How to Make a Whirly Toy with Polymer Clay - Kids Will Love this Toy!

Cut two 1” X 3” sheets from PM1 Sculpey™ prēmo! Pearl Red, Pearl White and Pearl Blue Clay. Note: In all the instructions for Poly Clay Play Projects, PM stands for Pasta Machine and the number stands for the thickness setting. On the machine I use and sell through polyclayplay.com #1 is the thickest setting.

Stack the same colors together, red on red, blue on blue and white on white, to make double thickness of each color. Stack the double thickness on top of each other making one stack.

Press the end so you can get the jelly roll started.

The uncut, raw end of a jelly roll cane.

Roll the stack together into a log, pushing air out as you go. Roll the log on your work surface to make it round. You have just made a jelly roll cane!!

Inside the first cut.

Trim the end off and then cut about a 1/4" thick slice from your cane.

If your slice isn’t round, lay it on your work surface and use a large circle cutter. The toy works best if it is round. The cutter I used is the largest of the 3 that come in the Makin's® package of circle cutters. You can find lots of different shapes and sizes of cutters at Poly Clay Play.

Lay the slice on your work surface and determine the center of the circle. You may want to use a button as a guide.

Use your Button Hole Tool to make holes centered in the cane slice. Get them as close to the center as you can. In the Poly Clay Play Kid's Club, their kit comes with a corn cob holder and instructions for decorating it to use as a Button Hole Tool.

Use a clay blade as a kind of spatula to pick up the circle. Be sure the holes go all the way through.

Lay your cane button on your baking sheet and another tile on top to keep it flat.

Bake the button following the clay package instructions. Because it is so thick, it is a good idea to let it cool completely in the oven.

When it has cooled, varnish your button. This will make the sparkles in the pearl clays really shine.

When the varnish has dried, run a string in through one hole and out the other making a big loop.

Tie the loose ends together and let the whirling begin!

To play with the toy, hold the two loops, one on your first or middle finger of each hand and pull your hands apart.

Position the button so that it’s centered slack on the string. Start spinning the toy away from you until the string on either side has several twists in it.

Once the string is twisted, pull your hands apart with a little force (not too hard or the string will break). This will make the button start spinning, and when the string has unwound, the disc will continue to spin, winding the string in the opposite direction. This makes a sideways yo-yo effect and the toy will keep spinning as you move your hands apart when the string is twisted and back together as it starts to untwist.