How to Make a Birds Nest Sculpture Out of Play Dough

Making a birds nest

Every parent and grandparent knows that the best gifts from a child or grandchild are those that she makes hereself. If you are having trouble coming up with a fun, easy craft project for your child to do to make homemade presents for their family members, consider these playful, endearing birds nest sculptures. They can be simple or elaborate depending on your child's age and can take as long or as short a time period as your child's attention span will allow. Many people even use them as Christmas tree ornaments or set them on shelves to remind them of their children all year long. In this article, we will discuss how to make a birds nest sculpture out of play dough.

Things You'll Need

• Yellow play dough
• At least one other color of play dough
• Flat surface
• Glitter
• Toothpicks

Instructions

How to Make a Birds Nest Sculpture Out of Play Dough

1. 

   Make a ball of yellow play dough. The ball should be about the size of a large rubber ball. Its outside should be smooth and have no cracks.

2. Use your thumbs to make a large, circular indention in the center of the yellow play dough ball.Your hole should not go all the way through the ball.

3. Pinch the edges of the "nest" until it is as big as you desire. Make sure that the edges are an even thickness all the way around.

4. 

   Make three small, oval eggs of any color play dough other than yellow. These also should have smooth surfaces and all fit in the yellow play dough nest. If you wish to add more eggs, go right ahead!

5. Roll the three small "eggs" in glitter. This will make your eggs pretty and speckled like many real birds' eggs.

6. Press the eggs into the nest. Use gentle pressure so that they will stick to the bottom of the nest, but be careful not to squish them out of shape.

7. Scratch the outsides and top edges of the nest with a toothpick. This will make it look more like it was made from straw or twigs.

8. Microwave the entire nest for 2 minutes. This will dry out the play dough so that you have created a permanent sculpture.

Tips & Warnings

• Some people choose to glue small, decorative birds to edges of the nest to make them even prettier and more realistic. You can find items like these at a craft or hobby store.