DIY Network

Kids Explore Summer camp? It can be right in your own backyard! From "Creative Juice" episode DCRJ-611

(Continued from page 1)

"Seek and Find" Backyard Bugs

Backyard hide-and-seek gets a crafty spin with colorful clay bugs and cool kid-sized binoculars, perfect for keeping any bug in sight.

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"Seek and Find" Backyard Bug (right) and Binoculars

Materials:

polymer clay: brown, orange, bright green, dark green, white, blue and red
20-gauge craft wire
wire-cutters
cookie sheet
parchment paper
oven

1. Knead the clay until it's soft. To make the snail shell, roll a piece of brown clay into a long log shape with one tapered end. Do the same thing with a piece of orange clay. Hold the two pieces together and roll them into a coil/cinnamon bun shape, starting with the skinnier ends (figure A).

2. To make the body, roll a piece of bright green clay into the same tapered log shape, only slightly shorter. The thicker end of the shape will be the head; gently smash the shell onto the top of the body and bend the head end of the body upward (figure B). Stick several tiny dots of dark green clay all over the snail’s body to create warts (figure C).

Figure A

Figure B

Figure C

3. Shape a piece of dark green clay into a pea-sized ball. Next, make a flat disc shape out of white clay and press onto the green ball. Place a small blue circle of clay in the middle of the white area to create an eye for the snail. Repeat this process for the other eye (figure D). Cut two small straight pieces of wire, each approximately 1" long. Stick these into the top of the snail’s head, leaving a little more than half sticking out (figure E). Skewer the eyes onto the wire.

4. Roll out two small pieces of red clay into log shapes with tapered ends. Put them together to make lips; place on the snail’s head (figure F).

Figure D

Figure E

Figure F

5. Bake the snail on a parchment-lined baking sheet according to the instructions on the package of clay. Let cool before handling. Other types of creatures can be made using similar techniques.

"Seek and Find" Binoculars

Materials:

two cardboard bathroom tissue rolls
one clear plastic sheet protector
scissors
rubber bands
tape
decorative paper
hole punch
yarn, twine or string

1. Cut a circle out of the sheet protector approximately 1"-2" larger than the hole of the cardboard roll. Attach the plastic to the end of the roll with a rubber band. You can help the plastic fit around the roll by making small cuts around the plastic (figure A). Repeat with the second roll.

2. Cover each roll with a piece of decorative paper; secure with clear tape (figure B).

Figure A

Figure B

3. On the bottom (non-plastic-covered) end of each roll, punch two holes across from each other. Line up the holes and attach the rolls together with a rubber band (figure C). Cut a length of yarn, twine or string and tie the ends through the holes on the outer edges, creating a neck strap (figure D). Tie a smaller piece of yarn, twine or string through the two inner holes to secure the rolls together.

Figure C

Figure D

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