Craft fun
Smart modeling clay: what you should know about the popular silicone toy
Intelligent modeling clay is currently the hit on many craft tables. What can the versatile silicone toy do?
© Veronika Viskova / Getty Images
Of course, intelligent putty can neither calculate nor write. To do this, hop, glow and change color as if by magic. Why could the smart toy trend also convince parents? Therefore.
From my own experience, I can say that play and handicraft dough is lower on parents’ list of the most popular toys for their own four walls. Above all, this has to do with the fact that the funny, colorful balls, snakes and lumps like to be hidden in the sofa after the kneading session or buried somewhere else. Unfortunately, they usually leave unsightly stains there that can only be removed with fat-soluble cleaners. In contrast, plasticine is very popular with children. And there are good reasons for that too. In the following article you can find out which these are and why intelligent clay, of course a trend from the USA, is currently the big hit on the crafting tables of many children’s rooms.
Intelligent clay: what is it anyway?
While a lot of flour is mixed with salt, water, vegetable oil, alum and food coloring for ordinary handicraft putty, intelligent putty consists mainly of silicone, to which silicon and a little boric acid are added. Important: According to the manufacturers, the content of this unappetizing chemical is far below the limit values set for toys. Of course, children should not eat the intelligent modeling clay. It would be a shame. Because Intelligent modeling clay is a jack of all trades. In addition to kneading imaginative shapes and figures, it replaces the rubber ball, can be drawn longer than chewing gum and shatters when it is thrown with force on the floor.
Intelligent clay: these are the most important properties
- It can be pulled apart almost endlessly.
- Intelligent modeling clay does not stick or stain.
- It is odorless.
- It dissolves into its original state within ten minutes.
- It jumps back from the wall and the floor like a rubber ball.
Playing with handicraft dough stimulates the children’s imagination in particular. The little ones form funny snakes, snails and balls of all sizes. Older children like to model more complex objects such as houses, dinosaurs or airplanes. Small downer with Intelligent Putty: Due to their viscosity, the tinkered models only have a short lifespan. Within ten minutes, the biting dinosaur turns into a misshapen lump of craft dough again. Intelligent modeling clay can do a lot more than that. Namely:
- Change its color depending on the temperature,
- the UV version “Phantom” glowing in the dark,
- it can be “painted” with a UV light emitter,
- shatters if you hit it hard with a hammer
- and is attractive when you look for that magnetic variant decides.
Is smart putty dangerous for kids?
Apart from the fact that modeling clay is not a food per se and has no place in children’s mouths, is Intelligent modeling clay According to the manufacturer, completely harmless and certainly not toxic. A clear advantage over ordinary handicraft putty: intelligent putty is odorless and does not leave any sticky children’s hands or ugly grease stains on the new lounging sofa. Oh yes, in contrast to the standard dough made from flour, salt and oil, the silicone toy doesn’t dry out either.
By the way: In the USA, intelligent modeling clay, which is called “Thinking Putty”, has been used in therapies for a long time. Similar to the currently very popular Pop It Fidgets, the versatile toy putty is said to have a stress-relieving and calming effect.
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