As part of our "Mommy Camp" activities, we have done some extended-period arts and crafts projects, and I thought I'd share this one because it was so easy and resulted in such a cute finished product. Plus, whenever one activity can take up 3 time slots - you know it's a goodie! :)
Freida had been fixated on jewelry, and she had a really great time making a few pieces with this jewelry kit last month, so I thought I thought I'd bump it up a notch and show her how to make beads from clay (I've recently read a lot about child-led learning and felt like this was a great way to incorporate that).
She was in awe about the fact that we were going to be making a necklace from clay, and she jumped right it and got rolling. I used Crayola Air Dry Clay in white - it was easy to manipulate and it held form very well. Once I showed her how to roll balls in different sizes and poke holes in them with a wooden skewer, I let her mess around and make them any way she wanted...
She was very into her "marshmallow" beads - once the skewer was in the ball she rolled it along the table to make this shape before removing the stick. I get a kick out of watching kids find shapes they recognize in different places (like when she was a baby she would take the foam bath toy letter "E" and try to use it as a comb!), and her marshmallow beads just cracked me up!
When we were finished with the beads, we set them aside to dry. It said it takes 3 days so I did this with her on a Thursday so that over the weekend I didn't get too much nagging and the beads were ready to paint on Monday morning. It was really neat to feel them everyday (I have a sensory fetish :)) and see how they seemingly became heavier the more dry they got! By Monday morning they felt like regular ceramic beads and I think I was more excited them Freida to get paint on them!
We used a set of shimmy acrylic paint from Kid Made Modern, and it went on sleek and smooth. Naturally, the 8 colors weren't nearly enough for my 3 year old, and she went on to mix up her own purple formula. Which I loved. Obviously.
But the best part about the project was when she cried out "Mommy, it's like we have Color Me Mine in our house!!".
The painted beads dried overnight, and we went on to lace them into necklaces the next day...
Anyways, the result was super-cute and the project was cheap and easy. Thought I'd share the goodness so you can give it try!!
One of the reasons I completely adore hanging out with kids is that they are constantly reminding me to appreciate the littlest joys in life. Like, shredded paper, for example.
