What You’ll Need

• Modeling clay or play dough
• Various objects that can be pressed into clay, such as a leaf, button, pencil, key, clothespin, coin, paper clip, fork, soda-can tab, etc. (Some of these materials are choking hazards for children age 4 and under; close adult supervision is a must.)

What You'll Do

1. Tell your kids to cover their eyes.
2. Press a ball of clay or play dough against an object.
3. Ask your kids to open their eyes and guess the object based on the impression in the clay.
4. Take turns pressing objects into the clay and guessing what they are.

Extend the Fun

Younger kids: Young children might need help finding the right object, so put the objects you’re using on the table. As your child tries to find which object made the impression, talk about how she’s trying to solve the mystery. Use descriptive size words, shape words, and comparative adjectives (flat versus round, etc.).

Older kids: Clay impressions can easily turn into art. Swap regular clay for air-dry clay. Have your child pick out a few of his favorite objects and then make the impressions. If he would like to hang up his art, have him put a small hole at the top. Follow the instructions to let the clay dry. Then your child can give the clay impressions to friends and family as gifts.