We have a list of the best easy clay crafts for kids that don’t require a lot of art skills or clay modeling experience. These clay crafts are great for kids of all ages and some of the clay ideas double as home decor or a beautiful handmade gift. Use these clay craft ideas for kids at home or in the classroom.
Fun Clay Ideas for THE WHOLE FAMILY
There is no limit to what kids can create with clay and there is an activity for children of every age group and skill level. From clay bowls, plant pots, clay animals like cute little penguins, candle holders to polymer clay earrings and oh so much more! Each of these clay projects has specific instructions including the type of clay that is best for the project.
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Types of Clay
- Classic modeling clay
- Air-dry Clay
- Air Dough
- Self-hardening Foam Clay
- Polymer Clay
- Sculpey Clay
- Salt Dough Clay – best salt dough recipe
- Paper Clay – recipe for paper clay
- Magic Clay
- Crayola Modeling Dough
- Plasticine Clay or Oil-based Clay
For more information about the differences for art sculpting clay, check out My Modern Met.
Supplies Needed for Clay Crafts
- Clay of your choice
- Rolling pin
- Sculpting tools – wooden or metal
- Clay cutter or wire loop tool
- Paint
This 24 piece Clay DIY Tool Set includes acrylic clay roller, acrylic sheet, plastic scraper backing board, shape cutters and clay shaping tools.
Clay Crafts We Love
Grab your kids from toddlers, preschoolers, kindergarteners, elementary-aged kids, beginners & advanced… Let’s make things with clay!
1. Sculpting with Cornstarch Clay
Here’s a super easy (and cheap) recipe to make sculpting clay. All you need is water, baking soda, and cornstarch, and your kids will be ready to create a cheap, unique art project.
2. Christmas Scented Clay Ornament Craft
Make your home smell like Christmas, making a clay ornament craft and using essential oil diffusers. These Christmas scented clay ornament crafts only take about 2 minutes to make and kids will love helping you make these!
3. Picasso Inspired Tree Ornaments Kids Can Make
Toddlers, preschoolers, and even elementary-aged children will have so much fun makingthese Picasso faces art project for kids. We love this modeling clay art project!
4. Marbled Clay Ring Dishes
Let’s make an original marbled clay ring dish following the step by step tutorial from A Beautiful Mess. Of course, kids can make their own too as the steps are fairly easy (you’ll have to step in for the cutting and baking steps, though)
5. Cute Clay Penguin Craft + Homemade Air Dry Clay Recipe
Let’s make these super cute clay penguin craft wire holders from Artsy Crafty Mom. They work great for your notes, business cards, or photos, and are pretty inexpensive to make. They make great unique gifts, too!
6. Clay Unicorn Magnets Using Birthday Candles – Kid Craft
This clay craft combines unicorns with birthday candle magnets – making it the perfect, glittery, beautiful activity for our unicorn fans at home. From Glued To My Crafts.
7. Super Easy Clay Craft For Kids
Let’s welcome spring with an incredibly cute craft, which makes for a lovely gift too! This fun tic tac toe is played with bees vs flowers. Both the game and the making process are extremely fun! From Artsy Crafty Mom.
8. Planet Earth: Clay Craft for Earth Day & Earth Study
Making a sculpture of the Earth isn’t as difficult as it sounds, in fact, it’s so much fun and it’s a great idea for celebrating Earth Day. Just follow the step by step tutorial from Adventure in a Box.
9. Super Easy Clay Sheep Photo Holder
To make these super adorable – and super easy – clay sheep photo holders, you will need some easy materials (like acrylic paints, cold porcelain clay, clay modeling tools, a brush, and other supplies) but most importantly, you need to have fun! From Artsy Crafty Mom.
10. Polymer Clay Cupcake Craft
Cupcakes are one of the best things to exist in the world – but making fake cupcakes is just as fun! Let’s make these polymer clay crafts from The Pinterested Parent and have fun playing bakeshop.
11. DIY Pokémon Pokéball Clay Magnets
We all know a little one who is obsessed with Pokémon, making this Pokéball clay magnet the perfect craft or present for them! All you need is some clay modeling tools, acrylic paints, and a kid excited to make their own Pokéball. From Artsy Crafty Mom.
