How To Make Sawdust Clay

Do you get nostalgic thinking about the childhood days spent in midst of nature, playing the games of hide and seek, catch-catch, and exploring the village from end to end. Today’s children get to see trees and mountains only on exotic trips or on television. Their games mean sitting in front of computer and playing videogames. However, who can blame them? It’s the byproduct of the urbane lifestyle that we are providing them. Instead of letting them spend all the time in front of the computer, provide them with some easy handicraft, which will not only evoke their creativity but will also help them spend some time with nature. Making sawdust clay is one such craft. Teach them to your children and learn it yourself. It is a great craft for the kids and is very inexpensive. The best part about it is that it is very easy to make and through it, you would be able to spend some quality time with your children. What else, you and your kid would enjoy the experience to the maximum. Explore the following steps to know how to make sawdust clay.

Sawdust Clay Recipe

Supplies Required

Sawdust
Flour/Wallpaper paste
Water
A large bowl
A wooden spoon for mixing

Procedure

You can either cover your work area with newspaper or do the process in your backyard. Wear an apron and give one to your kid too as not to spoil your clothes. You can make the sawdust clay either with wheat flour or with wallpaper paste.
You would find sawdust at any local lumberyard. Take the fine powdered sawdust.
Take a large bowl, mix the sawdust and wallpaper or flour together, and blend it well before you add water. Now add little water and keep on blending the mixture until it starts to seem like dough. Keep on adding water until all the sawdust and flour have been mixed to form dough.
After the mixture has become thick, knead it with hand to make it smooth and downy. If the concoction feels too runny, add a little sawdust to it and knead to make it thick. On the other hand, if the assortment seems too crumbly, add flour to it and work on it to make it smooth and elastic.
The dough made with wallpaper paste is easier to make and doesn’t need more kneading. However, this recipe should be used by children above 10 years old only.
Once you have finished making the dough, you can start making sculptures out of it. You can make bowls, vases, small Indian type pottery, Christmas ornament, cookies, and even dolls.
After you are done with your creation, allow it to dry under the sun for two to three days. After it has dried and become hard, you can make its texture smooth by polishing it with sandpaper.
Add color to it by different colored acrylic paint and jazz it by glossing it by spraying clear acrylic spray.

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