How to Make Miniature Animals

Make miniature animals for a fun craft with kids.

Animal lovers often want to adopt every critter they see. This isn't always practical, so a good alternative is to make miniature animals.

One easy way to make miniature animals is to sculpt them out of polymer clay. Even children can help or older kids can make this fun craft themselves.

Because polymer clay comes in so many colors, each child could make the same animals but in a different color. Or use one color for the animal's body, another color for the head, and so on.

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Image of animal you want to re-create
• Various colors of polymer clay
• Tile or paper plate
• Cutter
• Tool for making indents in the clay
• Toaster oven or large oven
• Aluminum foil

1. Use a tile or paper plate to protect the table.

   Gather your supplies as listed in the Things You'll Need section.

   To make miniature animals out of polymer clay, prepare your work surface by choosing something to work the clay on. Use a glazed tile or other surface, like a paper plate, to protect your table.

2. Sketch your animal before you start making it.

   Decide what animal you'll make. I sketched a simple cat and used it to refer to while making the miniature animal out of polymer clay. Include as much or as little detail as you're comfortable with.

3. Select your colors.

   Choose the colors of polymer clay for your animal. Here I chose blue, orange/white swirl, and yellow.

   I used blue for the body, orange for ears and whiskers, and yellow for the tail.

4. Assemble the parts.

   Begin rolling the right size ball of polymer clay into a ball. Place the clay between your hands and roll it back and forth and around until you like the shape and size. Add or take some clay away till you're happy with the size.

   Flatten the clay out for the ears. Carefully cut two triangles for ears. Roll a long strip of clay for the whiskers and one for the tail.

5. Cat ready for his eyes!

   Begin placing the pieces together to form the miniature animal. Make adjustments as needed. Make other pieces, like eyes to add detail to your critter. Add all the details that will make your miniature animal a happy pup (or kit, in this case). Add indents with a tool for feet and texture.

6. Bake to preserve your polymer clay animal.

   Bake your miniature animal according to the instructions on the polymer clay package. This will be anywhere from 250 to 300 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 to 30 minutes. The thicker the animal, the longer it will need to bake.

   Use a toaster oven or your regular oven. Use a cookie sheet devoted to baking polymer clay. Add a layer of aluminum foil to the cookie sheet to keep the bottom (or portion that touches the sheet) from coming out shiny.

7. If you want to make your miniature animal into a bead, before baking, run a wire through the animal to create a hole. If you want to make the miniature animal into a pendant, add an eye pin to the top before baking.

Tips & Warnings

• Make miniature animal beads that look like pets of family and friends. String them on a headpin and use as a charm on a key chain or necklace.

• If possible, open the windows when baking polymer clay. It is fragrant (and not in a particularly good way).