There are lots of things that you can do to encourage this, such as arts and crafts, drawing, painting, building bricks and clay work. All children love being active and when they are not able to get out in the fresh air then these activities are great and children can often be enthralled for hours.
Creative play and in particularly clay work, is an ideal medium for children that find it difficult to pay attention, sit still or communicate easily, such as ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) or Autism. Clay enables the child to occupy their hands and provides a focus on something without having to look at someone directly and/or express their emotions and feelings in non-verbal communication. Clay work is often a favourite with play therapists and can been found in most therapeutic centres.
Drama Start writes that “...it undoubtedly helps a play therapy client express their emotions and this is due to the tactile nature of the clay. It is this mode of primal communication (touching) that helps emotions such as anger, greed, and grief be expressed in the clay. Using clay therapeutically allows you to grab an emotion and look at it in the face, touch it, shape it and feel it.” (click the link to read the full research paper)
The best thing about clay and other creative activities is that it is fun and can keep kids happy and occupied for hours. It is great to play with individually, sharing as a party or group activity or as parent and child activity. So here are a few clay and modelling mediums that will kick start your child’s imagination and development, as well as providing hours of fun!
Bake & Bend is just what it says on the tin! Once it is baked it is still bendable and virtually unbreakable. It is a non-toxic oven baked modelling compound that doesn’t dry out when exposed to air and can be played with for hours until you are ready to bake the clay creation. It should be baked in a regular oven at 285°F (140°C) for 20 minutes per ¼" (6 mm) of thickness. This product comes in kits with 6 or 8 colours, a modelling tool and roller. There are a number of brands for Bake and Bend, although Sculpey and SuperFlex appear to be the most popular and are very similar kits.
Cloud Clay is a soft, very light, foam like air drying clay clay that is non-toxic and safe for small children to use (age 4 and up). It has a stretchy consistency so fibers won’t break when pulled apart. It is dry to touch, which means it won’t stick to the hands and can stick to itself without glue of water. It air dries overnight to a solid, durable material that feels like foam. If it is kept in a sealed air tight container it can be used again and again like Plasticine.The texture of cloud clay is so cool it make it a perfect clay for kids that they will love playing with.
Crayola Air Dry Clay is a fine, natural white earth clay that air-dries and is easy to use. It is smoother, finer and less sticky than traditional clay and resists cracking. It is great for classrooms, art rooms, group activities or home based rainy day activities. It softens easily with water and quickly cleans from hands and surfaces. Once cured, the clay creation can be coloured with tempera, acrylic or water colour paint or marker pens. It can be used for lots of techniques and can be pinched, coiled, scored-and-welded. It is also great for making stamped impressions or beads.
Crayola Dough is a soft, non-toxic modelling clay that is developed especially for children in their early learning years. It's smooth consistency makes it easy for small hands to manipulate. It is packed in an air tight container so will be ready to use, and can be softened further with a few drops of water. As long as any unused clay is returned to the container it will be ready to use again next time. Crayola Dough can also be washed easily from any surface or hands. The packs are usually available in a 6 bright colours or they can be blended together for an endless list of other colours. This is a great way to teach young children about colouring and blending.
Darwi Kids is a very soft white air drying modelling clay. It is ideal for children to mould, sculpt or roll out etc. It air dries in 24 hours without shrinking and adheres to most surfaces. It is great clay for kids and all skill levels including adults. Darwi Kids clay will accept nearly all paints and in particularly acrylic paints.
Djeco Light Clay is actually modelling dough but it is also suitable to air drying. It is easy to use and very light making it suitable for younger children to create fun models. They are a huge range of clay craft kits with lots of different designs that kids can create by following the detailed colourful instructions. Djeco can also be purchase in 6 pack air tight tubs of coloured soft clay that blends beautifully, is smooth looking when dry and feels feather light!
Eraser Clay is a great product for kids as is can be moulded into any shape and then once baked in the oven it becomes a real usable eraser. The pack provides a variety of bright coloured clay bars that can be moulded, shaped stamped etc. The clay can even be baked directly onto a pencil! It is baked and treated similar to polymer or Sculpey clay and should be bake at 250 °F (130 °C) for 20 minutes per 1/4 in (6 mm) thickness.When using any type of oven baking clay it is a good idea to use an oven thermometer so that the clay is baked at the right temperature and save the creations being ruined by over baking. Please be aware that baking should always be completed by an adult.
EZ Shape is a fun creative play medium that is ideal for kids aged 4 and up. It is a wax based modelling clay like Plasticine that is easy to work with and doesn’t dry out when exposed to air. It has a smooth consistency and is available in a wide range of colour kits. It is a pliable and easy to manipulate clay that can create some great shapes and models and sticks to itself with only a gentle pressure. EZ Shape is completely non-toxic and does not contain any of the common allergens such as wheat, gluten, sulphur, latex, nuts, dairy or any animal by-products.
FIMO Clay is great for kids and recently Fimo have produced clay especially for
Fimo also produces Fimo Soft which is easier than regular Fimo so kids find it easy to condition. It is great clay for older kids to start with so they can experiment with their clay work. It is also much easier for people with dexterity problems such as arthritis etc. Fimo Kids and Fimo Soft are both cured in a conventional oven.
