring mix just enough to blend, not enough to create a bucket of bubbles. Dip in whatever you are going to use to blow your bubbles with, and blow away.

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