Clay Snowman

What You Do:

1. Before your young crafter gets started, you will need to condition, or knead and stretch, the clay. Tape a piece of wax paper down to the work surface.  Knead the clay, pushing it away from yourself with the heels of your hands, folding it and repeating the motions.  If it is too stiff to work, re-wrap it and put it in your pocket for 15-20 minutes.  When you can fold a roll of clay in half without it cracking, it is ready for young crafters to work.
2. When the clay is ready, your young artist can roll the white clay into two or three balls to make the body of the snowman. 
3. Next he will work with the black to make coal eyes and a mouth.  Using chunks of coal may look odd for the mouth, since he is working on such a small surface.  It if does, use a tiny roll of clay instead.
4. The good thing about this clay is that it is very forgiving.  If he doesn’t like the looks of his snowman, pull it apart, re-knead and start again.  Just be sure not to mix the white and the black or the white will look muddy. 
5. If he has trouble getting the sections of the snowman to stay together, not to worry.  You can use a hot glue gun to remedy this problem after the snowman has been cured. 
6. Once he has a snowman he likes, it is time to cure the clay.  Line the cookie sheet with a piece of aluminum foil.  Preheat the oven and bake the snowman according to the package instructions.
7. Remove the wax paper from your work area and wipe the work area down with rubbing alcohol to remove any clay residue.
8. When the snowman has been cured and has cooled, have your child cut a strip of felt.  This is your snowman’s scarf.  You may need to use a dot of glue to hold the scarf in place. 
9. Place your cheerful visitor in a potted plant.  Just make sure he’s in plain sight to greet visitors to your home.