FIMOair is a ready-to-use, water-based modelling clay, which is air drying and can then be easily modified (drilled, carved, filed, painted). It is made from 97% natural substances making it ideal for children’s use. Once hardened, FIMOair is very hard and extremely break-resistant, making it ideal for the crafting of dolls and puppets that kids can keep forever. The white clay is great clay to paint with acrylics once the clay work is completely dry. FIMOair light is also a ready-to-use clay that is an extremely lightweight water-based air dry clay, which dries in the air. It can then be easily modified by drilling, gluing, painting and varnishing. The hardened material is particularly light, making it perfect for kid’s clay modelling projects.Finger Soft™ Modelling Dough is a soft and pliable modelling / playing dough. It is suitable for use by all ages, but is particularly aimed at younger children. If replaced in the container after use, it can be reused many times.
Foam Clay is a self-hardening modelling material with small beads, which is ideal for coating and modelling around various objects. It has a foam-like paste with 3D properties and unique texture and appeals to children because of its pleasant touch, although it is also suitable for adults. It requires kneading thoroughly before use and the drying time varies between 1 - 3 days depending on the thickness of the creation. It has little or no shrinkage and retains its bright colours after curing. If it dries out it can also be re-hydrated by sprinkling it with water and kneading well for a couple of minutes to regain elasticity.
Jumping Clay is a type of polymer clay that is air drying and is composed of
non-toxic harmless water-dissolving filler. This clay can be used for hobbies for adults as well as being a safe clay for ages three and up. It is suitable for a wide variety of creations and is very lightweight, non sticky and available in several colours. It has a high-compliance raw material, which means it bounces when thrown, that’s why it is known as Jumping Clay. Kids can have endless fun making their own bouncy creations.
Jumping Clay is a type of polymer clay that is air drying and is composed of
Model Magic by Crayola – is a soft, easy-to-use modelling material that air-dries, usually within 24 hours. It is advertised for school use although it is suitable for much more. Model Magic is available in a variety of colours and is usually found in the kids section of the craft store. This spongy, pliable modelling clay is great to work with for adults as well as children and ideal for lightweight sculpting, pottery, and clay animation. It will stick to itself very easily so ensure you keep colours separate when working on projects until you are ready to build your project or blending to make other colours. 
Oven Shrink isn’t clay but is such a great product that it just had to be included in this list as kids will love it! It is an ingenious invention that can produce some amazing handmade items such as fridge magnets, badges, key rings and jewellery. Kid’s drawings and art work can be preserved and become useful creations at the same time. It can be used for more professional creations by printing images onto the paper.
Draw and colour on the shrink paper using felt tip pens or pencil, in the same way that they would use paper. Once the master piece is finished, cut out the design and place on a baking tray in a pre-heated oven (it is important to make sure the oven has been preheated first) for approximately 3 – 4 minutes at gas mark 140°C and the paper will miraculously shrink 7 times smaller and 7 times thicker than it original size. When you take the paper out if it is still curly place it back in the oven for another minute as it is not ready. You can also use a heat gun with shrink paper; simply hold the piece of paper down on the edge with something that will not melt. The paper will shrivel and curl and eventually become flat. Once it has been shrunk the creation can be glazed with most types of varnish to give it extra protection and shine. If you want to hang your creation or make it into jewellery then be sure you punch a hole in it before you shrink it. Oven shrink won’t burn unless it is baked for several hours but it is worth doing a test piece first.
Salt Dough is such a fun and cheap way to get kids active with creative play. There are hundreds of recipes available although a few simple ingredients are all you need to get you and your little one started. Simply Being Mum provide really easy to follow instructions and state that the basic principle is - “1 quantity of plain flour, ½ quantity table salt and ½ quantity of cold tap water. (Click on the link for full instructions)
Salt Dough is such a fun and cheap way to get kids active with creative play. There are hundreds of recipes available although a few simple ingredients are all you need to get you and your little one started. Simply Being Mum provide really easy to follow instructions and state that the basic principle is - “1 quantity of plain flour, ½ quantity table salt and ½ quantity of cold tap water. (Click on the link for full instructions)
Sculpey Pluffy Modelling Clay is modelling clay that can be baked in the oven. It has such a great feel to it that kids will love playing with for hours without it drying out. This clay can also float, so would be great for making bath and pool toys. Baked pieces can be coloured with acrylic paints or marker pens or it is available in a number of coloured packs, including pastel, primary and tropical. Some of the kits also provide modelling tools.
Silk Clay is similar to foam clay but has a flat smooth texture, which air dries to look very similar to rubber foam. It can stick easily to many surfaces without glue and many colours can be created by mixing the colours together. Silk Clay can be refreshed by spraying it with water and kneading again, if it dries up in the packaging. Like Cloud Clay it has a great feel and texture that kids will love to play with.
If you have any questions regarding any of the information here or wish to leave feedback, please feel free to leave a comment.
Happy Clay Work!