The excellent work of modeling masters can encourage you to learn something new for yourself. With the help of improvised means and polymer clay, craftsmen are able to embody original ideas that delight connoisseurs of creativity.
How to learn to sculpt with polymer clay? Need to be inspired!
How to start doing miracles?
To get started, it is worth getting acquainted with the basic material. Polymer clay is a plastic material based on polyvinyl chloride, which allows you to create products self made. In addition to PVC, clay contains plasticizers that provide flexibility, and dyes. The material for modeling can be of two varieties:
1. Clay that hardens immediately after sculpting.
2. Clay that needs to be baked in an oven to harden. It will be more convenient for a beginner to start with the second option, since he does not yet have the necessary skill, which appears over time.
For baking the molded product, the temperature is from 110 to 140⁰C and the time is about 30 minutes. More heat will cause the clay to melt, releasing toxic substances. Therefore, do not forget to carefully ventilate the kitchen after baking polymer clay.
Examples of polymer clay works can be:
Women's jewelry (rings, earrings, bracelets, beads);
New Year's toys;
Talismans, key rings;
Souvenirs (flower bouquets, miniature animals, vases).
Sculpting tools
Modeling from a polymeric material is a delicate work, it requires a deep thought over of the final result and is not complete without tools.
1. Stationery knife for cutting small parts.
2. Thick needle or wooden toothpick.
3. Acrylic paints and a brush to give the product expressiveness and make it realistic.
4. Fine-grained sandpaper to sand the surface, smooth out the bumps.
If you plan to devote a lot of time to modeling and make it your craft, then along with clay you can purchase a professional set with stacks, rolling pins and molds.
We teach children to make plasticine crafts not only for fun. The fact is, such lessons are not only fascinating and funny, but also useful. After all during creative work such as modeling, weaving, drawing lessons - our motor skills, coordination of movements develop, and the concept of form is also created, color scheme, proportions.
Knowing the importance of such a lesson, many mothers ask questions how to learn to do crafts. In fact, everything is very simple. In addition, the stores have a variety of types of such material of the entire color palette, as well as devices for working with it. This greatly facilitates the lessons for beginners and makes it possible to fantasize freely. Of course, the complexity of the craft will depend on the age of the baby. You should start with ordinary products that are familiar and important to the child. Most kids love animals., so you need to choose this topic for work. It is worth sculpting from plasticine in stages, showing the baby all your manipulations and giving explanations. You can create an elephant together, a New Year's oleshek, or your pet, may appear from under the fingers of a child. Or maybe your child loves cars? Or shortbread pretzels? All these are motives for inspiration that can be used by a young walker when working with plasticine. And of course, you will need step-by-step instructions - how and what to do.
Before you start sculpting, you should check that you have everything you need:
- Plasticine (we take soft, pliable, of normal quality, so that it is easier for the baby to knead it in the hands).
- Modeling equipment.
- Children should be reminded that it is forbidden to take materials by mouth. Moms need to keep a close eye on everything.
Gallery: modeling from plasticine (25 photos)
We sculpt from plasticine, crafts in stages
If all materials are prepared, it is necessary to sit comfortably at the table with the baby. We create animals from the material in stages, duplicating the manipulations of the child to show him an example.
We take a piece of any color, preferably dark (which the child will like) and make a couple of details.
At the same time, we are learning to sculpt the lightest plasticine figures:
- The oval is large for the body;
- Four small ovals (or sausages) for our paws.
- Small oval (or roll up a tourniquet) for the tail.
- Create a ball for the head and pull it out a little from one side for the trunk;
- We blind two small balls and add them (these will be the ears).
- After that, slowly collect the main particles of the figure, that is, attach the legs and head to the body.
- Attach the ears to the head and the tail to the body.
Next, you need to fashion the eyes, eyebrows, claws for the animal. But mommy age should be taken into account. and capabilities of the child. A very small kid will not be able to create too small details. Therefore, we ourselves create them from plasticine and help the child to correctly place them on the figure.
Modeling from plasticine for children 2 and 3 years old
At the age of two to three years, the baby still can not cope with normal material, so it’s worth taking another special soft plasticine for young children.
Children are still learning how to manage their own hands and it is difficult for them to give modeling lessons. We select not difficult tasks for the baby so that he can cope with them, this will please him, give him self-confidence and he will wish to continue doing this interesting view creativity.
By the age of three, a child will be able to:
- Tear off pieces of plasticine.
