This is a simple activity for young children to make a pretty hanging shell decoration. It would make a lovely Mother's Day, Christmas or Birthday gift.
Time: 20 minutes plus at least 24 hours drying time
Age: Under 5's, 5-10's
Level: Easy
Materials
Starting materials ready to go
Take a small lump of clay and warm it in your hands, squishing and squeezing it.
Roll into a ball then flatten by rolling with a rolling pin until you have a disc of clay about half a centimetre thick
Pick out shells and press them into the clay disc. Let children think about whether they will pick a theme (e.g. colours and shapes of shells) or just random shells
Lovely spiral shapes
Different shapes with the same colour
Using the skewer, make a hole where you want to attach your ribbon
Don't go too close to the edge otherwise it may crack when dry
Allow to dry for at least 24 hours
Carefully lift the shells, add some glue into the indents then press the shells back into place
Add some glue to secure the shells
Tie ribbon through the hole
Your shell encrusted clay decoration is now ready to hang. This could look pretty on a Christmas tree or homemade
decorative tree. You could also try buttons or other embellishments instead of shells.
To extend the activity you can have fun pressing ridged shells into clay to make a textured impression.
Impression of shell in clay
