DONNA’S DAY: CREATIVE FAMILY FUN

Memories Take Shape With Homemade Clay

Think of all the experiences your kids have already stored up in their memory pool since summer vacation began. Talk about their recollections together, then put them into shape with this fabulous play clay made with baking soda, cornstarch and water. It’s a snap to concoct and especially amazing to watch the magical transformations when the liquid mixture turns into a mashed potato-like consistency right before your eyes. Chemistry in the kitchen was never so much fun.

The pliable, smooth white play clay is a perfect medium for letting out the creativity of imaginative minds. Shape sculptures of the animals and birds your kids gawked at while at the zoo, a dolphin they met at an aquarium or the clown who taught them to juggle at a country fair.

Once they create sculptures or beads from the dough, let them harden overnight, and your kids will have another fun afternoon putting their strokes of color on their objects.

Here’s the simple stuff you’ll need to make the dough:

—2 cups baking soda

—1 cup cornstarch

—1 1/4 cups water

—Saucepan

—Candy coloring (optional), available where cake decorations are sold; food coloring also works

—Acrylic paints and brushes (optional)

Here’s the fun:

1. Place the baking soda, cornstarch and water in the saucepan. An adult should stir the mixture over low heat for about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and continue stirring.

2. When the mixture takes on a mashed-potato consistency, it’s ready for play. If you’d like, separate it into small batches and color each batch with a few drops of candy coloring. If you leave the clay natural, you can let it dry for about 12 hours and paint it with acrylics.

Tips:

—For sculptures, put a small lump of clay in the barrel of a garlic press and squeeze to make long hair to plop on a clown’s head.

—For beads, roll small ball shapes in your hands and poke a hole through each one with a skewer. When hard, string on a bit of elastic through the holes.

(c) 2011 Donna Erickson

Distributed by King Features Synd.