- Create balls out of them.
- Flatten the material.
- Attach the material to the paper and roll it out.
- Crush the balls with your hands.
- Create sausages.
- Roll sausages into rings.
- Connect all the components into one piece.
- The task of parents is to teach the child this.
Show your child:
- How to cut a sausage and get rings.
- How can you cut shapes from a flat cake.
- How to cut dough into squares triangles and other shapes.
- How to stick various objects on plasticine smeared on cardboard, for example, seeds, beads, cereals, pasta.
Duration of modeling lessons in age 1-3 years is fifteen minutes and depends on the mood and desire of the baby to work with this material.
For this age, it is advised to take plasticine only important colors so as not to overload the child with a strong variety and not to distract from the modeling lesson itself. In addition, if you want, you can mix colors and get new shades.
Modeling from plasticine for children 4 and 5 years old
At the age of five, the child already knows how to handle a modeling knife, his hands are already strong and he can work with simple plasticine.
Babes of this age can roll balls, sausages, and now it will be more important for them to create more complex and unique crafts themselves.
Invite your child to create a mushroom clearing or a forest lawn with bushes and trees around. Maybe the child wants to mold something of his own, do not interfere with him in such a matter. On the contrary, it is beautiful and improves his independence.
Traditionally, plasticine modeling is perceived as an activity for children, but people of all ages can draw not only pleasure for themselves in this hobby, but also benefits.
If you still think that only short-lived trinkets are plasticine, look at this material in a new way. You can sculpt souvenirs, decor and even paintings. Having studied the theory, be sure to move on to practice. The cost of a box with multi-colored plastic bricks is more than acceptable, you will not lose anything if you do not like it.
The benefits of modeling for kids and adults
Modeling classes in many countries are mandatory included in the programs of kindergartens and schools. It is proved that working with plasticine:
- promotes the development of fine motor skills;
- improves coordination of movements;
- teaches both hemispheres of the brain to work simultaneously;
- develops imaginative thinking;
- reveals creative abilities;
- makes an active child more assiduous;
- increases attentiveness;
- introduces flowers and the possibility of obtaining new shades;
- normalizes the emotional state, which is especially important for;
- improves speech;
- helps in the future to quickly learn to write and draw.
Creative experiments with plasticine do not reduce self-esteem, since any failed craft can be easily corrected or turned into a new, no less beautiful figure. Modeling teaches you to achieve goals and achieve results.
There are also indirect benefit- children are distracted from TVs and computers, which means that in the process of classes, their eyes rest. If you teach a child to sculpt from plasticine in the evenings, he will calm down before going to bed and sleep peacefully at night.
For adults, modeling is no less useful. Doctors recommend kneading plasticine and sculpting simple figures for people who have experienced a stroke, who have noticed memory impairment and impaired coordination of movements. It is known that there are many reflex zones at the fingertips, the massage of which improves the condition of the body and the functioning of the autonomic nervous system.
Adults automatically start fiddling with something in their hands during stress, crumpling paper or clenching their fists. To combat outbursts of anger, they came up with “gum for hands” - an alternative that does not stain the palms.
Types of plasticine for children's and adult creativity
Do not rush to go to the store for a package of plasticine, so as not to get confused in front of the showcase, study what types are and how they differ.
What is classic clay made of?
Well-known to the older generation, classical plasticine appeared at the end of the nineteenth century. As often happens, different people in Germany and Great Britain came up with the material for modeling at the same time. The composition of the mass was based on natural clay, wax and fats.
The composition of the classic modern plasticine for children includes:
- kaolin (white plastic clay);
- paraffin or wax - natural plasticizers, due to which the mass softens from the heat of the hands and freezes in the craft;
- fats of animal or mineral origin (hence greasy stains on paper and clothes);
- ceresin - a waxy substance from a mixture of solid hydrocarbons;
- coloring pigments.
The composition of different manufacturers differs depending on the brand: M(soft) and T(solid). To obtain the desired properties, zinc white, sulfur, rosin, machine oil are added to the mass.
In sets of plasticine for modeling there are a different number of colors. To get started, you can buy a package in which twelve multi-colored bars. For complex crafts, you need kits that include at least sixteen shades.
Plasticine made from clay is relatively hard. To make the mass plastic, you need to knead the piece for some time in your hands. It is at this stage that modeling brings the most benefits, but it is difficult for babies and people with poor health to achieve a result.