12. Adorable Frozen Elsa Polymer Clay Craft
Let’s make this adorable Elsa polymer clay craft! Not only is it a fun craft, but you can also transform her into a pencil topper, a magnet, or even a DIY home decor. From Artsy Crafty Mom.
13. Polymer Clay Rainbow Pendant Necklace Tutorial
Whether you’re looking for a fun St. Patrick’s Day craft or just want more colorful jewelry, this polymer clay rainbow necklace is super quick and easy to make! It’s perfect as a project to do with your kids. From Natashalh.
14. Adorable DIY Polymer Clay Owl Necklaces
These polymer clay owl crafts from Projects with Kids are so vibrant and fun and make a great handmade gift that kids can make for their friends on their birthdays or St. Valentine’s Day.
15. Super-Cute Air-Drying Clay Garden Gnomes Craft
Make these adorable clay garden gnomes for your garden! If you seal them, they make an excellent plant marker too. This activity is perfect for elementary school aged kids. From Rainy Day Mum.
16. Handmade Clay Birdhouse Bookmark
These clay birdhouse bookmarks from Artsy Crafty Mom are one of the best presents you can give to a bookworm. They are extremely colorful and easier to make than it looks, just follow the directions and pictures.
17. DIY Clay Bunny Bowls
Alice and Lois shared a fun way to make the most adorable clay bunny bowls. Air dry clay is an easy clay to work with and your kids will love this project, too. What will you put in these cute bowls?
18. DIY Terracotta Air Dry Clay Earrings
Here are 4 unique ways to make clay earrings. They are pretty fun to make and most importantly, look great no matter what you wear. Plus, isn’t it awesome to wear something you made with your own hands? From Fall For DIY.
19. Clay Cactus Ring Holder
This clay cactus ring holder from Little Red Window is the most original way to make sure your rings are safe. You’ll only need 3 supplies: air dry clay, acrylic craft paint, and glue!
20. Leaf Clay Dish
This leaf clay dish is perfect for older kids to make on their own. It’s a gorgeous piece that can be used as a ring dish or simply to hold items like keys, coins, or anything you can think of. From The Best Ideas For Kids.
Related: Make this a salt dough craft
21. Air Dry Clay Beads
Here’s another tutorial for a cute necklace! These air dry clay beads from Make and Fable are fun to make and fun to wear! This tutorial will show you how to shape three different beads, paint and finish, all ready to thread onto a necklace.
22. Mini Swan Pool Float Vase
We love all the different options for using this DIY clay swan project – from home decor to a planter, to a mini desk organizer, and more. We are sure they’d make great gifts for Teacher appreciation week. From A Kailo Chic Life.
23. Air Dry Clay Sugar Skull Bead Necklace
This air dry clay sugar skull is a fun activity to do with older kids. Younger ones can enjoy making this craft, but they might need some assistance in some steps! Aren’t they just super adorable? From Let’s Do Something Crafty.
24. Geometric Colored Pencil Holder
Let’s make a geometric colored pencil stand with air dry clay! This craft, besides being extremely fun to make, is super useful – something we love here at Kids Activities Blog. From Shelterness.
25. Clay Tea Light Holders Craft
Learn how to create simple clay Fourth of July Tea Light Holders to make your Independence Day holiday more unique & fun. Plus, they are a great decoration for the big holiday. From Delineate Your Dwelling.
26. DIY Air Dry Clay Christmas Ornaments
Let’s make pretty dry clay Christmas ornaments, just follow the step by step directions with photos from On Sutton Place. These charming tags make the perfect handmade gift!
27. Mini Vase Magnets
These DIY mini vase magnets are so cute and really simple to make. Just follow 4 easy steps and you’ll have your own too! From Rent A Center.
28. How to Make Clay Coil Hearts
Looking for Valentine’s Day DIY presents? Try making these beautiful clay coil hearts! These clay coil hearts from Artful Parent are super easy to make and suitable for all ages from 4 years and up.
