These Halloween ghost tealights are the perfect classroom craft to help children develop their clay work skills. Teach children the importance of correct thickness, how to use water to join pieces and smooth out cracks, as well as how to effectively use a rolling pin. Better still, these cute yet atmospheric tealights are made from air drying clay: less waiting and no expensive kiln needed!
What you’ll need
- Air drying clay – 0.5kg per ghost
- Battery-operated tealights
- Rolling pin
- Plastic clay knife
- An orange
- A drinking glass or cup
- Cling film
Method
Step 1
Roll out 0.5kg air drying clay into a circle using a rolling pin. This is a great opportunity to teach children about how important the final thickness of clay is. Too thin and it will crack and potentially break off. Too thick and it will take a longer time to dry. You need it to be juuuust right! 3-4mm in thickness is perfect for this project.
Step 2
Place an orange into a drinking glass and cover the orange with clingfilm. This will protect the orange so that it can still be eaten, and it also makes it a lot easier to lift off the tealight once it’s dry.
Step 3
Carefully lift the rough circle of air-drying clay onto the orange, letting the sides crease and fold slightly. The perfect ghost shape!
Step 4
Cut around the base of the ghost using the clay knife to give it a smoother finish. You can also take this opportunity to smooth over cracks in the clay with water. If any cracks are too deep and the clay has split, it’s a sign the clay is too thin and needs patching up. Use your clay knife or any other clay tools you have to give the ghost a face. Be as creative as you like!
Step 5
Let your ghost dry for at least 24 hours. Once it’s dry, carefully lift it off the orange and drinking glass and peel away the clingfilm. Pop a battery operated tealight underneath: one Halloween ghost tealight!
Step 6
Pop a battery-operated tealight underneath. You have yourself one Halloween ghost tealight!
You can buy what you need to make Halloween ghost tealights from the Hope Education website. We would love to see your Halloween ghost tealights. Share them with us on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.