Wax mass for modeling
For children's plasticine modeling, it is better to choose soft and safe wax-based materials. Plastic wax clay does not require long kneading and is almost immediately ready for use. It is also easier to fasten the parts from the wax mass together, it is enough to press them against each other.
In addition to wax, the composition includes paraffin, stearin, dyes, plasticizers, and other additives. If the manufacturer did not use harmful substances, such a product will not cause allergies and skin troubles.
However, wax plasticine is capricious in storage, afraid of warm air and the sun. Such crafts are less durable. For kids, this is an ideal choice, but for adults, it is better to take a different type of plasticine so that the painstakingly created beauty will please you for as long as possible.
Sculptural clay for durable crafts
Sculptural plasticine for modeling is chosen not only by amateurs, but also by professionals, including students of art schools and future sculptors. The main difference between the material is plasticity; it is possible to create miniature parts from it with high precision and clarity.
A product of this type is created on the basis of beeswax, natural clay, talc, plasticizer oils. As a rule, the mass is not dyed in bright colors, but natural shades are left. Thanks to this, you can sculpt realistic sculptures, masks, figurines. If you need bright crafts (culinary miniatures, toys, jewelry), it is not difficult to color them.
Bright balls for children's creativity
Plasticine balls look like small multi-colored peas or millet groats. The material is based on miniature foam balls glued together with invisible polymer glue. During the sculpting of the figure, the ball structure is preserved. Children love to sculpt from bright balls. The mass easily takes the desired shape.
Ball plasticine happens fine-grained and coarse-grained(diameter of one ball is more than 1 mm). Depending on the adhesive substance, the material is divided into curing and reusable. The first one gradually hardens, suitable for souvenirs and jewelry. The figure with non-hardening glue, if desired, is easy to disassemble and create something else.
Styrofoam balls can be used in combination with other types of plasticine. The result is original toys, mouth-watering miniature food and much more.
Unusual novelties with different properties
Manufacturers continue experiments, as a result of which new modeling materials appear on the shelves:
- Fluorescent plasticine crafts glow in the dark, gaining light during the day. From this material, interesting figures are obtained for the interior of a children's room and New Year's toys.
- Mother-of-pearl plasticine is convenient to use to highlight individual details. For example, for sculpting a dress for a doll or a parrot's tail.
- Rubber plasticine is very elastic, stretches and bends in any direction without breaking. But if you bake the finished craft, it will become durable and monolithic. Suitable for practical toys and jewelry - not afraid of water and does not beat. You can make flexible and monolithic crafts - the question is in baking.
- The polymer mass for modeling is based on polymers and plasticizers. The material does not require baking, the products harden in the air and become durable.
- Plasticine soap was invented for creative natures. In fact, this is a soap base from which you can sculpt using the usual technique. Water is used to connect parts. Ready soap can be used for its intended purpose.
- Edible plasticine is ideal for children's creativity, as it is absolutely safe. The main ingredient is confectionery marzipan. it best material for modeling culinary miniatures, fruits, exotic food.
- Gypsum-based self-hardening plasticine is a professional mass for modeling, from which you can create sculptures, souvenirs, panels, stucco, decorative dishes. Products do not need to be baked, they harden in the air.
If you want to try modeling different types plasticine, look for kits that include several materials and tools for working with them.
How to make mass for modeling with your own hands
If you do not have the opportunity to buy plant-based clay, make your own mass for modeling. Available homemade material - salty dough. The hardening of crafts lasts a long time; drying in an oven at low temperatures is used to speed up the process. Dough Recipe and Process Basics.
Play dough can be easily colored by adding food colorings or the juices of colorful vegetables and fruits, such as beets and spinach. Finished products are painted and varnished, making them durable and resistant to moisture. Salt dough makes beautiful toys, fridge magnets.
Another simple homemade plasticine can be made from starch and hair balm. Just mix half a cup of potato starch with ¾ cup of balm, knead well, add dyes. Of course, it’s not worth spending an expensive conditioner on this, and if the new balm doesn’t suit your hair, then dispose of it.
Sculpting technique and tools
If you just put a package of plasticine on your baby, a miracle will not happen. It will take some time to young master fell in love with unfamiliar art.
Basic techniques and general rules
Experts recommend introducing children to modeling from a year and a half, but only under adult supervision and choosing a safe plasticine. For the smallest sculptors, wax is suitable - it is on a natural basis and easily warms up without requiring effort.
