How to make clay monsters using air dry clay

This is how to make an air dry clay monster.  First you need a cardboard tube, you can use the inside of a toilet roll.  Cut the tube to about half its length and pack it tightly with crunched up newspaper. 

Air dry clay monster drying in the sun

Using a rolling pin, roll out a rectangular piece of air dry clay big enough to fit around the cardboard tube, about 1 cm thick. Carefully, roll the clay around the cardboard tube, cut the clay to size and make a neat join along the length of the tube - use a damp sponge to smooth the join.  Trim the clay at the top and bottom of the tube, a bit like cutting pastry to fit a pie dish.   This is the body of your monster. 

Three monsters, one drying one waiting for hair and one finished

Next, to make the head roll some clay into a ball, check that the ball sits nicely on top of the clay body you have made, you might need to adjust the size of the ball.  Join the clay ball 'head' to the tube 'body' and smooth out the join by using a damp sponge.

All finished!

Now for the fun bit you can add eyes, noses, ears, beaks, mouths in fact anything you like. To stick one piece of clay to another, score the surfaces of the clay to be joined with a cocktail stick, dab on a bit of water and press firmly together. If you want to add feathers and/or pipe cleaners for hair, make several large holes, using a cocktail stick, (remember the clay will shrink as it dries) in the top of the head.  Add the 'hair' by slotting the feathers and pipe cleaners into the holes once the clay has dried and been painted (we used acrylic paints).