Working with clay has become popular again probably in part due to that scene in the movie, Ghost. There are numerous arts and crafts ideas you may use with clay that you will never run out of inspiration.

Most individuals find working with clay to be very enjoyable. There is something to be stated about using your hands to knead and mould the clay. You have to bang the clay against the worktop to remove the air bubbles and this can be great therapy if you are looking for solutions to handle stress or frustration. Kids like working with clay as well as they can get muddled without falling into trouble. For people worried about heat and kids, they can buy clay that doesn't require to go into a kiln. It is more expensive though and the resultant containers can not be utilized to hold water. You can use it to make beads for necklaces and other jewelry. If you don't like the plain clay look, they can be easily painted and can look wonderful.

As with some other things, certain arts and crafts ideas originated due to a need for something. Necessity really is the mother of invention. For instance, in order to keep bread warm at meal times, people would make clay tiles decorated using sheaves of wheat. These tiles when heated will discharge heat slowly in the breadbasket hence keeping the bread warm.

If you don't like to purchase clay for your kids to play with, you can make a cheap alternative in the form of salt dough. It still allows your children to be creative and make a mess so they will have lots of fun. You will have to help out to "cook" their creations in the oven but otherwise you may leave them to it. You don't need to worry about them eating this dough as it is not dangerous so long as you haven't added any colors.

There are numerous arts and crafts ideas to go into here but hopefully you now have some ideas to get your artistic juices flowing.