Make something using clay
You’ll need
- Something to protect surfaces (for example, newspaper or tablecloths)
- Clay
- Tools to carve with (such as blunt wooden or plastic knives, lolly sticks or toy clay tools)
- Rolling pins
Before you begin
- Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. There's also more guidance to help you carry out your risk assessment, including examples.
- Make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely.
- Make sure you’ll have enough adult helpers. You may need some parents and carers to help.
Setting up this activity
- Divide the clay between everyone and set it out on the surface that you’ll be working on.
- You may want to protect the surfaces, such as by using PVC tablecloth or thin plastic splash mats.
- For younger groups, make sure equipment and materials are age appropriate.
Run the activity
- Tell everyone that you’re going to use clay to make something. They could make a money pot, photo holder, coaster, a landmark, a character, a storage pot, vase, a model of a character, an animal or something else.
- Sart working with the clay. People can make whatever they want and there’s no right or wrong answers.
- Spend time going round and asking everyone what they’re making.
- You could provide some safe tools and materials, such as:
- clay tools
- safe kitchen utensils, such as rolling pins
- wooden knifes and forks
- fabrics
- lollipop sticks
- toy cars
- building bricks
- craft pebbles, twigs, shells and leaves
- For younger groups, for example, lollipop sticks could become legs, buildings or roads.
- When finished, leave the clay sculptures in a safe place to dry.
- Make sure to wash your hands carefully to get all the clay off and tidy up the surfaces.
- You may want to run this activity over two sessions and paint the clay creations the following week.
- Adding varnish can help to seal the clay and make it last longer. Always follow the instructions on the clay packaging.
Reflection
This activity involved working with clay in a creative away. What did you create? What inspired you? What do you like about what you made? There were lots of things to use. Did you use any of the tools or materials? You may have had to mould the clay and it might not have always done what you wanted. What was easy? And what was difficult? Everyone may have made something different. What do you like about other people’s work? What does it make you think about?
Safety
All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.
You must run your activities in line with the Safeguarding Code of Conduct for Adults (Yellow Card) and report any concerns to the UK HQ Safeguarding Team.
- Phones and cameras
Make sure parents and carers are aware and have given consent for photography.
- Some arts and craft activities may involve touching certain textures or items or involve getting messy. People should only do this if they’re comfortable too. People could wear plastic gloves if they don’t like the feeling of a certain material on their hands, they could work in a team so someone else could do that part of the task, they could use another method of being creative, or use a different tool to help them avoid touching the material.
- An adult volunteer or young leader should offer help to anyone who needs it during the make or with specific craft items. People could also work with a partner or in a small group, so they can help each other. For example, they could help with rolling out or shaping the clay.
- You could use different objects for people to craft, paint, draw or print with, so there’s a range of items for people to be able to grip and hold. If anyone struggles with fine motor skills, they could use larger materials. You could swap out the items for something easier to handle.
- People who struggle with making choices could find all the options a bit overwhelming, so they might need extra support. They might want to work with a friend, young leader or volunteer to be able to help be creative. You could have a whole group discussion before letting people decide, as this might help people think of ideas or choose the best option for them. If they find it difficult, you could have a ready-made list of ideas for people to use and pick from. The list might inspire another idea!
All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.
