Fall Magnet Clay Project

Our first project this fall was clay magnets.  These are very simple projects.  I used white Staedtler Fimo Efaplast Microwave Modeling Clay I ordered from DickBlick.  I used ProMAG magnets also ordered from DickBlick.  I love this clay for making magnets.  In the summer we used it to make necklaces and this clay was great for drying so quickly, but it is very light weight and almost has a papery feel, so to me it felt weird to have it as a necklace kind of just floating around your neck... maybe other people didn't notice that or didn't care.  Anyway, because it is so light weight it is perfect for a magnet because then the magnet can do it's job holding a paper or photo on your fridge instead of holding up the magnet.
First we pinched off a piece of the clay.  We rolled it into a ball.  We flattened it and shaped it.  You can use a rolling pin if you want.

Then we pressed small items into the clay like plastic bugs, sticks, leaves, flowers, anything that might be found on the ground or under ground.  (The "under" part of our woodland theme).

I then microwaved the clay projects.  Because they are so small I only needed to cook them for a minute or two.  They will need to be allowed to cool.  I had the kids work on one then microwaved the projects while the kids worked on another project so they could be painting while the first project was cooking and cooling. 
we used crayola water color paints to paint them.  Spray painting is a nice option too, but the kids enjoyed being able to paint them themselves with lots of colors.
Last we glued a magnet to the back using good old Elmer's school glue.  It seems to have held up fine on my magnets, but if the magnet comes off you can always glue it back on, or use a stronger glue if you prefer.

 

The older class I taught also made owl magnets.  I found this idea on Pinterest here.
We added our own flair to it with the watercolor paints.
These would make great Thanksgiving napkin rings too.  Hope you enjoy a fun and easy project. :-)