If you are wanting to create with clay, but not sure what to make, these easy clay animal ideas are the perfect place to start. Air dry clay is easy to work with and the possibilities for what you can make are endless. Look through this collection for three adorable clay animals that you can create with just a few simple materials.

I am always looking for art projects that I can try with my young students in the classroom. I love working with air dry clay and projects, like the ones below, are easy enough even for little hands.

Young children love playing with animals, but animal figures for small world play can be expensive. You can create your own play figures using the instructions and clay described below. You can also create as many of each animal as you want.

For more art projects using clay, check out, 33 Easy Clay Animals and another collection of Easy Clay Animals you’ll be creating for days! For another idea to use the clay for, visit Play Learn Inspire, Clay Vase Craft for Kids with a free template to make creating easy and beginner friendly.

Easy Clay Animal – Materials

There aren’t a lot of materials you need for this project, and when you purchase the materials, you will have enough to create lots of animals.

• Air Dry Clay
• Wooden Peg Figures
• Paint + Paint Brushes

There are different types of air dry clay that you can use, however, the one found in the link above works well because it is soft and doesn’t break as easily as other types of clay.

You can also attach other materials to the clay before it dries, such as pipe cleaners.

Craft Projects for Kids

I started creating these clay animals because my program in kindergarten was constantly changing. We would study zoo animals and then begin a unit on arctic animals. I love this variety of learning topics, but purchasing all of the different figures for the changing units becomes very expensive.

I started creating with the air dry clay and my students loved the little figures and I could create them easily and for a lot less money. Below I am sharing how I made a rabbit, penguin and bear, but you can use the ideas to create any animal you wish.

Start by choosing a wooden peg that is roughly the same shape as the animal you are creating. Decide on a few simple features that you want to replicate to represent your animal.

Depending on what air dry clay you use, usually you can stick two pieces of the clay together and it will stay in place. However, you may have to scratch the clay on both pieces where you plan to attach them before attaching. Once pressed together the scratches, or hatch marks will mold together and help keep the pieces attached.

Creating Each Clay Animal

For the rabbit, I added long ears and a round face. I made arms and a ball tail.

For the bear, add a round face and ears and arms and legs to create the body. With the penguin add long arms, a round face and belly and small feet.

Form the body parts onto the wooden peg and smooth out the clay. If you want to keep the animals really simple, you can choose to only create the head of each animal.

Let the clay dry overnight. If there are any cracks in the clay, you can add a small amount more of clay once they are dry to fill the cracks or you can use glue. You may also be able to find clay paste that will help fill the cracks. Small bumps and imperfections can also be fixed with fine sandpaper.

I used white clay for all of my animals, however, you can purchase colored air dry clay to create your animals.

A few other ideas to try with the clay and wooden pegs:

• A pig with a cylinder nose and pointy ears
• An octopus with eight long legs
• A person with arms and hair
• An owl with feathers, large eyes and a small beak
• An elephant with a long clay trunk

The possibilities are endless for what you can create!

DIY Clay Animal Ideas – Results

Once the clay is dry, you can begin to add color. I used acrylic paint to add details to each of the animals. You can also add things like googly eyes, feathers and even pompom balls make a great tail.

Once the paint and each of the features are dry, you can add a coating of gloss to protect the clay as well as add a shiny finish. Once they are dry children can use and play with the figures. Make sure the children are old enough to be gentle with the animals.

One of my favorite ways to use these clay animal ideas is for small world play. You can create a land to add the animals to for children to play with. The felt play mat below is a great, natural DIY setting for children to play with any of the animals in.

You can create several animals to add to your play set, or use them in addition to other materials, props and animals you already have.

I hope that these easy clay animals give you some ideas for your own animals to create with clay. The possibilities are endless!

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