Do not rush to show your child crafts - even the simplest ones will seem complicated to him. Start by mastering the basic techniques. Show how to tear off pieces, roll up sausages, balls, koloboks and cakes. Please tell me how to connect them. Learn how to get a different shade from two different colors.
Later, move on to recognizable figures, choosing the simplest ones. Let it be the simplest flower, the sun, grass, bagel, ladybug. Gradually complicate the task, teach how to use molds and tools for reliefs. At this stage, step-by-step lessons with photos will be a good help. Take our or as a basis.
Adults and the elderly, who have forgotten with age how to sculpt from plasticine, should also not immediately take on complex work. If we are talking exclusively about the therapeutic effect, for example, after a stroke, then let the person simply work with the mass, kneading it in his hands.
If you decide to master a new hobby, not only for the sake of benefit, but also for aesthetic pleasure, start with simple figures or panels. After practicing on children's instructions, try creating. This is not a shame to hang in the living room.
What tools are needed for sculpting
To create beautiful crafts from plasticine, one hand is not enough, special tools are needed. The most necessary manufacturers may be included in the kit, and additional ones must be purchased separately.
Modeling board protects the table from soiling materials and simplifies flattening, rolling sausages, forming various figured parts. Boards are made of plastic and silicone. There are completely smooth, and there are with a partially corrugated surface to create texture. An ordinary cutting board will not work, as the material does not stick to a special one.
Knives for working with plasticine are designed to divide the block into pieces and remove excess. Also, with their help, you can give reliefs to crafts and apply simple patterns. Knives are made of plastic, wood, metals. The blades are smooth and figured, linear and disk (as for pizza). Sharp blades are not needed here, the main thing is that nothing sticks to them.
Ruler useful for measuring details. Not everyone can determine the proportions by eye. An ordinary plastic ruler 10-20 cm long is suitable for work. A compass and a protractor may be required to get an even circle and the desired angle.
Stack- an important assistant, without which it is better not to start modeling from plasticine. Reliefs and recesses are formed in stacks, material is applied to surfaces (for applications), drawings are created. Stacks come in many forms:
- for pinpoint dents, you need a tool with a ball at the end;
- for smoothing the surface - with a spatula;
- for patterns - with a thin sharp tip;
- for relief - with teeth like a saw.
For children's creativity, it is better to purchase plastic stacks, although they can break, they are safer and lighter.
rolling pin- A very useful tool for sculpting in more complex techniques. A rolling pin is needed to roll out plasticine into an even and smooth layer. Such details are relevant when creating panels, paintings and postcards. For starters, you can use a small glass bottle. If you pour warm water inside, the material will soften faster.
Molds- These are tools that facilitate the creation of textures. By pressing the mold to the plasticine blank, it is easy to get a neat figure. Molds are convenient for modeling small flowers, leaves, berries from plasticine in large quantities. To make the perfect leaf of a tree by hand, you will have to not only painstakingly remove the veins, but also study the structure of the leaf.
texture sheets needed to quickly add texture to plasticine pieces and rolled layers of different sizes. With the help of textured surfaces, it is easy to get both a small detail for the application and the background of the picture. For example, sea waves or sandy beach.
In addition to special tools for modeling from plasticine, you can and should use improvised means. Look at home for beautiful textured buttons, corrugated perfume bottles, coins. Cookie cutters, stencils and other unexpected things come in handy.
The subtleties of modeling and useful tricks
Classic plasticine is capricious in work. Its plasticity depends on the ambient temperature and freshness. Before sculpting, the piece must be well kneaded in the hands until the mass begins to give in to molding and sticks together well.
To soften too hard plasticine, place it in a waterproof container and dip it in warm water. For example, you can put the pieces in a glass jar, which you then put in a pot of hot water.
Another problem is that it is difficult to cut out small details from a too soft plasticine sheet. Here you need to do the opposite - place the bar in the refrigerator for a short time or drop into cold water in a waterproof bag.
With all the plasticity, plasticine parts do not always succeed in firmly connecting to each other. To prevent the head of the puppet theater toy from falling off, use matches or toothpicks to fasten it. If the part is bent, you can strengthen the fastening with thread or fishing line. Only do not use needles! This is dangerous!
Plasticine goes well in crafts with other materials, including natural ones. Add cones, acorns, pasta, small toys. See what you can do with your own hands from sea stones.
