Loving Memories Jar with Homemade White Clay Hearts

One of my goals for my children is to teach them to express their love and share it with the special people in their lives.  A tool I created and implemented in my classroom and now use with my own children is The Hug Jar.  While brainstorming a gift children could give to others I wanted to create an opportunity for them to easily share their loving feelings.  Inspired by our Hug Jar we created the Loving Memories Jar with Homemade White Clay Hearts.  It is filled with happy memories written on painted clay hearts.

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE THE LOVING MEMORIES JAR WITH HOMEMADE WHITE CLAY HEARTS

ingredients for baking soda clay (1 cup baking soda, 1/2 cup cornstarch, 3/4 cup warm water)
paints (acrylic paints or tempera)
small paintbrushes or q-tips
painting palette/paper plate
glass jar (like a mason jar or jelly jar)
permanent marker
glue gun (optional)
high gloss red spray paint (optional)
rolling pin
heart cookie cutter
cookie tray

AREAS OF DEVELOPMENT

empathy (expressing love for others)
literacy development (verbal expression and dictation)
fine motor development (cutting out hearts, painting)
artistic expression (painting), color exploration (naming colors, mixing colors)
scientific exploration (changes that occur when baking soda clay is heated- soft to hard)

HOW TO MAKE THE HOMEMADE MEMORIES JAR WITH HOMEMADE WHITE CLAY HEARTS

Begin by making the baking soda clay.  In a large pot mix together 1 cup baking soda, 1/2 cup cornstarch (corn flower) and 3/4 cup warm water.  Stir over medium heat until the baking soda mixture resembles playdough.  This will take a few minutes.  Dump the baking soda clay on a counter or table and let cool.

Roll the baking soda clay out on a floured surface making it approximately 1/4 inch thick.  Cut out hearts using the heart cookie cutter.  Using a spatula carefully transfer the hearts to a ungreased cookie tray.  Bake at 200 degrees F (100 degrees C) for approximately 1 hour.  I flipped mine over after 45 minutes to make sure the underside cooked.

Once cool set up a painting station for your children.  Each child received a painting palette with acrylic paints, q-tips to paint and the clay hearts.  I encouraged my children to think about each person we were making the gifts for while we painted.  It was fun to watch my children choose colors that they thought their Grandparents and Daddy would love.  This naturally led to talking about each person and sharing memories.  It was a happy painting session!

Once  the paint is dry it is time to write why you love the gift recipient on the back of each heart.  While sitting on the couch with my children we made a list of why we loved their Daddy, Grandma and Grampa.  I wrote the names of each person on a piece of paper and we made a chart of all their loving answers.  It was truly beautiful to listen to their thoughtful answers.  What immediately struck me was the simplicity of their memories.  They love that their Grandma sews with them and gives them crackers.  They love that their Grampa sleds with them and paints wood pieces.  Playing tag, giving hugs and getting to go in our attic are their loving memories of their Daddy.  Using a permanent magic marker I wrote each loving memory on the back of each heart and then placed all the hearts in glass jars.  I spray painted the top of each jar red and glued one of the clay hearts to the top.  This is optional, but I love how special it makes each jar look!  We wrapped the Loving Memories Jar with Homemade White Clay Hearts in some of Homemade Wrapping Paper.  It was so much fun to watch my husband and parents open their gifts.

Looking for more ideas? Check out our Salt Dough Suncatchers, Valentine’s Day Playdough and DIY Flower Bouquet and Vase.