How to make clay at home

Plasticine develops hand motor skills, as a result of which coordination of hands and fingers is improved. Also, modeling helps children to think creatively and make logical chains. On sale there are plenty of options for every taste and wallet, but not all manufacturers guarantee the quality of their products. As a rule, harmful dyes and other additives unknown to us are a part of plasticine. Hence the need to prepare the mass for modeling at home. Consider the important aspects in order.

The benefits of homemade clay

1. The composition includes flour, which can be found in the kitchen cupboard of any hostess. Simple and cheap.
2. There are no harmful dyes, chemical components, complex compounds and materials in homemade plasticine.Due to this, the composition is considered hypoallergenic, which is an undeniable advantage.
3. When buying plasticine in a store, a child is deprived of the opportunity to learn color painting - mixing colors. In the case of the home mass, this is quite realistic; by mixing red with yellow, you can easily get orange.

The composition of plasticine

1. Flour. Mass is based precisely on this food product. There is flour in almost all recipes, so you can't do without it. You can prepare plasticine from rye, oatmeal, flaxseed, corn raw materials, but if possible the product should be whitish. As a result, it turns out to make plasticine absolutely any color.
2. Salt. To clay for a long time kept soft and not dry, be sure to use salt. It absorbs excess moisture, which is formed from the addition of water, and then retains it inside.
3. Water. Thanks to the mixing of flour with a liquid, the same friable consistency is obtained, which makes it possible to mold various parts of plasticine, even the smallest.
4. Lemon juice. Citrus acts as a preservative, it helps keep flour and other foods in good condition for a long time.For this reason, plasticine does not mold, does not crust and does not have an unpleasant odor.
5. Natural oil. The composition may include sunflower, corn or olive oil. The product makes the total weight of plastic, provides reliable adhesion of flour with the other components, prevents the clay from sticking to the hands and staining them (in the case of adding dyes).
6. Cream of tartar. Very often, people are puzzled when they first read a recipe. There is nothing supernatural, you can buy tartar in the store for pastry chefs. It serves to maintain the shape of the final product, ensuring perfect plasticity.
7. Food coloring. As the name implies, the pigment has a coloring function. It is much more pleasant and interesting to create original figures from a multicolored mass, and not from a single-colored one. Do not use industrial dyes, they are toxic. Choose only food confectionery pigment.

The traditional recipe of plasticine

To prepare you will need:

• white flour - 270 gr.
• crushed edible salt - 70 gr.
• lemon juice - 10 ml.
• corn oil or olive oil - 45 ml.
• filtered water - 130 ml.

1. Pour water into an enamel pot, put it on the stove and boil. Reduce heat, pour in vegetable oil, lemon juice and salt, wait for the crystals to dissolve.
2. Pour the flour into a sieve, gently sift it into the pan, mix with a whisk or fork to avoid lumps. For convenience, you can do it not over boiling liquid, it is also useful to use a mixer at low speed.
3. When the flour is filled, tantalize the composition until it thickens completely. Do not forget to constantly stir, carefully pick up the mixture from the walls.
4. Sprinkle with flour a cutting table or board, pour the thickened dough onto the surface. Wait for it to cool to an acceptable temperature, then knead the composition to a plastic consistency. At the end of the kneading procedure, the clay should not be sticky.
5. If you wish, you can paint the mass in any color using food colors. The composition must be added at the time when the paste is languishing on fire.

Microwave Plasticine Recipe

To prepare you will need:

• white flour (any) - 300 gr.
• chopped salt - 150 gr.
• lemon juice - 15 ml.
• olive oil - 35 ml.
• purified water - 80 ml.

1. Boil the water in the kettle, add salt to dissolve the crystals.
2. Pour in vegetable oil and lemon juice, add flour, sifting it in a convenient way.
3. Stir the mass with a fork or mixer, transfer to a microwave container.
4. Cork the dishes, put in the microwave for 3 minutes at the average power of the device.
5. After the time, remove, mix, send the composition for another 2 minutes.
6. After that, cool the bowl with the mass, do not open the lid.
7. After about half an hour, knead the finished dough, pour in 3 ml if desired. liquid glycerin to add shine.

Plasticine with citric acid

To prepare you will need:

• pure water - 440 ml.
• white flour - 420 gr.
• Table salt chopped - 220 gr.
• citric acid - 25 gr. (2 bags)
• corn oil - 30 ml.
• dyes (optional).

1. Pour filtered water and corn oil into the enameled container, turn on the burner at maximum power. Bring the composition to a boil, turn off the stove when the first bubbles appear.
2. In a separate bowl, combine the citric acid, flour and salt into one composition.Carefully pour the mixture into a container with water. First, the flour grabs clumps that need to be crushed with a fork or the convex side of a tablespoon.
3. Cool the mixture, then pour the flour on a flat surface and knead the dough until it stops sticking to the hands. If you wish to add a dye, then the clay must be cut into small pieces.
4. Drip the pigment in the middle of each mass, then wrap and knead it. Be sure to do the work in gloves, the composition is poorly washed off the skin. Adjust the amount of added dye yourself, the more it will be, the richer the clay will turn out.

Claystone-based clay

To prepare you will need:

• White flour - 400 gr.
• drinking water - 220 ml.
• vegetable oil - 40 ml.
• cream of tartar - 90 ml.
• food salt (fine) - 80 gr.
• liquid glycerin - 3 ml.
• food coloring (optional).

1. Combine the tartar, white flour and salt into one composition, pour boiling water on it and add oil. Pour in the liquid slowly, stir constantly, because the mass will be sticky and viscous.
2. After that, you can add glycerin, if you want to get a clay with a reflection at the output.Also at this stage it is necessary to interfere with food dyes, if there is a need.
3. After mixing all the ingredients, cover the bowl with a lot of polyethylene, leave for half an hour. Then open the container, knead the dough until the clay stops sticking to the hands.

Starch based Clay

To prepare you will need:

• white flour - 430 gr.
• drinking water - 215 ml.
• Table salt - 200 gr.
• sunflower oil - 45 ml.
• lemon juice - 20 ml.
• Corn or potato starch - 30 gr.
• food coloring (optional)
• PVA glue - 100 ml.
• sodium tetraborate - 10 ml.

1. Mix the salt with the white flour, sodium tetraborate and starch. Boil the water, gently pour the liquid into the prepared dry mixture, and at the same time stir it to eliminate the formation of lumps.
2. Add oil, lemon juice and glue, begin to knead the mass for a long time and thoroughly until a viscous consistency is obtained.
3. At the end of the action, cut the clay into pieces, make a small hole in each of them with your finger. Put on gloves, put food dye in the middle, knead the dough until it is completely colored.
4. As in the previous cases, you can add liquid glycerin at the time of infusion of the pigment.Such a move eliminates the possible staining of hands in the process of modeling, clay will turn out brilliant.

With regards to storage of household composition, the mass can not be kept for more than a week, after this period it becomes crusted and loses its plasticity. If possible, store the plasticine in a tightly closed container or plastic bag that does not penetrate air. The composition must be kept in the refrigerator or dark cabinet.

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