Advantages of Plasticine and How to Make Plasticine for Children

How to Make Plasticine – Did you know plasticine has been used for over a century? Most people recognize brightly colored clay as a tool for children’s play even though it has many uses and functions.

Also read: “Children’s Kinesthetic Intelligence for a Bright Future of Children”

Plasticine became a popular tool for filmmaking in the 1980s in the United States with a technique known as Claymation, and has been used by filmmakers and artists ever since.

William Harbutt, an art teacher from Bath, England, decided he wanted a non-drying clay for his students to make sculptures from, so he designed plasticine in 1897.

Although the exact formula for making plasticine is a secret, its original composition is composed of calcium salts (mainly calcium carbonate), petroleum jelly, and aliphatic acids. These natural ingredients make it non-toxic and sterile, ideal for Harbutt students. The composition makes it soft and does not dry out from exposure to air.

Advantages or advantages of plastic compared to clay

Today plasticine is made from plaster, wax and petroleum jelly in varying amounts. It is used as artificial clay for modeling. How to make plasticine to make a toy model is very easy.

Children love and use them for play, especially artists who model and toss their art objects to make copies.

Plasticine has the following advantages when compared to natural clay.

• Plasticine can be used over and over again for years. Unlike clay which dries quickly.

• Plasticine is cheap and easily available in supermarkets and arts and crafts stores. There are even many brands that you can buy, you can also make plasticine with safe materials at home.

• Plasticine comes in various colors, such as clay which is usually given color after it dries and becomes handicraft products such as vases.

For children, plasticine is a kind of game that will not let them get bored. They can be creative according to imagination and make it happen in form. And how to make plasticine at home is one of the tips that is cheap and can be tried.

Advantages of Plasticine Toys for Children

As a parent, don’t forbid your child to be creative with this profitable toy. Here are the advantages that children get when playing:

Children are more concentrated and creative

Plasticine supports concentration and creativity in children. While massaging, softening, separating and rearranging the plasticine, children pay attention to size and proportions.

Development of fine motor skills

This manipulation of materials allows children to develop their fine motor skills as they use their hands and fingers.

In addition, when children start learning to write, it will be easier for them to use a pencil to make letters. Therefore, it can be considered as an indirect training for writing.

Even in the process of how to make plasticine, it can also become a venue for talent in processing a shape that they want.

They learn to express themselves and communicate

Plasticine can be a primary form of expression and communication. Keep in mind that as babies, contact is one of their first means of communication. From the moment they are born, touch is their way of communicating their feelings.

Emotional expression

The use of this material can help children express a wide range of emotions. Plasticine can be molded and therefore, can become whatever the child wants it to be. This property allows them to express their innermost emotions and thoughts.

Differences in color and shape

The differences in color and shape allow them to learn how to distinguish different color tones. Plasticine can also be put together and taken apart, this helps them learn about different shapes and sizes.

Relaxation

Playing with plasticine is a flexible and manual activity that relaxes and reassures them. These properties turn it into a wonderful therapeutic tool for calming children during tense moments.

Personality development

The final benefit of plasticine for children is the development of their own personality and taste. Plasticine allows children to express their personal tastes.

By imagining, creating and realizing their thoughts by shaping their favorite figures or choosing from the colors they like best.

How to Make Plasticine for Children’s Play

If you want to make plasticine as a tool for children’s play then make sure you make it from safe materials. If your child likes to put things in his mouth, then the following method of making safe plasticine will be the way out.

The following recipe is quite different but very easy to make, it’s just that the resistance is not the same as the original plasticine.

Materials that need to be prepared

Wheat flour 2 glasses starfruit
Kitchen salt 1 glass starfruit
Water 1 glass starfruit
Cooking oil 2 tablespoons
Various kinds of food coloring

How to make plasticine is as follows:

First, mix the salt and flour into a fairly large bowl

Continue with stirring by hand or a stirring tool such as a plastic spoon. Stir until all the ingredients are mixed evenly.

The second step in how to make plasticine at home is to add the water mixture little by little while stirring without stopping. Don’t add too much water because the dough will become sticky, but don’t add too little because the dough will be too dry. The right dough is smooth but not sticky.

The third step is adding cooking oil and then stirring again until you get a dough shape that is suitable and doesn’t stick to your hands.

The fourth step is coloring, separate the dough according to the color you have prepared. Give each dough a color and mix until the color becomes even. Homemade safe plasticine is ready for your child to play with.