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Malleable Materials


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Hi everyone - not sure if this is the correct place to put this

 

My Nursery teacher would like a pliable malleable material to use in place of Play dough or clay - she has tried plasticine but finds it very hard for small hands :o - even when her NN placed it in the microwave!!!

 

She had some soft plasticine when she fist arrived that had been ordered by a previous staff member but cannot find it in any of the school catalogues - it looks like plasticine but is much softer - hope someone can help

many thanks

g

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Guest tinkerbell

I went on a Steiner course and we used modelling beeswax...it is expensive and you only use a bit so its fine motor skills..soon went soft in your hands and smelt lovely too..

tinkerbell x

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Have you tried Crayola's Model Magic? Its lightweight, easy for small hands to manipulate and sticks easily to itself. Air dries very hard but still lightweight when dry. You can keep the colours separate, or mix them, marble them etc.

 

You can buy large quantities for classes I believe - but it really depends on what kind of effect she is looking for!

 

Maz

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Its very similar to a soft playdough, not quite as spongy as Model Magic, and not as light either. It doesn't mark things like carpets - easily picked off.

I found model magic nice, but quite bizarre! It feels like it's dry and shouldn't work, it does stick to itself (see picture) but can be pulled apart again and re-worked.

post-13453-1236710668_thumb.jpg

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Its very similar to a soft playdough, not quite as spongy as Model Magic, and not as light either. It doesn't mark things like carpets - easily picked off.

I found model magic nice, but quite bizarre! It feels like it's dry and shouldn't work, it does stick to itself (see picture) but can be pulled apart again and re-worked.

 

thanks everyone

I like the idea of bees wax - where can we get it?

also the Crayola dough sounds good - will let the Nursery Teacher know and if we can find it might use it in the Foundation class too -

I knew if I asked I would get the answers

Ta very much will let you all know what we decide

g

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I like the idea of bees wax - where can we get it?

Here's a link to the first thing that came up when I googled 'beeswax'.

 

Depends how much money you have to spend as to whether you'd say it was expensive! I'll bet it feels nice to manipulate in your hands though!

 

Maz

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Oh yeah - I've seen that advertised - I really don't fancy it - do you?

I got a free sample inside a catalogue order once and it was most odd. Quite sticky in your hand, and behaves really oddly. Got very grubby after a while too! Reminded me rather of one of those crispie cakes with syrup added - very peculiar! :o

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Baker Ross's home made candle kit has lovely wax which softens up beautifully at 'hand temerature'.

 

This is the link to it on their website

http://www.bakerross.co.uk/find.asp?s=cand...7MCQYWOS8BCQA4R

 

I have used it for making candles to take home but the kids lovely the feel of it so much we now use it as an alternative to play dough. I have a ball of it in my treasure box and they all go for it first over everything else.

 

You do need to warm it up for little ones but it is well worth it to see them enjoying the texture so much.

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I've seen that on their site and wondered if it was any good. Our church room is jolly cold in the winter so it mayn't be as malleable then, but I'll definitely look at it when the weather gets warmer.

 

Welcome to the forum by the way. And congratulations on including a link! Took me a few months before I worked out how to do that!

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Thanks for that.

It did take me a mo to work it out!

 

If you put the wax in a plastic bag on a bowl of warm/hot water for a while, once it is warm and the kids start using it, it seems to stay warm with the heat of their hands.

 

You just have to make sure they don't put it in their pockets. I've had a couple of mum's who didn't find it until after the wash - not popular!

 

I'm about to use the wax as a calming sensory experience with a child who has anger management issues so I hope it's as good as I think!

 

Can anyone tell me how you make those smiley face things appear in your message?

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