Little Hands Art: Model Clay

This summer, I started a bi-monthly art program for toddlers. It alternated with a weekly drop-in open play program. Little Hands Art was advertised for toddlers ages 2-4 with an adult caregiver. Registration was required and our programming blurb requested that toddlers come wearing clothes they could get messy in.

One of my favorite art memories are those school days where you got to work with clay. I remember vividly scoring it and molding it before it was fired in the kiln. Now, my library definitely doesn’t have a kiln. But I do have the budget to buy some Crayola Model Magic. This clay self-dries after being left out for a period of time (I left ours out for 72 hours and it was still pretty moldable).

I did this in two parts. Each child got a package of Model Magic to play with and a seal-able sandwich bag to take it home. I told the adults that as long as the bag remained sealed, the clay would still be able to be molded.

And then I made cut-outs in advance for the kids to color with markers. I used molds from our Playdoh bin.

Take-aways from this session:

1. We did folding chairs again. Since another program needs them immediately after mine, I might just stick with them for the summer.

2. Olaf still reigns supreme. Most of the kids built snowmen at one point or another.

And another Pinterest friendly image:

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Kelsey from Library Bonanza, Heather from Little Literacy Librarian, and I are presenting a program at Illinois Library Association Conference THIS THURSDAY all about art with small people! You’ll be seeing a lot of art posts this week — enjoy!