Kids of all ages love to work with clay. This super simple process art project is really fun and engaging for kids. It's all up to their imaginations as they think about what a moon rock is like, or what it could be. Is it sparkly? Does it have texture? What colors could it be? So many ideas to explore!
All you need is clay, paint, and some sparkles of any kind. I love to use Model Magic air dry clay, but for this project we used Crayola's air dry clay. This has a little different texture and weight to it. Once it dries it is heavier than model magic. It is also breakable and hard, like a rock should be! Though most of us don't really know what a moon rock weighs or feels like!
Take some clay and work it with your hands. I like to help kids learn to form the clay into different shapes to get the feel of how to mold and shape it. We'll roll it around to make a ball--this is an important technique to master. learning how to roll something into a ball is not really intuitive so it's good practice for kids. Then we'll flatten it into a pancake. Next we'll roll it into a snake just for fun. After we've done all that, the kids get to decide what shape their moon rock will be and mold the clay into that. It can be any shape they want to create!
Next we paint the clay. Usually you let the air dry clay dry before painting. We needed a one- day project so we went ahead and painted it. It worked just fine for this project. I offered several colors and told the kids to pick one or two. This part starts to get a little messy!
Then we must add texture and sparkle! A moon rock must have sparkle, I'm convinced of that! I offered jewels, pieces of colored gravel, and of course, glitter. The add-ons should stick right to the paint, so there's no need for glue. This part definitely gets messy! Of course, you don't have to do the glitter at your house, but we usually work outside so we have lots of glitter! And we love messy fun!
Once you've put all of your texture and sparkles on your moon rock, let it dry. And your super special moon rock is done!
These really were fun to make and fun to see them all together, different shapes and colors--and levels of sparkle! Will you make a moon rock soon? Glitter or no glitter--it's up to you!
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