Are you looking for a homemade air dry clay recipe? This is it! It’s an easy 3 ingredient air dry modeling clay that dries hard at room temperature!
We love modeling doughs over here. Usually we make homemade playdough, but sometimes you need a modeling clay that dried smooth and hard.
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This homemade modeling clay is perfect for kids projects and creations!
It doesn’t use salt, so there’s no graininess, and it dries really hard. It’s also pure white, which makes it easy to paint after it dries!
The Best Homemade Air Dry Clay Recipe
This simple air dry clay recipe only has 3 ingredients! You will need:
2 cups baking soda
1 cup corn starch
1 1/2 cups water
In a medium pot combine the baking soda and corn starch and stir them to mix.
Add in the water and stir until the mixture is thoroughly wet. No more dry spots!
Turn on the burner to medium-low heat and cook and stir until the mixture clings together in a ball.
It might take 5-10 minutes of cooking and stirring for your homemade clay to fully come together.
Turn off the heat and remove the pot from the burner. At this point your homemade air dry clay may still appear quite sticky. I like to keep stirring and kneading with the spoon in the warm pot to reduce the water even more.
Then turn out your air dry clay onto a cutting board that has been dusted with corn starch.
Knead the clay until it is smooth and cooled off. You can add additional corn starch as needed to reduce sticking.
Note: This air dry clay will become less sticky as it cools completely.
How to Use Homemade Air Dry Clay
You can use this homemade modeling clay to make all kinds of things!
Once you have kneaded it until it’s smooth you can use it like playdough and just model, cut, and play and then ball it back up and store it.
Or you can use it to make more permanent things such as:
- Homemade Christmas ornaments
- Animal figures
- Pinch pots
- Coil pots
- Little bricks to build with
- Anything you can imagine!
Just like with other clays, it’s important to use a little water to help pieces stick together as they dry.
Otherwise you may find yourself gluing pieces together once they are dry.
When you are done, just sit your creations out at room temperature until they dry completely.
Looking for more homemade clay options? Check out this Cornstarch and Salt Clay!
How to Store Your Air Dry Clay
Since this is air dry clay, it will dry if it’s left out.
To keep your homemade clay workable store it in an air tight container when it’s not in use.
We went to make a batch when we have a project to make such as a batch of homemade ornaments or a modeling project for school, so I am not sure how long the clay will last, but I assume at least a 2-3 weeks if not longer.
How to Make Homemade Air Dry Clay
Materials
- 2 cups baking soda
- 1 cup corn starch
- 1 1/2 cups water
Tools
- medium size pot
- stirring spoon
Instructions
- In a medium pot combine the baking soda and corn starch and stir them to mix.
- Add in the water and stir until the mixture is thoroughly wet. No more dry spots!
- Turn on the burner to medium-low heat and cook and stir until the mixture clings together in a ball. It might take 5-10 minutes of cooking and stirring for your homemade clay to fully come together.
- Turn out your air dry clay onto a cutting board that has been dusted with corn starch.
- Knead the clay until it is smooth and cooled off. You can add additional corn starch as needed to reduce sticking.
Notes
This air dry clay will become less sticky as it cools completely.
Store in an air tight container
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How long does it take for the cutouts to dry/harden?
It will depend on the thickness of the piece you have created.
This dough was super easy to make and work with! I’ve saved the recipe to use again later. 🙂
Mine is cracking a little as it dries. Do you have any suggestions about what I can do differently next time? It’ll be fine once covered in paint, but I figured I would check in in case anyone else has the same issue.
Could I use this in a plastic candy mold? Or would it stick to the mold, and if it stuck could I use a non stick spray to help it from sticking? Could I use food coloring in the dough to give it some color? Thanks for any input 😊
Do the pieces buckle or curl?
Thank you for the recipe. I’m going to make easter ornaments with people from the retirement home. Hope they enjoy it as much as i do.
Can we use baking powder instead of baking soda?
I’ve had issues with air dry clay cracking before. Will this be prone to cracking once dry?
I have a few questions. Will this clay crack when drying? Can I paint it after it dries? And can I use moulds to make different designs or will it stick in them? Is there a way to get it not to stick in moulds if it does stick? I hope I hear back from someone. Thank you.
Cracking can occur, especially if you use too much cornstarch while making your items since that dries it out a bit. Cornstarch can be used to on molds or hands to prevent sticking (just not too much). We paint ours.
I was looking for recipes for air dry clay and other recipes use glue. This will be the first time I’ve ever made air dry clay.
Silly question, but why do recipes use glue and your doesn’t? I really like your recipe! So much easier for this homeschool mamma 😀
I made this tonight, was amazed how quick it came together. I took it out of the pan, put it in a bowl covered with a wet paper towel to cool. After 1 hr, I kneaded it, went to roll it out and it wouldn’t stay together. Thoughts??
Good Question. I’m interested in that also.
Do you know if you could use flour instead of cornstarch?
I would not recommend that, as flour tends to be thicker and the gluten develops in it. I’ve also had some paper mache mixtures “come to life” with bacterial growth. This one seems to avoid that and doesn’t crack nearly as much as flour based recipes
Are there any substitutions for cornstarch that could be made, like flour? Basically something a lot easier to get. Hold of.
Hello. How long would I have to mold the clay by hand before it gets to the point of hardening? And is there anything you can recommend to use if I were to glue the clay onto items such as wood for example?
Wow, that’s too easy to make it at home. Thanks for the recipe.
Once the clay has harden, can it be used for a soap dish or will the water from wet soap soften the clay?
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Have you ever tried using cocoa powder or adding food coloring or something to make it different colors? I am wanting it to be dyed prior to use for a diversity activity.
Mine won’t stay together. I can roll it out but it falls apart if I pick up a piece. What did I do wrong?