Animalitos
Kids in some parts of Mexico make clay animal figures called animalitos, which means ‘little animals’. You can create animalitos, too. Buy modelling clay or make some using the recipe below.
What you'll need
How to do it...
1. Stir the baking soda, corn flour, and water together in the saucepan. Heat for a few minutes on a medium setting, stirring constantly until the mixture is the thickness of mashed potatoes.
2. Remove the pan from the heat and scrape the mixture onto a piece of grease proof paper. You’ve made a kind of clay! Allow it to cool for at least ten minutes.
3. With your hands, roll the cool clay into a ball, then flatten the ball on the grease proof paper. Keep rolling and flattening the clay until it is smooth.
4. Look at pictures of animals to get an idea of their shapes and features. Start with a lump of clay about the size of a robin’s egg. Mould the clay into a simplified animal body shape.
5. Gently pinch out pieces of clay to form the animal’s head, ears, legs, tail, and other features.
6. Allow the animalitos to dry overnight or until they are hard. Then add markings and details with paint and coloured markers.
Handy hints:
- Make your animalitos very simple.
- Keep unused clay from drying out by sealing it inside a plastic bag and putting it in the fridge.
Text: NG Kids staff. Illustrations: Peter Wallace