Most types of plasticine are afraid of contact with air. To prevent drying out, store the leftover product from the master class in tightly closed plastic boxes. The stores sell boxes with compartments for different colors.
Even if the hands after sculpting seem clean, they must be washed with warm water and soap. Do not forget that the composition contains not only herbal ingredients.
What to mold from plasticine: step-by-step MK for children and adults
So that you don’t have time to “cool down”, we suggest that you immediately go to our plasticine modeling workshops for children. different ages and adults. We have prepared instructions of various levels of complexity, so that everyone can find a craft according to their strengths and talents.
Plasticine is an excellent material for children's creativity. Plasticine modeling classes help the baby to consolidate the idea of \u200b\u200bthe color, weight, texture and shape of objects. In addition, the intelligence, logic and memory of the child develops. The very same child involved in modeling can feel like a real wizard creating his own fantasy world.
Modeling with children is one of the most exciting and enjoyable activities. There is no better leisure for many kids than sculpting funny figures and favorite characters from plasticine for a long time together with their parents. But how to teach a child to sculpt plasticine crafts? You can start learning to sculpt from plasticine from 1.5 years. Show your child the basic techniques for working with plasticine. And he will be happy to make balls, "sausages" and flatten cakes. And parents will help to assemble a wonderful figure from these details.
How to start sculpting from plasticine?
Invite the child to choose the color of plasticine. Then warm it in your hands, knead it and explain how you can pinch off pieces from it. Start by showing how you can stick pieces of plasticine on a board to get a lemon or an apple. When the child gets comfortable, you can gradually teach him to perform the basic details. After all, you can create any image from them.
Explain to the child that a complex product consists of individual elements. And if he learns to perform them and gradually connect them, he will be able to fashion almost anything.
How to learn to sculpt basic elements from plasticine?
These elements are fundamental to the creation of most crafts. Of these, you can simulate drops, cubes, stripes, quadrangular pyramids, and anything.
A drop can be obtained by stretching and sharpening one of the sides of the ball. The cube is obtained by pressing and pressing against a flat surface from four sides. Long stripes are flattened "sausages" on top.
It has a positive effect on the use of various auxiliary materials in modeling. It can be buckwheat, pasta, seeds, buttons, rhinestones and more. They will add originality to crafts and will delight the child very much.
Remember that while modeling with kids, you should always be near the child. To help sculpt and control the child so that he does not accidentally decide to taste the working material.
How to sculpt?From 3-5 years old, you can already try to start teaching children to sculpt simple figures and crafts from plasticine. It can be animals or favorite characters from fairy tales and cartoons.
At 6-7 years old, children may well create quite complex images. Show your child how to sculpt beautifully from plasticine using step-by-step master classes, for example, this is how you can sculpt a lion:
Modeling with plasticine is a pleasant and useful activity for kids. Parents need only a little help to master the basic techniques of work - and the child will immerse himself in a wonderful world filled with funny man-made characters.
An ideal toy for children from three to five years old is ordinary plasticine. American researchers have long proven that it contributes.
In addition, the more often the child works with his fingers, the earlier he begins to talk, since the speech and motor zones are located very close in the brain.
The very first trick is to pinch off small pieces of plasticine and attach them back. Such an activity can be easily turned into an exciting game: a green piece of plasticine is grass, let the child feed a toy cow or a painted one with grass. A piece of blue plasticine is a cloud from which drops fall to the ground.
Kneading and spanking. This will help the child feel the material. Both spanking and kneading can also be mastered in the process of exciting play, which the child will join with great pleasure.
Rolling and rolling. Balls, sausages, flagella. Show your child how to roll the plasticine on the table and between the palms. These are great ways to develop fine motor skills. Now the kid can make a ball or collect a snowman from several balls.
flattening. This is one of the most interesting stages. By flattening, you can make cat ears, walls and a roof for a house, etc. And you can also create real paintings by sticking flattened plasticine parts to the drawing elements on paper. And having mastered the smearing, also a beautiful textured background for them.
Smearing. This is also one of the modeling techniques that a child should be taught. Learn to smear plasticine on a special board, and then transfer the “drawing” to the picture. Start with large plots with minimal detail and clear outlines between them.
Pointing of ends, indentation and pressure on the material. Sharpening the ends of the plasticine blanks, the child will quickly notice the similarity of the resulting details with the muzzles of animals, the outlines of some fruits and berries.
These simple tricks will help you teach your child to sculpt. It is important that such activities bring you both pleasure.
