Grief Monsters
We are depicting our own grief as we create our very own grief monster using air dry clay. It's fairly simple and no experience is needed to try.
Grief Monsters can be a very cathartic thing to try for both adults and kids. I would say kids 7 and up with help can do this project. You could do it with a kiddo griever you love or try it yourself.
I would encourage you consider a few things before getting started: what color would your grief monster be, what shape, would it have hair, what color eyes, how many eyes, will it have a body or just a head, etc.
I didn’t have a plan in mind for my grief monsters that I made only because I knew I would get stuck in my head if I made too much of a plan and then I may never get started. For me it is better just to start creating and if that’s you, you’re not alone.
Kiddo Examples:
Supplies:
For a full list of supplies we typically use in Art Your Grief you can go to the link here, scroll all the way to the bottom of the page linked (to see several lists that meet your needs).
Paintbrush
I used a small paint brush to get into the grooves as well as a bigger small brush to cover the other areas. I also used the bottom of the paintbrush handle.
Air-Dry Clay
I used the tub of crayola but you won’t need that much for what we are doing. You could get by with a lot smaller of a size if you plan on making only one.
Paint
I used watercolor paint for this. Crayola brand is pretty saturated so I like to use them especially with clay and it will seep into the clay and fade quite a bit. You could also use paint pens, however it likely will ruin the tip of the pen to use it on clay. You could use Acrylic paint but that could get really messy unless you regularly use acrylic and are super comfortable with using it.
Flat surface
I used the table I was working on.
Optional: wax paper to cover your surface you’re working on or a paper plate. This helps your surface you’re working on not to be messy.
Optional: Pencil for making indents with.
Optional: Googly eyes if you’d prefer those.
I will be walking you through step by step, with images and video as well as with my voice guiding you through with a voice recording below.
You will learn clay techniques as we go, however there is no needed skills or experience. I will show and teach you all you need to know.
This can be a project you come back to again and again as our grief morphs and changes from day to day. A little grief monster a day, could be a thing.
