Make a Mini-Scarecrow

Working with clay is a great way for your child to develop those fine motor skills that are so important for writing. In this activity, you and your child will make your own clay and build a salt figure scarecrow! Your child will boost her fine motor skills while she explores the artistic process of clay modeling. This is a great activity to do with more than one child so invite some of her friends over to join in on the festive fun.

What You Need:

• Ingredients for ceramic clay mixture: one cup (200 g) salt, 1/2 cup (100 g) cornstarch and 3/4 cup (150 g) water
• Salt (in addition to the salt used in the ceramic clay mixture)
• Saucepan
• Wooden spoon
• Stove top
• Cardboard tube (with one side taped closed) or empty frozen juice can
• Toothpicks
• Various decorating materials such as yarn, cotton, felt, colored paper, scraps of fabric, feathers, fabric trims or lace
• Glue
• Food coloring in colors of your choosing (optional)

What You Do:

1. Start by cooking the clay ingredients over medium heat in a saucepan (an adult should do this part). Stir continuously with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens into a ball. Remove from the heat and place the ball on a piece of foil to cool.
2. Once the mixture has cooled, you and your child can knead the clay thoroughly until it becomes pliable. Be aware that salt ceramic dries to a rock hardness without being baked, so you'll want to keep working that clay to make sure it stays pliable. This part is especially great for developing those fine motor skills! If you're not quite ready to use the clay yet, store in an airtight plastic bag for later.
3. Separate a small portion of the clay from the mixture and add a drop or two of food coloring to it. Being careful not to stain your hands, fold the clay over itself and knead it until the color is fully combined into the mixture making colored clay. You can use the colored clay to add details to your scarecrow such as facial features or hair etc. Make as many different colors as you like.
4. Help your child fill the tube with some clay or some pebbles (or anything else heavy) to use as weight to keep the tube from tipping over.
5. Have your child roll a chunk of the clay into a ball. The ball should be big enough to be the head of the figure. Place the ball of clay on top of the tube for a head and make sure it is secure.
6. Now make some arms for your scarecrow. Roll out two logs of clay for arms and then set them aside to dry. You won't attach them to the body until they are dry.
7. While the arms dry, your child can add other bits of colored clay as facial features and other details. She can even use any extra playdough she might have lying around the house! If some of the features won't stick, moisten the clay with a bit of water and then attach. Toothpicks also help extra parts stick to the clay.
8. Dry for several days until the all of the parts are dry.
9. Once the parts have dried, help your child glue the arms to the base of her scarecrow. Let dry if need be.
10. Using the various decorative materials you've gathered, your child can add any other decorations she might like for her scarecrow. Such as clothing, hair, a hat, patches, or straw

You can use your scarecrow salt figure as a fall decoration or even as a centerpiece for your Thanksgiving table!