How to Make a Mummy With Play Dough

Create a spooky mummy with dough as a fun Halloween activity.

Play-Doh is a brand of clay that can be used in a variety of activities and crafts and can be either dried or stored and reused. Play-Doh can be used to create models of just about anything imaginable, including mummies. Creating mummies from Play-Doh is surprisingly simple and the finish product lends well to creepy dioramas, haunted dollhouses and even stand-alone Halloween decorations.

Things You'll Need

• Rolling pin or drinking glass
• Craft knife, butter knife or putty knife

Instructions

1. Roll out four cords of dough, using a rolling pin or drinking glass, about 1/2 inch thick. Two cords should be 2 inches long and two cords should be 3 inches long. These will be the arms and legs of the mummy. Any color of dough can be used for the body of the mummy.

2. Roll out five balls of dough. Two balls should be about 1/4 inch in diameter, two balls should be about 1/2 inch in diameter and one ball should be about 3/4 inch in diameter. These will be the hands, feet and head of the mummy.

3. Roll out a cylinder or rectangle of dough about 1 1/2 inch long and 3/4 inch wide. This will be the torso of the mummy.

4. Attach the arms, legs and head to the torso. Attach the hands to the arms and the feet to the legs. To aid adherence, add a drop of water to the joints and rough the wet areas slightly with your fingertip before pressing the two pieces together. Smooth the seams with your fingertip.

5. Shape the arms, legs, torso, hands and feet with your fingertips. Keep in mind that the figure is basically a skeleton and will take on girth as they are formed; thinner is better at this point.

6. Roll out white dough until it is about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Thinner dough will look better but thicker dough is more forgiving, allowing the artist to cover up most mistakes without too much fuss.

7. Use a craft knife, butter knife or putty knife to cut the dough into strips about 1/4 inch wide and about 4 inches long. You may need to adjust the length of the strips as you work; shorter strips are easier to work with but require more blending as you add new strips.

8. Wrap the strips around the arms, legs and torso of the dough figure. Don't cover the head yet. The strips should overlap just slightly and all of the dough figure should be covered. Use your fingertip to flatten and smooth the strips if necessary.

9. Roll out two very small balls of dough to represent the eyes. Yellow works well for this. Attach the balls to the head.

10. Cover the head with dough strips leaving a gap so that the eyes can be seen just behind the strips.

11. Position your mummy on a stand as desired. Adjust the arms and legs if needed. If the figure is unbalanced, add a little dough to the feet.

12. Cover the feet of the mummy with dough strips. Trim the strips along the base of the feet. Add one or two additional strips to trail behind the mummy figure.

Tips & Warnings

• You can create your own dough using a variety of homemade recipes. Most dough requires a mixture of salt, flour and water.

• You can adjust the size of the finish product. Larger projects will require much more dough.

References

• Hasbros: Play-Doh

Resources

• Kid Activities: Play Dough Recipes!
• KW: Building Fun With Play-Doh