29. DIY Embossed Clay Star Decorations
Learning how to make these pretty embossed stars using air dry clay is a very fun activity you can do with the whole family. Follow the step by step tutorial and hang them on your Christmas tree. From Gathering Beauty.
30. DIY Hanging Clay Rainbow Craft
Here’s another cute rainbow craft for kids! These sweet DIY clay rainbow ornaments from Alice and Lois are easy to make… The hardest part is waiting for them to dry before painting them!
31. Make Your Own Air-Dry Clay Bunnies
We love Easter bunny crafts, and so do kids of all ages. This craft combines Easter bunnies with playing with air dry clay, which are one of the most fun activities that can be done as a family (they make for great keepsakes too!) From Lovilee.
32. Seashell Necklace Craft Made with Clay
If you have some pretty seashells and don’t know what to do with them, Moms and Crafters shared a fun activity to turn them into nice necklaces. You can add glitter, chalk pastel, and plenty of other interesting materials.
33. Star Garland and Easy Homemade Air Clay Recipe
Here’s a recipe to make air clay recipe with three ingredients that you probably already have, and if you don’t they are very inexpensive to get. Once you’ve got them, you can make this beautiful star garland to decorate your Christmas tree! From Lily Ardor.
34. How to Make Fantasy Dragon Eggs
Ever wondered what dragon eggs would look like? Here’s your answer: however you want them to! Check out this simple tutorial to make your own fantasy dragon eggs step by step! From Adventure in a Box.
35. Sea Shell Creatures
We showed you how to transform your seashells into jewelery, but now we’re sharing this tutorial from Crafts by Amanda to transform them into original clay sea shell creatures. You’ll need to use your imagination for this craft!
36. Clay Jewelry Crafts for Kids
Who knew clay jewelry was so popular? This is a great way for kids to have fun indoors while creating a beautiful necklace, ring, or earrings they can wear or gift to a friend. This activity is suitable for children as young as 4 years old. From The Girl Inspired.
37. Monster Horns Kids Can Make & Wear
These monster horns from The Roots of Design are so pretty, and can be worn on Halloween, the Renaissance Festival, or just for fun. You can make them in any color you want!
38. DIY Owl Stitch Markers With Polymer Clay
Make these stitch markers for yourself or make them as a gift for your crocheting friends and family members. In this tutorial, Repeat Crafter Me shared how to make owls but you can make any animal you can think of. Plus, these could be made into earrings or charms too.
39. Polymer Clay Tutorial: 6 Ways to Make Clay Bracelets
Babbledabbledo has an amazing tutorial that walk you through how to make 6 different types of bracelets using this polymer clay. A craft perfect both for kids and adults!
40. Cute Polymer Clay Craft For Tweens And Teens
These bright and colorful diy heart pendant necklaces are a super fun and cute polymer clay craft for girls. They’re perfect presents for birthdays or simply showing friends how much you care about them. From Clumsy Crafter.
41. Friendly Monster Earrings
Make friendly monster earrings with polymer clay, or transform them into charms, rings, or magnets. You can make so many pretty clay designs! From Eighteen 25.
Benefits of Making Things with Clay for Kids
Simple arts and crafts are great for kids to push the limits of their creativity while honing physical coordination skills. This is especially true when it comes to clay crafts, as playing with clay helps improve eye-hand coordination and promote both gross and fine motor skills in our children.
By making these fun clay crafts, both younger kids and older kids will get benefits such as better dexterity which are helpful in a school setting. Besides, clay play is a soothing activity that anyone can do for relaxation.
Want more FUN DIY crafts? Check out these ideas from Kids Activities Blog:
- Here are water clay play ideas for the kids to do during the summer.
- Want more clay activities? Here are 4 hands-on clay crafts that are equally fun!
- Why not make the cutest owl crafts with cupcake liners?
- This kool aid playdough has vibrant colors and a heavenly smell!
- With this customizable reading log printable, kids will be able to track their reading time in a fun, original way.
- Kids of all ages will love having their own fairy wand!
- Looking for the BEST bubbles? You need to try this recipe today!
What is your favorite clay craft idea?
